Finding the Viscosity of Pitch

ColdChrist writes "The University of Queensland has a page about a 72-year-old experiment on the fluidity of pitch. There's a webcam where you can try to become the first person ever to see a drop of the pitch fall; eight drops have fallen since 1930 and the ninth is now forming. The experiment 'demonstrates the fluidity and high viscosity of pitch, a derivative of tar once used for waterproofing boats. At room temperature pitch feels solid - even brittle - and can easily be shattered with a blow from a hammer', but it does flow, as the pictures demonstrate." I know this is going to bring up glass comparisons, so we'll head those off: glass is not a fluid.

Comments

Keeps us from getting bored

[tismith]

The experiment is sitting in a glass cabinet just outside one of the lecture theatres used for a lot of first and second year engineering and science lectures.

When I started in first year (1999), the pitch had formed into an interesting drop, and it provided students with a pretty geeky talking point while waiting for lectures to start.

I remember when we went for holidays one year, and came back to find that the drop had fallen! Everyone was a bit pissed (understandably) that it had fallen during uni hols.

Apparently the rate of drop formation is slowing down due to the air conditioning in the building. Or at least thats a rumour circulating around UQ.