Red Ice News

ᛉ Folk First ᛟ

The Pitch Drop : World's Longest Experiment
New to Red Ice? Start Here!

The Pitch Drop : World's Longest Experiment

Source: atlasobscura.com
Begun in 1927 by Professor Thomas Parnell, this experiment was meant to reveal the surprising properties of an everyday material: pitch. Pitch is the name of a number of hard tar-like substances and in this case bitumen was used. Though at room temperature pitch appears to be a solid and can be shattered by a hammer, it is in fact a very high-viscosity liquid, and Professor Parnell wanted to prove it.

Just getting ready to perform the experiment took years. First the Professor heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a sealed funnel. Then, he waited. For three years Parnell let the pitch settle in the funnel, until in 1930, when he felt the pitch was settled enough, he cut the bottom of the funnel, freeing the pitch to begin its mind-bogglingly slow downward escape.

Professor Parnell lived long enough to record only two drips - the first in 1938, eight years after the opening of the funnel - and the second, nine years later in 1947.

Parnell died in 1948, but the pitch experiment kept on going without him. As of 2009, the pitch has dripped only eight times. 79 years after the experiment was begun, the ninth drop is only now forming. Pitch has now been calculated to be roughly 230 billion times more viscous than water.

Curiously, because it only drips every 8 to 9 years, no one has ever actually seen a drop fall. A webcam was setup in 2000, but due to technical problems it missed the drip. The last drip was nine years ago, so the pitch is due to drop any day now. The webcam is currently set up and one can try their luck, and patience, at mms://drop.physics.uq.edu.au/PitchDropLive. If the virtual experience isn't enough, you can see it in person at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Listed as the longest running lab experiment by Guinness World Records, the pitch experiment not only outlived its creator, but will likely outlive us all. It has been estimated that there is enough pitch to keep it dripping, ever so slowly, for another hundred years.

Article from: AtlasObscura.com


The University of Queensland pitch drop experiment, featuring its current custodian, Professor John Mainstone (taken in 1990, two years into the eighth drop).





Pitch, before and after being hit with a hammer


PitchDrop Experiment Webcam

Comments

We're Hiring

We are looking for a professional video editor, animator and graphics expert that can join us full time to work on our video productions.

Apply

Help Out

Sign up for a membership to support Red Ice. If you want to help advance our efforts further, please:

Donate

Tips

Send us a news tip or a
Guest suggestion

Send Tip

Related News

Facebook Stock Decline Is Largest One-Day Drop in U.S. History
Facebook Stock Decline Is Largest One-Day Drop in U.S. History
Claim: Police Dropped Cases Against 20 Telford Groomers Because They Were ‘Too Much Trouble’
Claim: Police Dropped Cases Against 20 Telford Groomers Because They Were ‘Too Much Trouble’

Archives Pick

Red Ice T-Shirts

Red Ice Radio

3Fourteen

Norse Mythology & Why Europeans Seek Ancestral Tradition
Alvi Gunilla - Norse Mythology & Why Europeans Seek Ancestral Tradition
UK White Riot: Channeling The Rage
Jayda Fransen - UK White Riot: Channeling The Rage

TV

Canada Deporting White European Visitors
Marcus Follin - Canada Deporting White European Visitors
ADL Target’s White Community, DOJ-FBI’s Epstein Coverup, "Kill A Gringo"
ADL Target’s White Community, DOJ-FBI’s Epstein Coverup, "Kill A Gringo"

RSSYoutubeGoogle+iTunesSoundCloudStitcherTuneIn

Design by Henrik Palmgren © Red Ice Privacy Policy