What you’re looking at is a Pythagorean cup, a vessel that will spill all the drink in it if you get greedy. Doesn’t make much sense, right? Alright, let us explain it to you in layman terms. Say you want to drink a glass of water, so you start pouring water into this cup. As long as the water you’ve added is not more than the markings, you are good to go. However, if you add more water above the markings, the whole drink will spill from beneath the cup, and the cup will become empty.
How does this work? The Pythagorean cup features a column in the middle of the cup that is the key component of triggering the spilling mechanism. The cup works by using Pascal’s principle of communicating vessels. The principle, simply put, says that a set of connected containers with the particular liquid contained inside them will have the liquid at the same level in all containers.
So, how does Pythagorean cup incorporate this principle? When you over-pour water, the water in the shorter and first pipe passes over to the second and longer pipe, thus causing a siphon. This siphon then starts draining the cup through the first pipe until it becomes empty.
Check it out in action below.
Isn’t this the perfect device for greedy people? Share your views by commenting below.
Images via pythagoreancup.com