Did you know that there is a lab experiment which has been going on for the past 100 years!? It is the longest running experiment!
And all it does is to see a LIQUID DROP! Yes!
The only issue is that no one has been able to see the DROP fall by a stoke of bad luck! It is a real testimony of grit and determination!
You would say how hard it is so see a drop fall!? Well in the past hundred years less than nine of them have fallen!
The experiment was started in 1927 by Professor Thomas Parnell, the first physics professor at the University of Queensland in Australia.
Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a sealed glass funnel.
He allowed the pitch to settle and cool for three years!
But what is Pitch you may ask, well Pitch is a black, tar-like, super-viscous polymer mixture that appears solid at room temperature—even shattering like glass if hit with a hammer—but is technically a slow-flowing liquid!
In October 1930, the bottom of the funnel was cut to allow the pitch to begin its incredibly slow journey downward!
In nearly a century, only 9 drops have fallen. For decades, no human observer ever managed to witness a drop actually fall in person!
The 1st Drop happened in 1938 and took nearly a decade after the funnel was cut!
After the fourth drop which fell on 1962 longtime custodian Professor John Mainstone made it the aim of his life to witness a drop but luck was not in his favour! Each time a drop fell, he just missed it by a whisker!
Finally in the year 2000 a webcam was set up, but a blackout caused it to fail during the fall! Talk about bad luck! That was the 8th drop!
Finally when it came for the 9th Drop in April 2014 it was finally caught on camera, though it officially snapped off while the collection beaker was being reset!
Now apparently the interval has slowed down (really!?); because the intervals used to be around 8-10 years! Now 8th and 9th drops have fallen after 12-14 years!
This is happened because of a couple of reasons; In 1988, air conditioning was installed in the Parnell building. This lowered the average ambient room temperature, which automatically increased the viscosity of the pitch, making it flow even slower!
Also there is the fact of the matter of Decreasing Mass! As each drop falls, the remaining volume and mass of the pitch inside the funnel decreases. This reduces the total downward gravitational force pushing the substance through the neck!
So finally the 10th drop is currently forming and is expected to fall sometime in the mid-2030s.
It is being watched all over the world via dedicated 24-7 live streams! If you do not have much work to do then you can see the stream and watch the 10th drop fall!
This is the link
The Tenth Watch for the tenth Pitch Drop. https://share.google/qMDxZTXge78X2x6FD
Experiment and experimental cinema was also the forte of Nana Patekar!
He will be missed….
Heartfelt condolences
Om Shanti…
