I never thought my baby would teach me science before learning to even speak; I thought I was the one that will finally make good use of all my science education when my son is growing up and needs a conversation partner when it comes to matters of physics and mathematics. Actually studying together after school, my son sitting in the kitchen, me cooking our dinner, my son asking me about why the sky is blue (I would ask him why the green traffic lights are called blue in Japan, but that is a story for another day) or how to find the solution to a trigonometric problem, is an image I hold as a very happy hopefully-one-day-come-true-dream. The other day I experienced the opposite.
I admit I have not given it a lot of thought, but the mechanics of a siphon is one of those things that even when you understand them can seem like magic – liquid moving up through a pipe with nothing sucking it out. Maybe there was some physics lesson many years ago when we did some experiment with a siphon and I remember talk about using a hose to siphon petrol from the tank of a car, but seeing it in action in every day life is a completely different thing. So, my son was very thirsty and he emptied his water bottle mug sucking air through the built in straw and showed me he wanted more water. I filled the mug up for him and he had a little sip in the kitchen before taking the mug-bottle back to his seat at the table, putting it on the little tray in front of his baby chair. Or so I thought.
When I was finished in the kitchen I heard a dripping sound and looked over to the table only to see an empty mug lying on its side and water dripping from the table down on the floor. My little boy had set in motion the siphon mechanism when lying the mug on his chair, and as amazed as I was to see the mug being empty, I was equally amazed at the engineering behind a mug that allows a baby to empty it simply by lying it down – is there no better way of doing it? I will try to see if I can manage to recreate the siphon effect tonight after having done the dishes, mimic my baby playing science at home.
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