The popping sound made by popcorn is normally viewed as a pleasing cue that your snack is ready to eat, but for scientists the phenomenon represented one of nature's significant unsolved problems.
Now a French team say they have settled the question of why popcorn pops. Their study concludes that rather than being due to the brittle kernels cracking open or ricocheting around the pan, the distinctive 'pop' is due to pressurised water vapour rapidly escaping from the interior. As the vapour is expelled, the cavity inside the kernel acts as an 'acoustic resonator' resulting in an audible pop.
1 comment(s):
I learned this when I was a kid and I am almost 50 years old now. How is it that the French scientists are JUST figuring this out?
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