Pancake Physics to Cut Batter Splatter 313
Anonymous Coward writes "The headline just about says it all on this one. A physics grad student in the UK has come up with the mathematical formula for how to flip a pancake and have it land correctly back in the pan. The BBC
has the details."
Ah-hah! (Score:4, Funny)
Seriously, mimicing real life movement in mathematical forumla is a tough one (that's why we don't see any battlemechs [classicbattletech.com] walking around, or tons of popular robots in every house hold.
[licking lips] (Score:0, Funny)
Mine always land in the pan... (Score:0, Funny)
Jason
ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
In other news (Score:3, Funny)
Butter! (Score:4, Funny)
A better question, what if you butter the edge as well?
Problem already solved (Score:3, Funny)
yes, but what about ham and jam? (Score:1, Funny)
we eat ham and jam and spam a lot
Dozens of TV cooking personalities... (Score:5, Funny)
*flashy logo jumps onto the screen*
"PANCAKE CRISIS: WHEN THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT AT 1:12 AM!"
*The camera cuts back to the weird-looking anchor Fox News always has. He smiles reassuringly, and gives you the thumbs up, proudly exclaiming, "This is Fox News! We are covering all the stories other news stations are too smart to cover!"*
Extra points if anyone can spot the Onion reference
Big problem.... (Score:1, Funny)
Apparently it's all in the wrist action... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Butter! (Score:2, Funny)
Is that.... (Score:3, Funny)
Hah! What about the wrist? (Score:0, Funny)
These guys wouldn't know their elbows from their asses, the way it sounds. "It's all in the wrist" is a rule well-known to tennis players, golfers, and come to think of it, other, uh
I'll stop my rant there, I think.
Actually... (Score:5, Funny)
I think you meant:
In Heaven, the police are British, the lovers are Italian, the cooks are French, the engineers are German, and it's all organized by the Swiss.
In Hell, the police are German, the lovers are Swiss, the cooks are British, the engineers are French, and it's all organized by the Italians.
Once (Score:1, Funny)
The ensuing mess encouraged me not to try it again. (Nothing ruins the meal more than cleaning up a half-cooked pancake off the floor)
If these guys can come up with some sort of mess free "practice pancake" kit with detailed instructions that can be read without a degree in math. I would be very interested.
Re:BBC doesn't understand it (Score:2, Funny)
re: story (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Pancakes, crepes, flapjack... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Amazing Brits... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Butter! (Score:5, Funny)
Falling cats are famously able to turn around and land on their feet. Unless the height of the fall is too large, the cat has no problems with that. I forgot the exact conditions of falling cats, but they are able to turn around in a fall in a lot less than the 30 inches down from a table.
If the two were to be combined and the cat has a piece of bread strapped to it, it is the cat that prevails, being more active, heavier, and having a larger moment of inertia.
I'd imagine that the same would apply to pancakes, and I have disregarded the risk of the cat eating the food.
ob micro$oft connection (Score:1, Funny)
at last (Score:-1, Funny)
Re:Ah-hah! (Score:2, Funny)
Would that be an African or European swallow?
Re:I'm gonna nit pick. (Score:1, Funny)
So far I'm up to three.
Okaaaaaay, (Score:5, Funny)
You know what? While we're at it, let's give China forks and spoons.
This needs more salt errr...variables (Score:1, Funny)
I mean, don't you have to factor in the surface of the frypan? What about teflon versus some tatty old iron pan? Did they butter or oil it first and if so, how much?
What about the consistency of the batter and the right moment at which to flip it? I'm no Pancake Scientist but I bet a realllllly runny pancake is more likely to splatter the ceiling than one with the fluid dynamics of week-old oatmeal
A "conundrum that has taxed pancake flippers since the dawn" (dawn of time, or yesterday morning?) needs a rigid set of controls in place!
Maybe they need to determine the perfect recipe before firing up that stove?
oh well, back to the chopping board...
What my parents said is true... (Score:1, Funny)
Mmmmmm......
Re:I'm gonna nit pick. (Score:5, Funny)
I can remember *all* of the digits to pi
now the order.. thats a different matter...
dave
Re:Butter! (Score:1, Funny)
The results are really interesting if they are two mad schroedinger cats since they will become entangled. Of course there may be problems with tufts of fur getting in the butter or pancakes.
Re:Okaaaaaay, (Score:1, Funny)
Re: In England we're real tossers (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, but that means he will be more accurate by roughly 5% because he won't be assuming that pi is 'nearly' 3 ;-)
Now (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Amazing Americans... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Amazing Brits... (Score:4, Funny)
There should be a Six Degrees of Slashdot test: how many posts does it take to turn a discussion into one about operating systems, beowulf clusters, or the RIAA.
Re:This is what Brits have to say about it (Score:3, Funny)
No wonder our ancestors emigrated :-)
Re:Pancakes, crepes, flapjack... (Score:2, Funny)
"People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them that Benjamin Franklin said it first" - Benjamin Franklin