Success for One of the World’s Longest-Running Experiments at Trinity College Dublin.
Almost 70 years after the experiment was set up by a colleague of Ernest Walton, William Goodbody, an experiment at TCD has finally produced some definitive results. The aim of the experiment was to prove whether pitch is a viscous or flowing material. Several lumps of the material were placed in a funnel in 1944 and left in a cupboard to see if drips would form over time. Several drips have been found in the beaker below over the years but an actual falling drop has never been witnessed so technically the theory that pitch is indeed viscous has never been proven.
On Thursday last, a drip that had been forming seemed to be close to dropping so scientists decided to hook up a webcam and monitor the experiment around the clock in order to end the whole thing for good!
The experiment is actually the second longest-running experiment in the world. First prize goes to a group of Australians who have coincidentally been running the same experiment albeit for a good 20 years longer.
So there you have it. We can all rest a little easier in the knowledge that pitch is definitively viscous and its all thanks to TCD!
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About the author: Conor Hughes works as a Marketing Executive at Life Science Recruitment