Of course you already know that the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second! But now you can confirm that figure by playing kitchen scientist and melting chocolate. Plus you can eat the disgusting results.
It's a physics experiment for all your leftover Valentine's Day candy. And if you didn't get any, there's sure to be some at the store for discounted prices.
Here's what to do:
1) Make sure the candy is in a microwave-proof box. Or take the chocolate out and put in a microwave safe dish.
2) Remove the turntable in your oven. (You want the candy to stay still while you heat it.) Put an upside-down plate over the turning-thingy, and place your dish of candy on top.
3) Heat on high about 20 seconds.
4) Take the chocolate out and look for hot spots. Depending on the candy you use, you may have to feel the candy to see where it has softened. For example, with the cherry cordials used in a test, there were several shiny spots and one place where the chocolate shell melted through, releasing the sweet syrup inside.
5) Measure the distance between two adjacent spots. This should be the distance between the peak and the valley (crest and trough) of the wave. Since the wavelength is the distance between two crests, multiply by 2. Finally, multiply that result by the frequency expressed in hertz or 2,450,000,000 (2.45 X 109)
Simple, right?. The final number in this example was a bit lower than the actual speed of light, but it's as close as you'll get considering the difficulty of finding the exact "hot spots" to measure from. And not having instruments to measure nanometers.
Here's what to do:1) Make sure the candy is in a microwave-proof box. Or take the chocolate out and put in a microwave safe dish.
2) Remove the turntable in your oven. (You want the candy to stay still while you heat it.) Put an upside-down plate over the turning-thingy, and place your dish of candy on top.
3) Heat on high about 20 seconds.
4) Take the chocolate out and look for hot spots. Depending on the candy you use, you may have to feel the candy to see where it has softened. For example, with the cherry cordials used in a test, there were several shiny spots and one place where the chocolate shell melted through, releasing the sweet syrup inside.
5) Measure the distance between two adjacent spots. This should be the distance between the peak and the valley (crest and trough) of the wave. Since the wavelength is the distance between two crests, multiply by 2. Finally, multiply that result by the frequency expressed in hertz or 2,450,000,000 (2.45 X 109)
Simple, right?. The final number in this example was a bit lower than the actual speed of light, but it's as close as you'll get considering the difficulty of finding the exact "hot spots" to measure from. And not having instruments to measure nanometers.
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