# How much longer before the next drop of pitch drops? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201 "2012-12-06T17:00:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/61 "2014-04-21T13:05:05Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > So apparently the 9th drop hasn’t broken free, but it’s already touching the 8th in the beaker: [http://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2014/04/pitch-drop-touches-down-–-oh-so-gently](http://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2014/04/pitch-drop-touches-down-%E2%80%93-oh-so-gently) Doesn’t this mess up the calculations? Or is this purely qualitative? I don’t think there are any calculations, except for an average of the time between past drops. But it seems quite likely to change that time, as now the drop has some degree of support from below to offset the pull of gravity. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/62 "2014-04-21T13:08:08Z")
Will it ever drop? At some point if the weight is supported below I could see the rest of the pitch flowing in like soft serve ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/63 "2014-04-28T04:18:24Z")
It has finally dropped, as can be seen from the live view: [UQ Pitch Drop Experiment](http://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment). The custodian has taken the opportunity to place a new, empty beaker underneath. [Story here](http://www.smh.com.au/national/pitch-err-this-worlds-longestrunning-experiment-finally-drops-20140423-373s6.html) ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/64 "2014-04-28T05:06:40Z")
Huzzah! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/65 "2014-04-28T05:36:48Z")
So I guess this thread is now going to become dormant before being revived as a zombie in about 2027. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/66 "2014-04-28T05:53:54Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > So I guess this thread is now going to become dormant before being revived as a zombie in about 2027. You win the thread, sir. Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/67 "2014-04-29T03:56:07Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > It has finally dropped, as can be seen from the live view: [UQ Pitch Drop Experiment](http://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment). > > The custodian has taken the opportunity to place a new, empty beaker underneath. > > [Story here](http://www.smh.com.au/national/pitch-err-this-worlds-longestrunning-experiment-finally-drops-20140423-373s6.html) Is there a video of the actual drop? ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/68 "2014-04-29T11:32:17Z")
So it dropped even though the bottom was already resting on the previous drop? Seems they should refill the funnel, or the drops will get slower and slower. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/69 "2014-04-30T00:06:20Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > So it dropped even though the bottom was already resting on the previous drop? Seems they should refill the funnel, or the drops will get slower and slower. Probably more interesting to observe that slowing than to just keep it going. Anyway, probably have another couple of decades to think about the issue… ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/70 "2014-04-30T00:18:38Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Is there a video of the actual drop? The [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitch_drop_experiment) on the experiment includes some details that I haven’t seen in any of the newspaper articles, and states that the ninth drop did not actually drop unaided: > [@](#): > > The ninth drop touched the eighth drop on 17 April 2014. However, it was still attached to the funnel. On 24 April 2014, Pitch Drop custodian Andrew White decided to replace the beaker holding the previous eight drops before the ninth drop fused to them. While lifting the bell jar, the wooden base wobbled and the ninth drop snapped away from the funnel. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/71 "2014-04-30T01:12:27Z")
I like the mention that the pitch is flowing 10 times slower than Australia is moving northwards. Yes, we’ve made something that _can’t catch up to continental drift_. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/72 "2014-04-30T02:01:09Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I like the mention that the pitch is flowing 10 times slower than Australia is moving northwards. Yes, we’ve made something that _can’t catch up to continental drift_. It’s not that impressive. You should have seen how my grandmother used to drive. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/73 "2014-04-30T08:15:10Z")
Continental drift - 5 mm/month (6 cm a year) Fingernail growth - 3 mm/month Pitch (here) - 0.5 mm/month (10 times as slow as continental drift) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/74 "2014-04-30T09:15:04Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I like the mention that the pitch is flowing 10 times slower than Australia is moving northwards. Yes, we’ve made something that _can’t catch up to continental drift_. Take a look at [this machine](http://www.exploratorium.edu/sites/default/files/Ganson%20960x453.jpg). It’s an electric motor driving a series of 1/50 reduction gears. It will take more than two trillion years for the final gear to make one revolution. The output shaft is embedded in concrete. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/75 "2014-04-30T09:30:59Z")
That is so cool. Is there video of that running? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/76 "2014-04-30T14:17:37Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > That is so cool. Is there video of that running? If so, I hope the background music is John Cage’s [ASAP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible). ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/77 "2014-04-30T18:03:53Z")
Quote: The ninth drop touched the eighth drop on 17 April 2014. However, it was still attached to the funnel. On 24 April 2014, Pitch Drop custodian Andrew White decided to replace the beaker holding the previous eight drops before the ninth drop fused to them. While lifting the bell jar, the wooden base wobbled and the ninth drop snapped away from the funnel. Shouldn’t they have to start all over again? You mess with your controls, you skew your data. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/78 "2014-04-30T22:19:30Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Shouldn’t they have to start all over again? You mess with your controls, you skew your data. I don’t think the experiment was ever intended to be especially ‘controlled’, but simply a demonstration of the fluidity of a seemingly solid substance. The conditions would have changed quite a lot over the years. The apparatus has been moved around from location to location - it was hidden away in a cupboard for a while. And air-conditioning was installed in the building at some stage, stabilising the temperature and increasing the period between drops. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201/79 "2014-12-05T03:31:46Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Quote: > The ninth drop touched the eighth drop on 17 April 2014. However, it was still attached to the funnel. On 24 April 2014, Pitch Drop custodian Andrew White decided to replace the beaker holding the previous eight drops before the ninth drop fused to them. While lifting the bell jar, the wooden base wobbled and the ninth drop snapped away from the funnel. > Shouldn’t they have to start all over again? You mess with your controls, you skew your data. Mainstone wouldn’t have messed it up. Damn noob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-longer-before-the-next-drop-of-pitch-drops/643201.md?page=3)