1 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production of I Heart Radios 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and I love all things tech, and guys, 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: things have gotten a little hectic over at I Heart 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: Radio headquarters. We're running around all over the place working 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: on special projects. And the way it impacts us right now, guys, 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: is that I just haven't had the time to be 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: able to research and write full new episodes. So we're 10 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: gonna be doing a couple of reruns just for the 11 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: time being. Don't worry. New episodes are right around the corner. 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: I just I need to be in the same city 13 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: for two days in a row and then I think 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: I can probably you know, bang a couple out. But 15 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: in the meantime, I thought maybe we would enjoy this episode, 16 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: which originally aired back in two thousand sixteen. It's called 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,960 Speaker 1: How Tech Could Make Better Chocolate, and it's all about 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: a a Temple University project in which scientists were using 19 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: electric fields to improve chocolate. And you know, being the 20 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: holiday season with lots of chocolate all around, I figured 21 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: what better time to revisit this than Now, so enjoy 22 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: this classic episode. How Stuff Works Now if you aren't familiar, 23 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: is our more news oriented page, So if you go 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: to now dot how stuff works dot com you can 25 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: see it. We have a lot more stories that are 26 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: reflective of things that are unfolding now, thus the name, 27 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: and we also do video for that. There's also a 28 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: podcast hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. You can subscribe to that 29 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works Now. It's a summary of some of 30 00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: the stories that we cover each week. So if you're 31 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,840 Speaker 1: not familiar with that, go check it out. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, 32 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: I did this story about chocolate and making sure you 33 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: could reduce the viscosity of liquid chocolate so that it 34 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: does and gum up stuff because one of the challenges 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: of working with chocolate is making sure that it doesn't 36 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: clog up the pipes like Augustus Gloop in Willy Wonka. 37 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: So a consulting firm working on behalf of Mars Incorporated, 38 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,800 Speaker 1: which is a giant candy company that makes a lot 39 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: of different chocolate products. This consulting firm went to a 40 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: group of physicists at Temple University, and physicist is one 41 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: of those words. I have difficulty pronouncing. I think I 42 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,880 Speaker 1: might just say scientists. Scientists at Temple University. Hey, that's 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: way better. And these guys have developed a method to 44 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: make crude oil flow more easily through pipes using electric fields. 45 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: So the question that the consulting firm had was could 46 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: you do the same thing you did for crude oil 47 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: for chocolate? And here's a spoiler alert, Yeah they could. 48 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,120 Speaker 1: But I want to talk more about what they did 49 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: and how they did it because it's it's a really 50 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: interesting story. So I'm gonna go into a bit more 51 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: detail about the physics and the technology behind the scientist 52 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: solution for this problem. It's pretty cool and a lot 53 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: of it was stuff I had no idea about before 54 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: I began to research the story. So today's episode is 55 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: going to be about chocolate. It's gonna be about viscous fluids, 56 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: about electro real logical fluids, and how an electric field 57 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: can change their fluid I properties, specifically viscosity. So yeah, 58 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: this episode is gonna be science heavy. But here's also chocolate, 59 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,839 Speaker 1: so stick around. You know, everyone loves chocolate. So let's 60 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: get into the physics first. Now, fluid dynamics is pretty 61 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: complicated and also there's some stuff that's related to this 62 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: that falls into the category of misinformation about viscosity. So 63 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: I'll be talking a lot about not just the principles 64 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: in general, but some specific uh myths that I would 65 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: like to bust, as some of my former workers used 66 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: to do on a regular basis. So, first of all, 67 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: viscosity is a property of fluids or semi fluids, and 68 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: it can be described as a fluids thickness or stickiness 69 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: and its resistance to flowing due to internal friction. More accurately, 70 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluids 71 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: deformation due to tensile or shear stress. Now, shear stress 72 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: is mechanical stress that's parallel to the surface of that substance. 73 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: So you could think of sheer stress as it's not perpendicular. 