Week 15: El Escanciado

La semana pasada, investigué información sobre Asturias, una región de España.

Kidding. I won't write this blog post in Spanish. To translate that first sentence: Last week, I researched information about Asturias, a Spanish region.

For Spanish 3H, I had to make a presentation on a specific Spanish region and I chose Asturias, a region on the northeastern coast of Spanish. I had to look up the Asturian coat of arms and flag, learn about the region's main products, and explore the main tourist spots and activities that beautiful Asturias had to offer. I have to do my oral presentation this week. In Spanish, of course, so I'm crossing my fingers that I speak fluently.

But what does this have to do with Physics? Well, Week 15 of AP Physics B covered Fluid Mechanics. (Not very yummy, sorry).
 

One of the concepts we covered was fluid continuity and its matching equation. The concept basically states that at every point in a fluid, the rate of its volume flow rate is constant. The equation is shown here.

While doing some research on the Internet for my Spanish project, I learned that Asturias' traditional alcoholic drink is natural cider, or Asturian sidra. (Am I allowed to talk about this? If not, let's pretend that it's not alcoholic. It's sparkling cider.)

  

When it is served, sidra is poured a certain way, a specific method called El Escanciado. The server of the sidra, or el escanciador, has to hold the bottle horizontally high above his or her head and slowly pour it into the cup that he or she holds with the other hand down by the opposite hip. It sounds hard, doesn't it? It looks hard to do, too. But it's really cool. Apparently, pouring it like this improves the taste of the sidra. 

 

They have festivals for sidra!













As the sidra's flow gets closer to the cup, its cross-sectional area decreases. This means that the velocity increases as it gets closer to the cup because the volume flow rate has to be constant at every point throughout the fluid.

And this ultimately means that only the beastliest of escancidores can pour the sidra into the cup without spilling. Sidrerías, or unique bars that always serve sidra, usually have wooden floors because a lot of it ends up on the ground.

And, voila, the Physics of El Escanciado.

Here's a video:

http://dft.ba/-omgsidra