It Dropped!

July 18, 2013 9:05 AM

The experiment has been going on for 83 years, and until now nobody has seen the pitch drop. Started in 1930, the Pitch Drop Experiment has been slowly dripping as a demonstration of what it means to be a liquid. For the past few months, excitement has been building as it seemed to be about to make its next drip. Last time the camera failed shortly before the drip happened, but today a time-lapse video shows the ninth drop separating from the funnel.

Previously.

posted by AzraelBrown (11 comments total)

wub wub wub
posted by DU at 9:09 AM on July 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Rather anticlimactic.
posted by dfriedman at 9:09 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

That is scatologically cool.
posted by chavenet at 9:09 AM on July 18, 2013

But wait- is that THE pitch drop experiment? The container looks different.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:11 AM on July 18, 2013

Man, if ever a video needed to end with Dramatic Hamster...
posted by yoink at 9:11 AM on July 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

I think experiments like this, that are so difficult because of their timescale, are so, so fascinating.
posted by ocherdraco at 9:12 AM on July 18, 2013

I'm afraid this is Trinity College Dublin and the original experiment is from the University of Queensland.
posted by jaduncan at 9:12 AM on July 18, 2013

Spoiler alert: I liked it when the pitch dropped.
posted by dazed_one at 9:13 AM on July 18, 2013

Oh! The video is actually of the SECOND oldest pitch drop experiment, but it looks like that's the first time it's actually been filmed.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:13 AM on July 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Queensland boys are known to let the bead ....

(wait approximately 7-12 years)

... drrrrrrrrOOOP!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:13 AM on July 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

But wait- is that THE pitch drop experiment? The container looks different.

Yes--the videos in the first link and the last link are of different pitch drops.
posted by yoink at 9:14 AM on July 18, 2013