74 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: It's not like an impact, right, it's more of a 75 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: tearing ten style. Stress is a pulling stress rather than 76 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: a compression stress. So again, instead of compressing stuff closer together, 77 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: it's about pulling stuff further apart. And water has a 78 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: pretty low viscosity, Honey has a very high viscosity. So 79 00:04:56,279 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: we actually measure viscosity and units called poises p o 80 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: I s e s. Water at room temperature twenty degrease 81 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: celsius or so has a viscosity of zero point zero 82 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: one poises or a center poise. In other words, a 83 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,720 Speaker 1: thick oil might have a viscosity of one point zero poise. Now, 84 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: we measure viscosity with a viscometer. I'm not making that up. 85 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: That's actually the name of the tool used to measure 86 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: a fluids viscosity. Now, typically we will call a liquid 87 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: viscous if its viscosity is higher than that of waters, 88 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: and if the viscosity is lower than that of waters, 89 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: because water is not the least viscous material that we 90 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 1: know of, if it has a lower viscosity than water, 91 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: we call that fluid mobile. So some fluids are so 92 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 1: viscous that they can actually seem to be a solid. 93 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: And this leads us to that misinformation I was talking about. 94 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,240 Speaker 1: It's one of those things that I hear bandied about 95 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 1: prey the well, not not not as frequently as it 96 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: used to, but it's one of those miss understandings that 97 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 1: gets passed around its fact every now and again, and 98 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: that is the idea that glass is one of these 99 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: fluids that glass is actually a fluid that is um 100 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: so viscous that it appears to be a solid, and 101 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: that is not true. Glass is not a very very 102 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: viscous fluid. It's a little more complicated than that. Uh So, 103 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: here's the basic idea. People have noticed that if they 104 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: look at windows and very old buildings like medieval churches, 105 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,239 Speaker 1: they see that the base of the window is thicker 106 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: than the top of the window. And this has led 107 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: some people to conclude, to jump to a conclusion that 108 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,679 Speaker 1: the reason why the base is thicker than the top 109 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: is that glass, over the course of centuries has been 110 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: flowing downward and that it's so low that it's not 111 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: detectable under normal situations. It's only over the course of 112 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: centuries that you can see the difference. Uh. Here's the 113 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,640 Speaker 1: problem is that that's just not that's not the case. 114 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: That's not true. It's not what's happening. Uh. If you 115 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: look at the glass making approach in the Middle Ages, 116 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: you'll see why there's a thicker part of the pane 117 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: of glass. Glass was created generally speaking, in the Middle 118 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 1: Ages through something called the crown glass process. It's a 119 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: pretty neat idea pretty neat way of making glass windows. 120 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: Here's how it worked in general. First, you get your 121 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: raw materials to make glass, and in the Middle Ages 122 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: that was essentially sand and potash, and you mix it 123 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: together and you melt them in a very hot furnace. 124 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: Then you would get a glass blower with a pipe 125 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: and they would get roll out a lump of molten glass, 126 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: put on the ype blow out the glass. So they 127 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: expand the glass outward before flattening it, so they don't 128 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: just you know, create a globe of glass, they actually 129 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: flatten it back out. Then, with the flat glass, which 130 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: is still hot and still malleable, it hasn't cool to 131 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: the point where it is really solidified, you would put 132 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,240 Speaker 1: that on a disk, a spinning disk, and the disk 133 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: spins around to draw out the glass to flatten it further. 134 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: Sort of like how a pizza maker will toss and 135 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: spend dough in the air in order to make that 136 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: circular pizza. It's kind of similar to that. So the 137 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,599 Speaker 1: disc spins and the centripetal force, if you like this, 138 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: pushing the glass outward toward the edges. So then once 139 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: that's done, you would cut the glass into panes so 140 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: that you could fit them in a window. Now, that 141 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: would mean that when you would get anywhere close to 142 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: where the edge of the glass was, the outer edge, 143 00:08:57,480 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: because you put the glass on that disk and you 144 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: spun it around, the outer edge was thicker than the 145 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: rest of the glass, just because that's where the excess 146 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: was accumulating as it was being uh pushed outward due 147 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: to the spinning motion. So typically window makers would cut 148 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: pains so that a thicker edge would only be on 149 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: one side, and they put that side at the bottom 150 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,160 Speaker 1: at the base of the window, so glass didn't flow 151 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: to the base over hundreds of years. It started out 152 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: like like that. It was like that from the beginning. 