- Experiment began in 1927 to prove pitch is a liquid
- In 75 years, just EIGHT drops have fallen
- The rate is slowing, and last drop fell 12 years ago
- Current custodian has watched since 60s - but has missed all five drops that have fallen
- Drop 'could' fall this year, but 2013 'is a better bet'
By Rob Waugh
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It's the world's longest-running experiment - and the very, very patient scientists in charge are waiting for a single drop of pitch to fall, 12 YEARS after the last one fell.
The ‘pitch drop’ experiment began in 1927 and was designed to show that solid-looking pitch was, in fact, a liquid.
The experiment has been running now for 85 years and it is estimated that it will last for another century.
A lump of the black substance, which can be broken with a hammer, was put into a glass funnel - and the waiting began.The experiment has been running now for 85 years and it is estimated that it will last for another century
At room temperatures pitch appears to be a brittle solid - but the series of 'drops' which have formed prove that it is in fact a liquid
Excited scientists are eagerly awaiting for the world's longest-running experiment which began in 1927, to produce a 'drop' of pitch, 12 years after the last one fell
A lump of the black substance, which can be broken with a hammer, was put into a glass funnel - and the waiting began.
A decade after the late Professor Thomas Parnell, formerly from Cambridge University, began the process, the first of eight drops fell.
The viscous liquid continued its incredibly slow, but inexorable, journey downwards, and in 1947 the second drop fell.
The next drops occurred in 1954, 1962, 1970, 1979, 1988 and lastly in 2000 when the webcam that was trained on the experiment broke at the crucial stage.
Professor John Mainstone is now custodian of the experiment that is on public display at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.
Since starting at the university in the early 60s he has missed all five drops that have fallen.
He hopes to be present when the next one - which has grown into a perfect teardrop shape - finally falls from the funnel.
He believes that the drop could possibly fall this year, but thinks 2013 is a better bet.
Since the webcam was erected next to the experiment it has attracted a large and devoted following of barmy boffins and amateur enthusiasts from around the world.
Indeed, Professor Mainstone was surprised to receive emails from the Inuit people who were watching the experiment online.
As more drops fall the gaps between them will grow, so the next drop could be the last one for decades.
The earlier drops that fell have by now flattened themselves quite markedly
Professor Thomas Parnell (1881-1948), who conceived the now famous Pitch Drop Experiment as a demonstration experiment
Parnell as a Lieutenant in the AIF, serving in France during the latter part of WWI and into 1919
Prof Mainstone, 77, another alumnus of Cambridge, said: ‘I am friendly with Thomas Parnell's son, who is now in his 80s.
‘He said that other people in the physics department didn't take much interest in it. The students probably laughed at him.
‘It became something of a real oddity and was hidden away in a cupboard and when I started I had to convict the department to put it on display. There were people who thought it should just be thrown out.
‘Before he died in 1948, Parnell would have been there for two drops, so I've been there for many more than him. But no one has ever actually watched one fall.
‘The last time it happened I was in London and I got an email saying it was getting close, but I wasn't worried because we had a camera on it.
‘Then I got an email to say it had happened, which was followed by another email to say the camera had not worked. Hopefully the technology is better now.
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‘The closest I have been to seeing a drop live is five minutes away, and on another occasion I left the university thinking it would not drop at least until the next day, but when when I arrived in the morning it had happened.
‘It is very difficult to judge when it is going to drop. But as it gets nearer the pitch hangs by filaments and when one of those breaks it goes.
‘I don't think it will happen this year, but maybe in 2013 - but you really never know, it could happen sooner. It's got a mind of its own. You've got to be a bit philosophical about it.
‘The current drop is much smaller than the last one, which is still attached to the pitch, but it may flatten out so the next drop might come away quite clearly.
‘Pitch is not a homogeneous substance and is a complex mix of hydrocarbons so it is difficult to predict what will happen, especially as the conditions have changed with the introduction of air condition ing.
‘People from around the world get in touch about it - and not just from English speaking countries.
‘I've even had emails from Inuit people. There really are pitch drop devotees.
‘Former students come back to the university with their children and grandchildren and look at the experiment and say it looks exactly the same.
‘I hope it continues to run after I'm gone, I think there are another 100 years left and the gaps between drops will get longer and longer.’
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There was a programmeon television about 20ish years ago saying that glass is a liquid still and will drip every 30,000 years or so. - Mute Requiem, England, 11/5/2012 17:28 ===== We were taught that in school twenty years ago. It's not true.
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I used to work in an Aluminium Smelter, we used "Liquid Pitch" as a ingredient in the manufacture of diodes. Liquid pitch It is held at about 170°C in massive steel containers on trains and we'd decant it into our storage tanks. Sometimes when we'd attach or detach hoses, an amount would spurt into the air and in the time it takes to do so, roughly 5 seconds, it cools so rapidly from 170 degrees C, to a solid, it hardens and then shatters like glass when it hits the ground. It is highly toxic and corrosive, my nickname "Scar" is derived from an accident at the plant whilst using it on the job. Even a small drop, the size of a pinhead is agonizing, all burns are painful, but pitch burns are terrible because it remains on the skin and must be removed, as well as the skin around it. I don't lament it, it was a fascinating job and one I loved dearly. It's very interesting, the production of aluminimum is an electro-chemical process. An interesting fact, i n it's molten form it's magnetic !
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Oh what a drip!
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Why not call it "The Doppler Experiment" ? After all, THAT'S what it's called..... ahem...... when the pitch drops. - Richard, Wimborne, UK~~~~~~~~ HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA....subtle.....but I LOVE it ! Thanks Richard.......made my day !
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There was a programmeon television about 20ish years ago saying that glass is a liquid still and will drip every 30,000 years or so.
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Talk about insanity? It has also been disclosed that Scientist have also been watching the "White Cliffs Of Dover" for the past 152 years waiting for it to change color.
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What results paint watcher? Either it's a liquid or it isn't, it's not like they're timing the fall to the second or something. And it's affect, Mr. Scholar Man.
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a job for life !
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Why not call it "The Doppler Experiment" ? After all, THAT'S what it's called..... ahem...... when the pitch drops.
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When I was at university thirty years ago there was a display of several substances were running at a very slow rate and would eventually firm drips, as in this case some would take decades. It was amusing to see people stop and watch waiting for something to happen.
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