It's useless science Friday in my head - Welcome to the show.

[Shorty]

needs a tune.

dville tuned drops in 5.85 years.

[roliath]

so its a liquid that acts a solid, but will create a drop every 10 years. looks slow

needs a tune.

[Nash B.]

Slower than molasses asphalt.

[GeorgeG.]

que?

[mstng86]

so its a liquid that acts a solid, but will create a drop every 10 years. looks slow

[roliath]

csb

[Strychnine]

Remember next time you drive - asphalt is a liquid


Some of the longest running experiments in the world are "pitch drop" experiments. Trinity College in Dublin has had their's going for 69 years.

"Pitch" is a generic term for viscous substances derived from hydrocarbons and coal (viscous in this case = 20,000,000,000x more so than water). It looks solid, but is not. The best example of pitch that you might know is asphalt.


"At room temperature pitch feels solid - even brittle - and can easily be shattered with a blow from a hammer"




To demonstrate the fluidity of pitch they poured some in a funnel (with the end closed off) then let it cool and settle for 3-4 years. After it was sufficiently "solid" they cut the end of of the funnel and waited. It takes about a decade, but eventually the experiment will produce a drop.

Well, this month one of these decade-in-the-making drops was caught on camera.





Think about that next time you're driving down a country road.