153 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: That being said, glass is a really interesting substance. It's 154 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: what we would call an amorphous solid, so saying that 155 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 1: it's a fluid or a liquid is not accurate. But 156 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: it is an amorphous solid, which is a little hinky 157 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: compared to other materials that you might be familiar with. 158 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: So typically not everything, obviously metals and glass being exceptions, 159 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: but a lot of solids have an ordered crystalline structure, 160 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,959 Speaker 1: so that means the molecules are organized in a pretty 161 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: regular lattice. They form a nice repeating pattern that goes 162 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: throughout the entire material. When you heat up this solid, 163 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: those molecules start to shimmy and shake. Some of the 164 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: molecular bonds might start to break down a little bit, 165 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 1: the bonds between one molecule and another. The essentially the 166 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:27,079 Speaker 1: crystalline order breaks down. And if you heat a solid 167 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: beyond its melting point, the crystalline structure completely breaks down 168 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: and molecules will begin to flow freely, or as freely 169 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: as the viscosity of that fluid allows, and there's a 170 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: very clear delineation between the solid and liquid stages. You 171 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:47,719 Speaker 1: can see the difference molecularly from the way this substance 172 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: looks when it's in solid form versus in liquid form, 173 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: and we call that delineation that border between the two 174 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: the first order phase transition. It's obvious when you look 175 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:03,280 Speaker 1: at it from a microscopic standpoint. I mean it's obvious 176 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: from a macroscopic standpoint too, because a solid behaves one way, 177 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: in a liquid behaves another way. Now, when you cool 178 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: a liquid down, its viscosity tends to increase. If you 179 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,199 Speaker 1: introduce a nucleation site into the liquid, crystals can form 180 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 1: and you get that nice solid structure again, once you 181 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:27,720 Speaker 1: get down below what the melting point was. Uh, but 182 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: glass doesn't do this. Glass doesn't form a crystalline structure. 183 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,959 Speaker 1: Glasses viscosity increases, so it does what other fluids do 184 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: at that point. But since it doesn't crystallize, it solidifies 185 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: in a different way. The molecules actually form an irregular arrangement, 186 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,599 Speaker 1: not that nice ordered structure that you see another solids, 187 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: but that a regular arrangement is still cohesive enough to 188 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: maintain rigidity. So glass does become a solid, It's just 189 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: not a crysp let solid. It's an amorphous solid. Jonathan 190 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: from two thousand nineteen breaking in to say, we'll be 191 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:18,000 Speaker 1: right back after this quick break. Now, there's no first 192 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:20,800 Speaker 1: order phase transition here. It's not like if you looked 193 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,600 Speaker 1: at the liquid form of glass and the solid form 194 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,439 Speaker 1: of glass, you would see a massive difference in the 195 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: molecular structure. But there is a second order transition. Now. 196 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 1: That transition is a little more subtle than first order 197 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: transitions and involves the thermal expansion and heat capacity of 198 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: a material, so it wouldn't be as obvious to casual 199 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: observation on a microscopic level, but there would still be 200 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: differences with the thermodynamics of the material, so we still 201 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: would say the glass is a solid, not a liquid. 202 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,360 Speaker 1: All right, I'm done with glass now, I promise. I 203 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,680 Speaker 1: had to go on that little track just because it 204 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,719 Speaker 1: was related to the stuff I was talking about, and 205 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: I get really irritated seeing that one myth passed around 206 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,080 Speaker 1: as fact. So now you know, if you ever go 207 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,200 Speaker 1: through a a tour and the tour guide says and 208 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 1: the reason that the windows are thicker at the bottom 209 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: is because glass flows over the course of hundreds of years, 210 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:23,040 Speaker 1: you can raise your hand and say, well, actually, and 211 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: tell them Josh Clark sent you, because I don't want 212 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: that kind of burden on me. I like being able 213 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:32,080 Speaker 1: to take tours. Anyway, Let's get back to viscosty in general. So, 214 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: like I said earlier, viscosty is due to internal friction 215 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: of a liquid. And you might think that that sounds weird, 216 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 1: like how can a liquid have friction inside of it? 217 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,880 Speaker 1: But we're talking about liquids specifically that have like molecules, 218 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: and those molecules can have a tendency to resist getting 219 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 1: by each other. So some molecules are more resistant to 220 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,319 Speaker 1: slipping by each other than others, or a liquid could 221 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: actually have particles that are suspended in it. It could 222 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: be a suspension, which is different than just a pure liquid. 