Have you ever wondered why the toast always fall from the table with the side of the butter facing down? The result is always this, no matter what your preferably follow -up. Jelly, curd, pate, creams and other options always end from the floor.
This mystery was what led English research Robert Matthews, which led him to overcome the 1996 physics. The honor was created by the scientific journal Annals of Improbable Research (Annals of Unlikely Research) and annually those who create science with a hint of humor.
Matthews explained that the so -called Murphy of the Torrada Law, which is named after it because it is an arm of Murphy’s famous law, which says everything that can go wrong will go wrong.
“With my training in physics, I decided to calculate the mathematics and physics of why, and I was able to demonstrate that, typical pieces of toast, falling from tables or typical dishes, will start to rotate from the edge. The problem is that the rotation rate is not fast enough to bring the side of butter up before it reaches the floor,” Matthews explained exclusively to interview with CNN.
“If the toast were a very different size, it would turn at a different rate, or if the table had a different height, it would have more time to return completely with the butter side up.”
He also explained that the result does not depend on the weight of the stuffing or the density of bread, as the toast falls into free fall and, as explained in its gravity theory, its weight is negligible.
How to resolve Murphy’s Law of the to Stick?
The Professor of Aston University, from Birmingham, was invited by Enterogermina to develop a toast that was precisely in contrast to the theory that earned him Ignobel. The proposal was to create a version that was proof of Murphy’s law and always fell upwards.
According to Matthews, it was impossible to resolve the issue by adjusting the height of the table, as a free fall of 3 meters high would be needed so that the toast had enough time to spin and fall with the butter side up again.
“Few houses have such high tables, not realistic. So the alternative is to think about doing something with the toast, especially the size of the toast,” he said.
Matthew’s cat’s jump was to realize that the question was to change the toast’s shape to solve the turnover problem, that is, to make her fall from the table – or the plate – to the floor without rotating.
“It’s essentially impossible to do something with a toast that goes through the edge slowly, spins and falls. But you something where you drop the toast after someone bumps into you, for example.”
He then needed numerous attempts to explore the different possibilities of change in the toast and developed, in partnership with Nuño García, a renowned 12 -star chef Michelin throughout his career, small enough to fall from the table without rotating.
The final dimensions were: 5 centimeters wide, 4 centimeters deep and 0.5 to 0.8 centimeters high. Another asset was adding a small internal hole, as in a puzzle piece, to increase friction, decrease the chances of turning and causing it to the ground.
The new toast fell with the side of the butter up at about 75% of the time during a scientific experiment, according to Enterogermina. The usual format fell with butter down at 63% of the time.
Watch the video that explains the project:
