Siphons Work Due To Gravity, Not Atmospheric Pressure: Now With Peer Review

Posted by timothy on Friday April 25, 2014 @04:11AM from the suck-it-oed dept.

knwny (2940129) writes "Peeved by the widespread misconception that siphons work because of atmospheric pressure, physics lecturer Dr. Stephen Hughes, [in 2010] wrote a mail to the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary(OED) pointing out the error. To back his claim, Dr.Hughes tested a siphon inside a hypobaric chamber to check if changes in atmospheric pressure had any effect on the siphon and demonstrated that gravity and not atmospheric pressure was the driving principle. [This week, the] paper detailing his experiment was published in Nature. The OED spokesperson responded saying that his suggestions would be taken into account during the next rewrite."

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Gravity! by JustOK · 2014-04-25 04:14 · Score: 5, Funny

You win again, gravity!

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rewriting history since 2109
Re:Actually it's both. by TechyImmigrant · 2014-04-25 04:15 · Score: 5, Funny

>A straw with a hole in it cannot siphon.
A straw has two holes in it.
A straw with only one hole can't siphon.

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I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
oh man by dlt074 · 2014-04-25 04:18 · Score: 4, Funny

that sucks!
1. Re:oh man by iMySti · 2014-04-25 05:24 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Nonsensical statement involving plankton.
Re:wrong by BasilBrush · 2014-04-25 05:08 · Score: 4, Funny

Pessimism.
Re:Actually it's both. by mythosaz · 2014-04-25 05:24 · Score: 3, Funny

It is not theoretically stable, but in practice it is.
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is.