223 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: But if it's a suspension, it's got particles suspended within 224 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: the liquid at some level of density, right Like some 225 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 1: maybe a pretty weak suspension where you don't have a 226 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: whole lot, but others could have a greater density of 227 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: particles inside a suspension of fluid. Make chocolate bars, let's say, 228 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: and you're laying out melted chocolate into the mold for 229 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: the chocolate bars, uh, and it clogs up and you 230 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: have to stop production and clean out the clog and 231 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: get everything back up to temperature and start it all 232 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: over again. It's time consuming and expensive when that happens. 233 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: So one solution to preventing it from happening is dilute 234 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: the cacao more so that those particles don't clump up 235 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: as much because there there's a less dense coco component 236 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: in the fluid. That essentially means replacing cacao with something else, 237 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: typically something that is less viscous, like that oil that 238 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: fat essentially, so you usually add more fat to the 239 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: recipe so you get the more fat but less cacao. However, 240 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: it ends up flowing better and creates the chocolate bars 241 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: that you want without creating the clogs. But it's not 242 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: necessarily the best product you could create. It's just the 243 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: most convenient based upon the method of production. So that's 244 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: where this alternative solution comes in. If you could change 245 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: the shape of those cacao particles in the fluid so 246 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: that they packed together more effectively, you would reduce that viscosity, 247 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: that internal friction of the fluid. So imagine you've got 248 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 1: one of those inflated rubber balls, like like a kickball 249 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: or something. Now, imagine that you're able to grab hold 250 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: on either side of this ball and pull it outward 251 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,240 Speaker 1: so that you're elongating it. Now it would become a 252 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: more of an oval shape, or as the researchers at 253 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: Temple University called them, prolate spheroids. Now, the interesting thing 254 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: about these prolate spheroids is if you align them in 255 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: the direction of the flow of chocolate, you can pack 256 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: more of them together. They have these elongated sides, and 257 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: they will fit together much more snuggly. You can create 258 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:28,440 Speaker 1: chains of them and chocolate would flow much more readily. 259 00:16:28,480 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: But how do you change the shape of those COCU particles. 260 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,400 Speaker 1: What is it that you could do to make them 261 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:41,400 Speaker 1: actually assume a different shape than their natural globular ball 262 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: like shape. This is where electric fields come in. Uh, 263 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about applying magnetic or electric fields to 264 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: a fluid to changes viscosity. But first, this doesn't work 265 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: with every fluid. Uh. Not every fluid reacts to electric 266 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: fields and magnetic fields in a way that will alter 267 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 1: its viscosity. But it does work in fluids that have 268 00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:08,880 Speaker 1: certain non conducting or weakly conducting particles suspended in an 269 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 1: electrically insulating fluid. Now we call this a special type 270 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: of liquid, electro reological fluid. Electrohological fluids essentially means that 271 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: when you apply an electric or magnetic field to such 272 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,080 Speaker 1: a fluid, it changes its viscosity. Sometimes we also call 273 00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: them smart fluids, But more about that in a bit now. Interestingly, 274 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:35,719 Speaker 1: the property was completely discovered by chance. There was an 275 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: inventor named Willis Winslow who observed the effect in the 276 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:45,360 Speaker 1: nineteen forties, and he actually patented it in nineteen seven. Now, 277 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: for this reason, we sometimes call this effect of changing 278 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: an electroheological fluids viscosity the Winslow effect, and I'll mostly 279 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: be using that term from here here on out, because 280 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: there's only so many times I'm gonna be able to 281 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,719 Speaker 1: say electroheological before my mouth just decides to rebel against 282 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: the rest of me and