The Washington Post last month quoted a paper published in the European Journal of Physics which concluded that chocolate fountains can be great tools for studying basic maths. The paper referred to researchers from the University College London who investigated the physics that make curtains of chocolate in a fountain slope inward instead of going straight down.
The researchers, Adam Townsend, a mathematics student at University College London, and Helen Wilson, from UCL Mathematics, found that the sheet of chocolate pulls inwards, instead of straight downward when flowed through a chocolate fountain, because of surface tension.
It might not seem important at face value, the researchers say, but their findings mean these delicious bubblers can be used to test the same basic principles that govern everything from lava flow to the extraction of plasma from nuclear reactors.
Like these more dangerous fluids, melted chocolate is non-Newtonian, which basically means it flows in strange ways. “Apart from the fact that they’re super cool and delicious, from a scientific perspective chocolate fountains provide an introduction to non-Newtonian fluids,” said Townsend.
When his co-author Wilson asked colleagues in the applied mathematics department why they thought chocolate formed an inward-flowing curtain, she got a handful of different ideas – so she decided someone should figure it out for certain.
Townsend and Wilson set out to match up mathematical equations to the chocolatey reality of a fountain. They found that the physics of chocolate followed the same principles as ‘water bells’.
“You can build a water bell really easily in your kitchen,” Wilson said. “Just fix a pen vertically under a tap with a coin flat on top and you’ll see a beautiful bell-shaped fountain of water.”
Townsend is now close to completing his PhD, studying fluids that are less fun than chocolate. But he and Wilson do lectures with their fountain, using the basic principles they learned to convince teens maths can be interesting.
Townsend estimates he’s bought about 45 kilos of chocolate. Throwing it away in the lab, he said, was “heartbreaking”. But, luckily, students he lectures are happy to help him dispose of the stuff.
We must adopt new ways and means to make the subject matter intrinsically attractive and tasty even
“It’s a nice thing, having a chocolate fountain at a lecture because they come up afterwards wanting to eat some – and then they ask questions,” Townsend concluded.
These findings are very important to us. I cannot understand how our mathematical gurus did not grasp this research study and analyse whether there are any benefits that can be reaped out of it and adapt it to the local scene, which, as we know, is in a very bad state indeed.
From year to year, we are noticing that the number of students failing in their maths Matsec ordinary and advanced level is on the increase. In 2015, the percentage of failures in the maths ordinary level examination was 60 per cent, compared to 44 per cent in 2013.
In 2013, a total of 2,168 out of 4,879 students failed and, last year, 2,314 candidates failed. In 2013, one third of the students who sat for the Matsec advanced level examination in maths failed, according to statistics published by the University of Malta.
It is true that the likelihood is that we do not know how to make the subject of mathematics exciting to students. It will be a good opportunity to invite Townsend to Malta to tell us more about how we can learn about this area of mathematics with a chocolate fountain as their research made it easier for people to understand the mechanics behind chocolate fountains that everyone is fond of.
As Townsend rightly pointed out, maths is more than Pythagoras’ theorem: “I’ve been talking at mathematics enrichment events around London for the last few years. If I can convince just one person that maths is more than Pythagoras’ theorem, I will have succeeded.”
Mathematics can be used in many aspects of life, including important industries, he says.
We recognise we have a problem, now let us also recognise that we need to adopt new ways and means how to make the subject matter intrinsically attractive and tasty even.
Anna Mallia is a lawyer.