Inside: Find out how many pennies it takes to break spaghetti and learn about the science behind why spaghetti breaks in the first place.
Do your kids eat a lot of spaghetti?
Some weeks I feel caught in a spaghetti trap. No matter how many amazingly creative and nutritious meals I cook for my family, they ask for pasta.
Some philosophers may argue that it’s a great example of cosmic irony. You see, I follow a keto lifestyle, which means I never eat pasta.
Never.
But I certainly cook it a lot!
So, I figured I would use my kids’ spaghetti passion to learn some physics with them.
Get ready to be amazed! I’m serious. Did you think spaghetti doesn’t hold any mystery for you?! Let’s find out!
Understanding the Physics of Breaking Spaghetti
Breaking spaghetti with pennies may seem like a simple task, but it involves a complex interplay of physics principles. The bending of the spaghetti strand causes internal forces to build up, creating internal tension. This, in turn, leads to the formation of a fracture.
The thickness and length of the spaghetti strand directly affect its resistance to bending and, subsequently, to breaking. A longer and thinner strand generates more internal stress than a shorter and thicker strand. This is why longer spaghetti strands tend to break into smaller pieces than shorter ones.
Did you know that engineers systematically study how things break so that they can build structures that don’t break easily? What a job!
Why Spaghetti Shatters into 3 or More Pieces
You might have noticed that it’s almost impossible to break spaghetti in half. When attempting to break spaghetti, it usually shatters into three or more pieces rather than just two. This is a common phenomenon that has baffled scientists for years. Ha-ha! However, physicists have finally shed some light on the matter.
When spaghetti is bent, it experiences elastic energy, which builds up until it reaches a critical point and breaks. This elastic energy is stored in the form of waves that travel through the strand, and when it reaches a point of maximum curvature, the strand breaks.
If the spaghetti strand is long, more than one point of maximum curvature can occur, resulting in multiple breaks. This is why spaghetti usually shatters into multiple pieces, even when only one force is applied.
Now that we understand how spaghetti breaks, let’s move on to a step-by-step guide for breaking spaghetti using only pennies.
What you need
Spaghetti noodles (we used gluten-free because that’s what we use)
lots of pennies (from your penny jar)
a flat surface
a piece of string
yogurt cup or paper cup
punch hole
a bunch of books
Step-by-Step Experiment Instructions
Now that we understand the science behind spaghetti breaking let’s begin the experiment and break it with pennies.
Here are the step-by-step instructions:
1. Gather the materials and make a prediction
Gather the materials and make a prediction: How many pennies do you think you can put in the bucket before spaghetti breaks? You can start with just one strand (spaghetto is a proper word for the singular form of this type of pasta) and move on to a larger number (spaghetti is a plural form).
You can also go ahead and come up with a hypothesis for your experiment. A hypothesis is a written statement and not a question. An example of a hypothesis can be:
It will take 100 pennies to break 10 strands of spaghetti suspended between two stacks of books.
2. Prepare the bucket
Prepare the bucket by using a punch hole to punch two holes just under the rim of the cup on opposite sides of each other.
Pull a string through the two holes in your cup and tie it to form a handle for your bucket.
3. Set up the experiment
Suspend the pasta between the stacks of books, and hang the empty buckets on one or more strings of spaghetti.
You need more books than you think because spaghetti bends quite a bit, so your basket is going to move down!
4. Place pennies one by one inside the bucket
Slowly place one penny inside the bucket.
Repeat until the spaghetti breaks.
Were you close? My kids were all eagerly cheering for their selected number! Their estimates ranged from 10 to 200 pennies.
Once the experiment is complete, it’s time to analyze the results.
Analyzing the Results
One thing we quickly discovered with our experiment is that there is strength in numbers. It took only 10 pennies to break 2 strands of spaghetti, so it would have been reasonable to expect that it would take about 50 pennies to break 10 strands of spaghetti. Why? Because in our estimation, since we quintupled pasta (increased it five-fold), we expected that a five-fold increase in pennies would break them (10 x 5 = 50).
But it wasn’t the case!
In fact, it took more than twice as much (108 pennies!) to break 10 strands of spaghetti.
Tips for Future Experiments
As with any scientific experiment, there is always room for further exploration.
One avenue to explore is experimenting with different types of pasta. We are planning to try Fettuccine next time we do this activity.
Testing out the breaking capabilities of different pasta could lead to new and exciting discoveries.
In addition, playing with the weight and size of the coins used in the experiment can also yield interesting results. By using quarters or nickels, we may be able to change the way the noodle breaks.
Finally, adjusting the position of a bucket could also be an interesting variable to explore in future experiments. By changing where the bucket is hung, off center, and closer to one stack of books, we may be able to influence the outcome.
Breaking spaghetti with pennies may seem like a simple experiment, but it actually teaches us a lot about physics. By exploring the forces behind the break, we see how delicate objects can respond to impact. With step-by-step instructions and tips for future experiments, this activity is perfect for families looking to explore the world of physics in a practical and exciting way. So next time you’re in the kitchen, grab your pennies and give it a try – who knows what you might discover!
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