Taking advantage of physics in daily life

[Phi for All]

Ever since I started taking milk in my coffee, I figured out that it was much more efficient to take advantage of the energy involved in pouring the coffee into the milk to mix it in, rather than pouring the coffee first and then stirring the milk in with a spoon. Not only do I skip the effort of stirring, I also don't have to spend more energy washing the spoon, and the cold spoon doesn't reduce the temperature of my coffee. It's not a lazy thing, it just appeals to my sense of efficiency.

 

A couple of weeks ago, I got a traffic ticket for not stopping completely at a stop sign. I started monitoring myself and realized I did it a lot! It's not impatience so much as taking advantage of that little bit of momentum left over before a complete stop to make it easier to let the clutch out and accelerate (I drive a manual transmission).

 

Do you have any real life physics processes that take advantage of existing energy or momentum you could share? Preferably something that won't get me ticketed by the police, please.

[John Cuthber]

Do you take your coffee cup to the fridge to put milk in it (one trip) or do you go to the fridge, get the milk, put it in the cup, then make a (second) trip back to the fridge with the milk?

Many or most people make 2 trips where 1 will do.

[Phi for All]

Do you take your coffee cup to the fridge to put milk in it (one trip) or do you go to the fridge, get the milk, put it in the cup, then make a (second) trip back to the fridge with the milk?

Many or most people make 2 trips where 1 will do.

Ah, good call. My fridge is right next to my coffee maker, and the coffee cups in the cupboard just above the maker. I can do the entire operation standing in one place.

 

My late mother-in-law, a normally sensible woman, kept her coffee pot on one end of the counter, the cups in a cupboard on the other end, the coffee was in crock on a counter on the other side of the kitchen and she kept the goddamned coffee filters in an upper cupboard in between. It used to drive me crazy when I made coffee at her house.

[zapatos]

I often use my back yard as a refrigerator, cooling down cooked food or bottles of beer before putting them in the refrigerator. (and no, I will not give you my address!)

[elfmotat]

If my coffee is too hot, I wait longer before pouring in the milk because it radiates faster when it's black.

[swansont]

I often use my back yard as a refrigerator, cooling down cooked food or bottles of beer before putting them in the refrigerator. (and no, I will not give you my address!)

At the holidays, we store food outside (unless it's unseasonably warm), inside the gas grill, so critters can't get at it.

[Phi for All]

Cleaning dishes/pots/pans before food dries on them saves a lot of scrubbing (which I find annoying) or soaking (which my wife finds annoying). It takes a lot less time than you think and your dinner won't get cold if you clean as you're cooking. The hardest part is taking plates to the sink as soon as you're finished eating if you eat dinner in front of the TV as we often do.

 

If your car engine is overheating, turning on the heater will circulate coolant around the engine, bringing the temperature down a bit. It will roast you if it's high summer but almost anything is better than having the engine fail due to overheating. It beats walking home or waiting for the tow truck in the summer heat.

[michel123456]

I have no example in mind at this moment but IMHO energy/momentum should be considered when organizing road traffic. For example by always putting the toll stations with a slight inclination downward (if not feasable at least at level). I don't know what happen in your countries but I find it so dumb to push the breakes in an upward situation just because the toll point is there.

 

Also, stop signs could be placed not following the street with more or less traffic, but following inclination. After all, if you don't stop a man (or a dunkey) walking upwards heavy charged, why would you stop a car?

Edited December 3, 2012 by michel123456

[Moontanman]

Spending some time in a small boat gives you some idea of momentum and friction and how they differ from driving a car for instance. Boats don't have brakes.... you have to figure action and reaction more than in a car... then there is the whole displacement of water/floating thingy...

[Phi for All]

It seems clear that smaller, portable technology devices are becoming the trend, replacing desktop computers and someday even laptops. Given that, I'd like to see someone mass-produce the Power Generating Shoe, to keep our smartphones and tablets charged up and take advantage of the energy created just by walking around.

[hypervalent_iodine]

Cleaning dishes/pots/pans before food dries on them saves a lot of scrubbing (which I find annoying) or soaking (which my wife finds annoying). It takes a lot less time than you think and your dinner won't get cold if you clean as you're cooking. The hardest part is taking plates to the sink as soon as you're finished eating if you eat dinner in front of the TV as we often do.

 

I do this a lot. I find it's much easier to do all of my cooking dishes as I've used them while I prepare dinner. This makes use of a lot of waiting time that is both too short to set to any other real task but long enough to become a pain. And yes, I also find it is much quicker and easier to clean a pan or what have you as soon as I'm done using it compared to a few hours after the fact (I also hate soaking things). Typically, the only dishes I have left when I'm finished eating are my plates, a cup and a knife and fork (and sometimes a spoon).

 

I'm trying to think of other things I do in day to day life to increase efficiency, but I'm coming up blank. I used to have a lot of short cuts for specific jobs when I was in part time employment as a barista or as an office clerk, but none of those are particularly useful unless you happen to work in those areas.