march out the door. And 283 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: as entertaining as that would be kind of needed. Hey, 284 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: it's modern day, Jonathan again. We're going to take another 285 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: quick break to thank our sponsor and we'll be right back, 286 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,919 Speaker 1: all right. So, applying an electric or magnetic field to 287 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: such a fluid changes that fluids viscosity within meliseconds like 288 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: it's practically instantaneous, and if you remove the field, the 289 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: particles in the fluid will snap back to their original shape, 290 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:44,160 Speaker 1: to the fluid's viscosity will return to what it normally 291 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: would be. So the change isn't permanent. It only persists 292 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: as long as the respective field persists, which is super 293 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: cool because you can do these temporary changes that are 294 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,399 Speaker 1: really useful in specific situations and then have it go 295 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: back to normal and it's like it never happened in 296 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: the first place. But one thing to keep in mind 297 00:19:06,119 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: is the direction of the electric or magnetic field is 298 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:14,360 Speaker 1: critically important when you want to make a particular effect. So, 299 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: in the case of chocolate, if you apply the electric 300 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:22,200 Speaker 1: field perpendicular to the direction of flow, you will actually 301 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: increase the viscosity of the chocolate. You will make it 302 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: thicker more like a gel. Melted chocolate will turn into 303 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: this kind of thick gel. It'll otherwise have all the 304 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:38,800 Speaker 1: same properties that had before, but the viscosity will increase dramatically. However, 305 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,320 Speaker 1: if you were to apply that electric field in the 306 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,719 Speaker 1: direction of the flow of chocolate, then you would decrease 307 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: the viscosity of chocolate and it will flow more freely 308 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: at that point. Now this makes some sense because imagine 309 00:19:53,119 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: that you have these elongated ovals, these uh prolate sphere poids. Right. 310 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:05,120 Speaker 1: If you stand them vertically, then you could imagine them 311 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: slipping through a pipe very easily. If you laid them 312 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 1: out horizontally, you could imagine them ending up like like 313 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: blocking a pipe easily, because it's like trying to fit 314 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: a long stick through a narrow doorway. If you don't 315 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,240 Speaker 1: turn it the right way, you're just gonna hit against 316 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: the door. This is making me think of my dog, Tibolt, 317 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: who has done this on numerous occasions. He just he 318 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: can't get it through his little doggy mind that he 319 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: needs to turn the stick vertical in order to move 320 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: it through a doorway. He just wants to charge ahead 321 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: full steam with the stick horizontal. In many other ways. 322 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: He's an intelligent dog, so we forgive him this lapse 323 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: of judgment. Anyway, the chocolate on a molecular level is 324 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: essentially the same thing. If you are applying this electric 325 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: field perpendicular to the flow of chocolate, then you get 326 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: this much thicker uh mixture. And then interesting side note, 327 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,160 Speaker 1: the electro real logical properties of chocolate aren't a new discovery, right. 328 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 1: I mean, I covered this story for how stuff works 329 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: now because there was a new application of this property 330 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: with chocolate. But we actually knew that chocolate would react 331 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,880 Speaker 1: this way already, at least to the point of increasing 332 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 1: the viscosity, because back in there was a Michigan State 333 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,640 Speaker 1: University grad student who observed the Winslow effect on chocolate. 334 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: And his name is Dr Christopher R. Daubert, and as 335 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: professor Dr James Steph worked with him. They both conducted 336 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,080 Speaker 1: experiments on liquid chocolate and observed the Winslow effect. Now, 337 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:44,439 Speaker 1: in that experiment, Daubert was again increasing the viscostity, not 338 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: decreasing it. So he was turning chocolate into that thicker gel. 339 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: That the liquid chocolate into thick gel. Uh. It wasn't 340 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,080 Speaker 1: until recently that we saw someone try and do the opposite. 341 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: So that brings us to the Temple University experiment. So 342 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: you have these researchers. They had worked on crude oil 343 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: and decrease the viscosity of crude oil, which is a 344 00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,520 Speaker 1: huge thing for the oil industry to be able to 345 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:14,160 Speaker 1: uh move oil more effectively without the fear of clogs 346 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: or viscosity screwing up things that had been planned ahead 347 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,480 Speaker 1: of time. They wanted to see if they could in 348 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: fact use a similar approach to have liquid chocolate move 349 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,960 Speaker 1: more smoothly through a system so that manufacturers could save 350 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,360 Speaker 1: money by not having to worry about cleaning up clogs 351 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: and shutting down production for maintenance. So they had to 352 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,919 Speaker 1: test this hypothesis that an electric field directed in the 353 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: flow of liquid chocolate would reduce viscosity. So they built 354 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: a cool chocolate zapping gadget. It's not really a zapper, 355 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: that's kind of a it's kind of not entirely accurate, 356 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,960 Speaker 1: but I like the idea of using electricity does zap 357 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,800 Speaker 1: chocolate and make it better. That's just a oversimplification of 358 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,800 Speaker 1: what happened, But that's okay. I'll I'll explain to you 359 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: what was actually going on. They built this thing where 360 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,919 Speaker 1: it starts with a bit of a melting chamber. You 361 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: can just think of it as like a a pot. 362 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: It could even be a glass vial. Really, it could 363 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: just be any little container that can hold chocolate. They 364 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: put the chocolate in the container and they cover the container, 365 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:31,200 Speaker 1: sealing it shut. Uh. They added compressed nitrogen gas into 366 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: the chamber simply really to to just increase the pressure 367 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: inside the chamber itself. The chamber was heated so that 368 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: you had chocolate melting into a liquid. There was a 369 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 1: thermocouple in there to make sure that the temperature was 370 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: correct so that the chocolate would not overheat or cool 371 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: down so much that it becomes solid again. And then 372 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: the base of this container was essentially a drain, so 373 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,400 Speaker 1: there's like a hole at the bottom of the container 374 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 1: that liquid chocolate could float. Attached to that was a tube, 375 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,679 Speaker 1: and inside the tube they put a series of metal 376 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: mesh screens and the screens were what generated the electric field. 377 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: They had electricity running to those screens and creating electric 378 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: field that way in the direction of the flow of chocolate, 379 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: so the chocolate would end up flowing very smoothly through 380 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,239 Speaker 1: the tube and didn't have any issues. At the other end, 381 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: they had another vessel container that the liquid chocolate would 382 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:35,159 Speaker 1: flow into, it would cool down solidify. So once that 383 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 1: liquid chocolate flowed through into the collecting vessel UH and 384 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: once it was free of the electric field, the cacao 385 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: particles they went back to their original shape immediately. Again, 386 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: they didn't have to transform or anything. It wasn't a 387 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: gradual process. They moved back into those globe shapes that 388 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 1: they typically are in, and the chocolate cooled and solidified 389 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:03,280 Speaker 1: and was to all intents and purposes, indistinguishable from the 390 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: chocolate that was being fed through at the top, you know, 391 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: at that top chamber. So they were able to reduce 392 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: the viscosity of the flowing chocolate UH and to the 393 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 1: to the point where it was no there were no 394 00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,719 Speaker 1: issues of clogging. It was perfectly fine. So they were 395 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: able to prove that their hypothesis was correct, that in fact, 396 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:34,199 Speaker 1: this electric field applied in this way would decrease chocolates viscosity, hooray. 397 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: But there's more to it than that, So this experiment 398 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,640 Speaker 1: was not just a success. The researchers actually realized that 399 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: it had a lot more implications than just having chocolate 400 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: flow freely through a machine. Uh that Again, the reason 401 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,359 Speaker 1: why chocolate has such a relatively high fat content is 402 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: to create that oily fluid to reduce viscosity, to have 403 00:25:55,840 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: the cacao particles suspended within it at a density that's 404 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: low enough so that you're not likely to clog up 405 00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: the machines. But if you use this approach, if you 406 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: use the electric fields to reduce the viscosity, you don't 407 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 1: need as much oil or fat in your chocolate content. 