[Magdalen] Coffee Cups vs Wine Glasses

[Marion Thompson]

Assuming reasonable care when carrying each around, I am guaranteed to 
slop the coffee and virtually never slop the wine. That handle on the 
side of the coffee cup/mug easily allows a lopsided situation.  It's 
harder to hold the coffee mug straight and a lot easier to slop it when 
walking.  I think simple harmonic motion kicks in here, too.  The wine 
glass is held by the stem from below, a surer grip.  Also, the level of 
wine in the wine glass typically is not as high relative to the 
container so there is more 'side' above the wine level to contain the wine.

The wine is definitely more stable when you're carrying it. Placed on 
the table, I can knock each over with great ease.

Marion, a pilgrim


On 9/6/2016 2:04 AM, Allan Carr wrote:
> Apropos of nothing much, I used to walk from office to office, or around a
> factory floor, with a coffee cup perpetually in my hand. From time to time,
> i'd spill some of the coffee. Now it comes out that if I'd kept my coffee
> in a wine glass, my tendency to spill would have been far less. It's proved
> by actual experiment by a South Korean physics student http://
> tinyurl.com/jh9yr2w
>
> I always thought the shape of the wine glass had more to do with sniffing
> the wine, but maybe stability is more important to people somewhat under
> the influence.
>
> However, it looks to me that both the cup and the glass are half full in
> the experiment. My coffee cup is usually full (it generally gets cold
> before I drink much of it) and my wine glass (at least with red wine) is
> less than half full. I think that's why I spilled far more coffee in my
> lifetime than wine, although if you add in all the wine glasses I knocked
> over on the table, maybe it comes out about even.
>
> Anyway, how many of you (like me) would have picked the wine glass as
> having less stable liquid, because of the way it sloshes around in the
> round container?
>