In the “Frustration” post below I made reference to the fact that we are catching a drip in a large bowl. Kara put a small towel in the bowl as added insurance against spillage since it would absorb some of the water. I didn’t argue with her but I don’t think that helps. In fact, isn’t it counter-productive because we are giving up the volume of the towel? A sponge wouldn’t help either right? Unless the absorbing item is somehow increasing the density of the water it captures, the water will overflow more quickly, right? To a logical extreme, if all the sponges in the ocean were extracted and wrung out into the ocean, the sea level would fall, right? Science teachers? Danny?
3 comments:
Your reasoning sounds good to me. A towel will delay the dripping noise...
I think you can use a towel as a siphon if you had a second bowl you'd only need to empty them half as often... or you could get a bigger bowl... or buy some tortillas.
I think I would opt for placing a towel under and around the bowl to catch the overflow...I would do almost anything not to get up every two hours during the night!
I asked my friend John about this today and he immediately said "it depends" which surprised me. He went on to explain that the towel would increase the evaporation rate by increasing the surface area of the water. But the water is probably not evaporating quickly enough for it to be the better course of action.
John is my favorite person of whom to ask physical sciences questions. He helped me clear up an issue I have had for a long time about Pinewood derby races. Why do people add weight to their cars? When I ask people they usually give the pre-Galilean answer about heavier things falling faster. We still think that after 450 years? John's answer: "The acceleration is the same but the momentum of the more massive cars help them to maintain their speed on the more level track." He's the best.
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