Wednesday, April 12, 2006

As interesting as watching a plank warp

Quick. Catch it while there is still time. For your edification: The Pitch Drop Experiment.

In 1927 Professor Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a glass funnel with a sealed stem. Three years were allowed for the pitch to settle, and in 1930 the sealed stem was cut. From that date on the pitch has slowly dripped out of the funnel - so slowly that now, 72 years later, the eighth drop is only just about to fall.