Rocket-powered Coke - food physics in action
Don’t try this at home. You could try it in the pub. You might get thrown out for firing diet Coke ten metres in the air though. Perhaps the garden would be best.
The Institute of Physics (IOP) has teamed up with the Institute of Food Research (IFR) to produce a funky range of beer mats and sandwich bags exclusive to Norwich.
They feature questions such as ‘How does lipstick affect your beer drinking?’ or ‘How do you make the perfect cuppa?’. If you go to find the answer online, you will be rewarded with pub tricks such as how to turn a full pint glass upside-down without getting thrown out for making a mess, and the lowdown on why a packet of Mentos can send a bottle of Coke sky-high.
“We wanted to get people talking about physics with their friends and colleagues,” says Elizabeth Jeavans, Outreach Officer from the Institute of Physics. “So we had to choose a subject that everyone could directly relate to, something they come across in their everyday life which is why we settled on the physics of food and drink.
“And what better place to run the campaign than in Norwich, home of the IFR.”
The questions on the beer mats and sandwich bags have multiple choice answers for you to either answer by text, or on the website www.physics.org. There you will be able to find out if you answered correctly, or how many people agree with you. You will be able to read more about the physics behind the question.
”I found out from the physicists at IFR that the shapes etched into the bottom of a pint glass aren’t there just for decoration but actually help promote the bubbles forming. I asked friends when we were out for a drink why they thought the etchings were there and they had no idea. I think it’s great that physics can explain little every day things like this and so, it seems, do my friends.” says Elizabeth.
The beer mats will be going out to central Norwich pubs from 15 December and will run over the Christmas period. The sandwich bags will be used by a selection of central Norwich cafes from 5 January – you might pick one up on your lunch break in the New Year.
The campaign will have 50,000 mats going out and 75,000 bags. Even if you don’t get to see the mats or bags in the next few months you can still go to www.physics.org to try your hand at all six questions and find out about the physics in your food and drink.
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Contacts
IFR Press Office
Zoe Dunford, Tel: 01603 255111, email: zoe.dunford@ifr.ac.uk
Andrew Chapple, Tel: 01603 251490, email: andrew.chapple@ifr.ac.uk
Elizabeth Jeavans, Institute of Physics, Tel: 020 7470 4800, Mobile: 07771 507 713
E-mail: elizabeth.jeavans@iop.org
Notes to editors
1. The mission of the Institute of Food Research (www.ifr.ac.uk) is to undertake international quality scientific research relevant to food and human health and to work in partnership with others to provide underpinning science for consumers, policy makers, the food industry and academia. It is a company limited by guarantee, with charitable status, grant aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (www.bbsrc.ac.uk).
2. Physics.org is a searchable database of physics resources, which
matches a person's questions, ages and knowledge to handpicked sites.
3. The Institute of Physics is a scientific membership organisation
devoted to increasing the understanding and application of physics. It
has an extensive worldwide membership (currently over 34 000) and is a
leading communicator of physics with all audiences from specialists
through government to the general public. Its publishing company, IOP
Publishing, is a world leader in scientific publishing and the
electronic dissemination of physics.
The information and images contained within these pages are © Institute of Food Research unless otherwise stated. Information may be downloaded for educational and research purposes as long as the source is clearly credited.
