One drop per 9 years

[zak]

One drop per 9 years
this is like playing chess one move per year, The World’s Longest Experiment begins in 1927 when a professor of physics at the University of Queensland Australia wanted to prove that tar pitch has the same character of a liquid at room temperature. the timeline for the drops:
Timeline

Date	Event	Duration (Months)	Duration (Years)
1927	Experiment set up
1930	The stem was cut
December 1938	1st drop fell	96–107	8.0–8.9
February 1947	2nd drop fell	99	8.3
April 1954	3rd drop fell	86	7.2
May 1962	4th drop fell	97	8.1
August 1970	5th drop fell	99	8.3
April 1979	6th drop fell	104	8.7
July 1988	7th drop fell	111	9.3
28 November 2000	8th drop fell	148	12.3

who of you born in one of those dates !!. and what is the time of the next drop??.
ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment
http://www.maxupdates.tv/the-worlds-longest-experiment/

[kryton9]

Its taking longer and longer. The Vacuum case must have a microscopic leak and the tar is thickening?

[danbaron]

Why is the frog lying on his back in the beaker?

[zak]

it is not a frog, but i think (may be) because after the death of professor Thomas they put it in a closet and in 1961 they discovered it again, possibly while looking and holding the apparatus they move the beaker. yes this deserve more investigation.
look at another picture from wikipedia in a higher detail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Un...riment-6-2.jpg

the froggy picture are from http://www.maxupdates.tv/the-worlds-longest-experiment/ and it is may be older than wikipedia picture. since in wikipedia there is a modern battery 9v beside the device. also the table are painted and not like the older table. this is bad they manipulate badly this historic experiment. thanks dan for your sharp observation.

[danbaron]

What he calls, "tar pitch", I think, we call, "tar".

He must have heated the tar, and then poured it into the glass funnel.

Then, I guess in 1930, he cut the closed end of the funnel's stem, and the experiment began.

He is saying that at room temperature, tar behaves as a liquid with a very high viscosity.

In that case, I think drops form, because of a phenomenon of liquids, called, "surface tension".

And, the time between drops should increase, as the downward pressure decreases - because the funnel is emptying.

I think at some point there should be equilibrium between the downward pressure and the surface tension.

Then, if I'm correct, that drop will never fall (you can see the same thing on water faucets).

Interestingly, the higher the temperature of the tar, the faster the experiment will go.

Apparently, at room temperature, it will take a long time until a drop hangs there forever.

(If I remember correctly, some people have said that glass also behaves as a liquid, with a very very high viscosity.)