Thread: Never Get it All

Pour a glass of water, turn it upside down and even shake if you want to but there’s always a little water left in the glass when immediately tipped back, right side up. What makes a little bit stay in the glass.

Same goes for a tube of toothpaste or caulking....squeeze it all you want but there’s always a little left inside. Why can’t you get it all out of the container? Is it even possible to squeeze every bit out?

It is the anthpocentric principle.You never know when it might come in handy.

If we had a God it would never be allowed.

Surface tension?

Originally Posted by zinjanthropos

Pour a glass of water, turn it upside down and even shake if you want to but there’s always a little water left in the glass when immediately tipped back, right side up. What makes a little bit stay in the glass.

Same goes for a tube of toothpaste or caulking....squeeze it all you want but there’s always a little left inside. Why can’t you get it all out of the container? Is it even possible to squeeze every bit out?

Adhesion* is the primary reason for the retention you refer to. In general, when stuff can stick to their containers, you will not get it all out.

Consider filling those same containers with small ball bearings. Pouring or pushing them out, assuming they can exit, will provide 100% yield. It is because they do not adhere to the surface inside.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adhesion

Take a tube of toothpaste. Squeeze every gram you can from it. There will be some left in the tube. From the millions of tubes sold every year, the leftover portions probably add up to a significant number. Makes one wonder how much of anything is wasted annually or what becomes of what’s not used.