408 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 1: You could actually start with a recipe that has less 409 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,960 Speaker 1: fat in it, and the electric fields would take care 410 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: of the viscosity problem, so you don't have to have 411 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: as much fat there. That also means you can have 412 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: more cacao in your mixture. It could be a higher 413 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:38,040 Speaker 1: proportion of the overall recipe. So they found that they 414 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: could reduce the fat content in certain types of chocolate 415 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: by as much as twenty percent and still have no 416 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:49,640 Speaker 1: negative impact on the fluid's viscosity. Now it depends on 417 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: what type of chocolate they were using. They were they 418 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:56,239 Speaker 1: were actually using name brand chocolates, you know, like like 419 00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,879 Speaker 1: chocolate bars, you know. They would try different types, and 420 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 1: depending on the type, they could actually end up removing 421 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: up to the fat in the mixture and still have 422 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: the chocolate flow without any problems. And beyond that, the 423 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: researchers said that people who were tasting the chocolate afterward, 424 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 1: because keep in mind, other than the fact that there 425 00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,880 Speaker 1: was less fat in it, there was really no difference 426 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: between the original chocolate and the end result, they said 427 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,880 Speaker 1: that the end result chocolate actually tasted better to them. 428 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: He said, I had a more intense cacao flavor. It 429 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:36,640 Speaker 1: was more chocolated than the original chocolate. Now that could 430 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 1: be just subjective, or it could be purely psychological, but 431 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: it's not outside the realm of possibility that by increasing 432 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: the the proportion of chocolate of cocao in your mixture, 433 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,400 Speaker 1: because you've removed some of the fat so you've got 434 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,879 Speaker 1: more cacao per unit of chocolate than you would previously, 435 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 1: that you would all so effect the taste. It is 436 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,360 Speaker 1: entirely possible that that is true. It hasn't really been 437 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:09,439 Speaker 1: tested on a scientific level. It's mostly people saying this 438 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,679 Speaker 1: tastes really good. Also, I should mention this is not 439 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: the same as fat free chocolate. Fat free chocolate is 440 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,959 Speaker 1: essentially using some different type of fluid other than oil 441 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 1: to suspend cocow particles. So fat free chocolate is has 442 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:29,119 Speaker 1: that particular weird taste. It's not It's not the same 443 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: as the stuff that Typal University was producing. So uh, 444 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: I just want to clear that up. It's not like 445 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,240 Speaker 1: you would take a bite of a brand new chocolate 446 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: bar that was made using this procedure and they, oh, 447 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: this tastes like fat free chocolate. No, So the end 448 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: result here is that we could end up with better 449 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: tasting chocolate with less fat in it in the future, 450 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: which seems pretty awesome to me. Now, earlier I mentioned 451 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:01,880 Speaker 1: that electro rheological fluids are also called smart fluids. That's 452 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 1: because these fluids can change their viscosti almost instantly in 453 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: the presence of an electric or magnetic field, and then 454 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:09,800 Speaker 1: go right back to what they were before once the 455 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: field has turned off, and they become really important in 456 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: ways beyond making superior chocolate. For example, car manufacturers have 457 00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: been using smart fluids and suspension and breaking systems. Uh. 458 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,560 Speaker 1: The fluid can actually go from relatively thin too thick 459 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,040 Speaker 1: in just a moment's notice, which makes it superior to 460 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: a lot of mechanical solutions that would take time to 461 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: propagate through a system. And you can have a variable 462 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: suspension in this way. Imagine that you have a suspension, 463 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: it's a fluid suspension, like literally it's a suspension for 464 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: a car with fluid in it, not that it was 465 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: a fluid that has a suspension in it. It's kind 466 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: of confusing. So car suspension's got fluid in it. Very 467 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,160 Speaker 1: high end sports cars have these, and you can set 468 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: your suspension to different modes, like you can predetermine which 469 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: mode you want at any given time. So let's say 470 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,800 Speaker 1: you're gonna be driving on like a racetrack, a nice 471 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: smooth racetrack, and you're really gonna push the car to 472 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,200 Speaker 1: its limits. You might want a pretty stiff suspension for 473 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,600 Speaker 1: that to really be able to feel the car as 474 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: you're driving along this very smooth surface. But that stiff 475 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: suspension would be torture device if you were driving down 476 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: a normal everyday road that had some bumps and maybe 477 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: some potholes in it. That would be very jarring. You 478 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: would feel every single little bump. So in that case, 479 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,200 Speaker 1: you'd want a more you know, loose suspension, a little 480 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: spring in it. So you might want to reduce the 481 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:42,240 Speaker 1: viscosity of the fluid inside the suspension to allow for 482 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: more uh give really, and you could do that with 483 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: a smart fluid and just change the electric or magnetic 484 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: field that ends up affecting the viscosity of the fluid. 