Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Measuring the Speed of Light With Valentine's Day Chocolate

Posted by samzenpus on from the speed-of-the-sound-of-loneliness dept.

Cytotoxic writes "What to do with all of those leftover Valentine's Day chocolates? — a common problem for the Slashdot crowd. The folks over at Wired magazine have an answer for you in a nice article showing how to measure the speed of light with a microwave and some chocolate. A simple yet surprisingly accurate method that can be used to introduce the scientific method to children and others in need of a scientific education."

11 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. you can use chocolate to measure speed of light by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    although its far more interesting to use chocolate to measure the speed of digestion

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  2. Why bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's approximately 300 000 km/h. 'Nuff said.

    1. Re:Why bother? by Gerafix · · Score: 5, Funny

      Are you sure? My Texas School Board Approved textbook says the speed of light is exactly the speed it takes God to wink. Coincidence? I think not.

    2. Re:Why bother? by cheftw · · Score: 3, Funny

      God takes speed to wink... :|

      --
      Always back up, never back down. ---- Think you're cool 'cos your uid is prime? Take mine, modulo the one digit integers
    3. Re:Why bother? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now this is very informative ;-)

      Actually, not that much since you did not specify in which environment it has that "exact speed". Saying the speed of light is 194792442 m/s or any value is just as precise.

      Now, saying that c is constant equal to 299792458 m/s is absolutely correct although, the speed of light is actually:

      c/n where n is the refraction index.

      In a microwave oven at sea level, the speed of light is *approximately* 299792458/1.0003 = 299702547 m/s

      Nerd

    4. Re:Why bother? by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Anything else I can do for you today ? My car _really_ needs to be washed... and it would also be nice if you could give the interior a "once over" with a perfect vacuum.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  3. Re:Slashdot doesn't recongnize this holiday! by KharmaWidow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Or even, what's this thing called "leftover chocolate?"

  4. This experiment is imprecise and delicious. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

    This experiment has lots of problems. *nom nom nom* First, microwave ovens don't always precisely match the given frequency. *chomp chomp* Second, and more importantly -- *chew chew swallow* -- identifying the hotspots and measuring the distance between them is difficult and error prone. *nom nom* And that's even when the chocolate is fresh! It's worse after it's already been partially melted. *stuff face* So I had to perform many experiments, using fresh chocolate each time, to get an accurate measurement.

    In conclusion, this experiment rules. *nom nom nom nom*

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
    1. Re:This experiment is imprecise and delicious. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Bu bu but... That's the secret ingredient in auntie Curie's "soul warming" chicken casserole!

      It warms you up inside, helps you lose weight, AND makes you the brightest one at school, all at once!

  5. Sheldon Cooper?? by kai_hiwatari · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is this what Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper do on Valentines Day?

  6. Re:Darn you, slashdot! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I am *horny*. There must still be hope in my case...

    If a microwave, chocolate, and performing an experiment make you horny...

    Let's just hope you never learn what fondue is.

    --
    "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai