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Separation of Peas and Carrots in Boiling Water
- Source :
-
Physics Teacher . Nov 2021 59(8):643-645. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Frozen peas and carrots are commonly available in grocery stores in the United States. The carrots are cut into cubes roughly 8 mm on a side, while the peas are roughly spherical with a diameter of about 6 mm. They are prepared together in water that is brought to a boil. The peas and carrots, which are initially mixed together, separate as the water is heated. By counting the number of border vs. non-border vegetables before and after boiling, the decrease of the number of vegetables on the border demonstrates separation rather than chance rearrangement with the highly significant value p < 0.00001. The demonstration is a kitchen physics example of pattern formation in nonequilibrium systems.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0031-921X
- Volume :
- 59
- Issue :
- 8
- Database :
- ERIC
- Journal :
- Physics Teacher
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- EJ1330537
- Document Type :
- Journal Articles<br />Reports - Descriptive
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0006916