485 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: So you can actually have settings and say I want 486 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:01,360 Speaker 1: a very stiff suspension and in this circumstance, and so 487 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,040 Speaker 1: it generates the electric field, the viscosty increases and you 488 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: get your stiff suspension, or he might say, oh, I 489 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: want it to be a more forgiving suspension, and it 490 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: turns off that electric field, the viscosity decreases and you 491 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,400 Speaker 1: have your more your your suspension when more given it. 492 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,120 Speaker 1: It's a pretty cool idea. At chat with Scott Benjamin 493 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: about this before I came in here, he was very 494 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 1: interested when I started talking about chocolate, but then when 495 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:27,920 Speaker 1: I started talking about smart fluids, he really lit up 496 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,000 Speaker 1: because he knew exactly what I was talking about. I mean, 497 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: Scott is a car genius and knows everything there is 498 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: to know about cars, it seems. So we had a 499 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: good discussion about, you know, the physical properties of smart 500 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: fluids and why they behave the way they do. So 501 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: this technology could be used in lots of different applications 502 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,280 Speaker 1: moving forward. When you can induce a mechanical change in 503 00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: a fluid with something as simple as an electric or 504 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:55,040 Speaker 1: magnetic field, a lot of different opportunities open up. But 505 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: for me, you know, I'm happy with the chocolate thing. 506 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: I'm going to settle for that. I do love me 507 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: some chocolate, al right, guys, Well, this kind of wraps 508 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: up this episode where I really wanted to look at 509 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:14,680 Speaker 1: the physics and technology behind ostensibly making chocolate manufacturing more 510 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: smooth and efficient, but ultimately could result in better, more delicious, 511 00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: less fattening chocolate. That doesn't necessarily mean we should all 512 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,840 Speaker 1: go out and eat more chocolate, by the way, not 513 00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: that that ever stops me, but I feel like, as 514 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: an adult, I have to at least say, don't go 515 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: out and just eat more chocolate. Even if we ultimately 516 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:37,280 Speaker 1: have chocolate with less fat in it. That's not that's 517 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:40,600 Speaker 1: not a good excuse. Uh, do as I say, not 518 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,959 Speaker 1: as I do. Anyway, I wanted to invite you guys 519 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: to get in touch with me. Let me know what 520 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: sort of topics he would like me to cover in 521 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: the future. I've got some interesting future topics lined up. 522 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,960 Speaker 1: He would like a quick peek into the future. Pretty soon, 523 00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: I'm going to be doing an episode about the story 524 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:02,480 Speaker 1: of Pisar. I'm gonna do a full maybe two parter 525 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: on that, because it's a it's a good long story. 526 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: I've got a an interview lined up with some folks 527 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: to talk about Amazon Alexa and developing apps for that 528 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: and what Alexa might mean in the future. I've got 529 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: UH an episode lined up with Mr Scott Benjamin, whom 530 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: I just mentioned about robo rites, and also the tragic 531 00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: tale of the first death and an autonomously operated vehicle. Guys, 532 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed that episode, the classic how Tech 533 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 1: could Make Better Chocolate? And we'll have a couple more reruns, 534 00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: probably in the next few days. But don't worry. As 535 00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: I said, we have new episodes planned UH in a 536 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:49,959 Speaker 1: very short order, including the annual Lovely Year and Review 537 00:33:50,000 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 1: episode that typically takes me about four times longer to 538 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:55,640 Speaker 1: research and right than any other episode because I have 539 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 1: to look back at all the different big stories from 540 00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: the previous twelve months. But I do it because one 541 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 1: it's important and too I love you guys, so I 542 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,360 Speaker 1: hope you guys enjoyed this. If you have any suggestions 543 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,800 Speaker 1: or questions or anything like that, send me an email 544 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: the addresses tech stuff at how stuff works dot com, 545 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:13,920 Speaker 1: or drop me a line on Facebook or Twitter. The 546 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: handle for both of those is tech stuff h s W. 547 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:18,800 Speaker 1: Don't forget to go to our website that's text stuff 548 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: podcast dot com, that has an archive of every single 549 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:24,560 Speaker 1: episode we've ever published, plus a link to our online 550 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: store where every purchase you make goes to help the 551 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: show and we greatly appreciate it, and I'll talk to 552 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:36,000 Speaker 1: you again really soon. Text Stuff is a production of 553 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts from 554 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,919 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 555 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.