Experiment

Last update: 2005-07-21 20:41:47

The Tea Experiment

History & Background

On the day of April 1st, 2004, at around 11pm, Mr Mikey C (BSc) and Mr Owen P (BSc) allowed Miss Isabel Cheung to make a cup of tea, despite warnings that the milk was known to be a few days off and therefore quite nasty to the taste. On discovering the foul taste of the newly made cup of tea, Miss Cheung abandoned said drink, and ran away, never to be seen again for at least a fortnight. However, the tale does not end there.

The tea was then transferred into a clear pint-sized (568ml) glass, of the type commonly used in bars or pubs for drinking beer, partially because it would make an interesting experiment but mainly because I thought it would be funny.

Above we can see the cup of tea, complete with tea bag (Asda standard brand), the milk (originally skimmed milk held in a co-op carton) and a kettle.

RECONSTRUCTION

Day 4

5-4-04

As you can see clearly from this photographic evidence, the 'tea' element (element "B") has seperated from the 'water' element (element "A"). This is probably because the tea is heavier than the water. The experiment smells like milk that has gone off.

The drink was then forgotten about for a few days while the experimentors were doing something more important.

Day 15

16-04-04

As the above photograph shows, by Day 15, the experiment had begun to grow what appeared to be mould on it. There is speculation as to whether this mould is there because of the tea, the milk, or just because its just the cool place to be. Whatever the cause, this looks very interesting indeed. As you can see, elements A and B are still seperate. An interesting side effect is that the tea is starting to smell quite bad.

Day 25

26-04-04

On day 25, the return of a Mr JFK Armitage required the rehousing of the experiment. It was felt by him that the need to not have some kind of mouldy thing growing in his room outweighed the interests of science. The scientists were reluctant to do this, fearing the mixing of the two elements may cause some kind of cataclysmic event, but Mr Armitage is bigger than me and so the scientists relented. The new home of the experiment was the outhouse.

As you can see from the photograph, the fungal growth is now almost fully covering the surface of the liquid. It now smells a bit like a public toilet, which is odd because nobody has weed in it. An important consideration to make at this point is that the glass has been moved, and so this may affect our results.

Day 86

We suddenly remembered that we'd left the mysterious experiment in the outhouse. Fearing the worst, the scientists opened the door, fearing a room full of mould, or, worse, some kind of sentient being. Mr Mikey C had even created some kind of universal communication device in order to talk to the being. Sadly it was jus the same as it was before, only a bit mouldier. It was then that we knew it was time to call the Mouldy Tea Fairy and have it taken away, before Environmental Health heard about it anyway.

CONCLUSION

Leaving tea for weeks is a waste of time. It just goes mouldy and smells bad.

DO IT YOURSELF

• Some hot water (heated using a bunsen burner in the above diagram)
• A mug or container, such as a teapot, for making tea
• A clear vessel such as a pint glass.
• Nothing to do
• Some kind of gas mask and/or gullible friend (optional)

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