as a student of physics many years ago i could not resist the temptation of your question, but first i would like to comment on the etiquette of mounting the toilet roll so the feed is underside as your picture. it has always bothered me for many years . I know it is said to allow complete control over the distribution of the tissues but i think it more visually appealing mounted in the other state. I still secretly reverse the roll in many bathrooms i visit . in fact it is something i find so amusing it would be a disappointment to find everyone conforming the same. Now i wonder if the snap was a stock photo or your own convenience. I hope you dont say that you actually have a vertically mounted roll , that would be disappointing, but i am told it is an obvious advantage in earth quake areas ! The ease of rolling must be a factor considered if you are a pet owner i suspect. There is probably an official study somewhere which when i get some time i would like to follow up. so the task in hand mmm need some data !!!
wow, is it really two years since you introduced this problem, i would like to have a crack at the solution and i hope you will appreciate my efforts. Now, as i see it, the actual problem itself, is not the problem, but rather the language needed to explain and demonstrate the solution adequately to anyones satisfaction is. So to start simply, i would like to introduce words like spiral, pi, multipliplying,( that is a special mutiplier action, that does multiply multiple times),the numerator two, arc tangent, radius, diameter,integral calculus, concentric, and circumference,and formula. These are all terms used in mathematical expression. Incidently, self expression is something im still working on from time to time, and still possibly need some help with, so bear with me if you get lost, it will all become obviously visual in the end ,... hopefully. Apart from these technical terms there is a common word also used in toilet roll jargon, namely thickness, as well as being a state of mind, it may already be known to you as a dimension , either obtained by measuring the distance between ones ears, or by feeling the quality between ones finger and thumb. But here, I will be using it to describe the distance between the outer sheet outer side, and the inner sheet inner side of the said toilet roll tissue, if you see what i mean. Now you may noticed that the structure of my solution is somewhat whimsical and random , you might say it is something of a stream of consciousness, and could be considered empirical, what i mean by that is, that im flying by the seat of my pants, i often do it, and it mostly works, except when it doesnt.
Now, although i have introduced mathematical terms to get you in the mood as it were, they are completely superfluos, there is an inherant flaw in replying to blogs, and that is the inability to use pictures and some mathematical symbols in the reply, so i have decided to only use one mathematical symbol that will hopefully work, something nearly as representative !
it is not coincidental that the mathematical equal sign was developed to represent toilet tissue when unrolled off the roll as you will see from my formula
the length of each side of a completely unrolled toilet roll is exactly , well exactly equal
Now you might say i have ignored any expansion or contraction of each of the tissues when tensioned in the roll, i will maybe explore these next time, but for now its enough to simply enjoy a simple solution !
Is it that time again already, doesnt it roll around quickly, did i say roll, mmm, did you know that volvo was latin for, i roll,i expect you did, origins and roots and all that, anyways, i was looking into the flames of the campfire last night, thinking about campers and vans and fires and such, and wanted to say im still on the case, but i thought, mmm, i have some other unfinished business , errr, not that kind of business, but you know, this roll thing weve been on about for awhile, another twelve months rolls by, and im thinking, i would really like to get to the bottom of it, oh dear , did i say bottom, oh shit, man, i still need to get to grips with the language of toilet rolls, strewth, stroll on , next year maybe !
As the end of April quickly approaches, I'm reminded of the mileage I'm getting out of this post, Now, its nothing like the mileage your getting on the bike of course,(10,000 miles or so) as you roll around the country, but I had this sudden desire to express my thoughts on origami endings on the roll, you know, those folded triangle things, there completely irrelevant to your question, but they do set off the roll quite nicely, and I just wanted to say I find them quite appealing. Anyway, suffice to say that I'm still working on an accurate solution. Hopefully it will be coming any year now :)
Being a good researcher, sometimes involves coming up with brilliant ideas , but it's also putting them into practice. It's been 5 years since you asked the world this problem , and your research has steadily rolled on through many stages of ability and states of mind, discoveries and experiments, but it’s now become clear to me, having found various articles, that it was a partially formed hypothesis you've had in the back of your mind for a while , and I’m so glad that you've managed to make some progress , because, it's quite obvious , I've began to flounder.
so, restating your question:
How are the lengths of each tissue in a loo roll, related to the length of each GWR , (Great Western Railways) rail track.
This week I've been reflecting on the last 12 months of your sponsorship from GWR, and I think, Indeed I hope, I have determined the facts correctly. It's clear that having contacted GWR prior to last year, it would involve very long measurements of distance. When your application for experimental access to the railways was denied due to health and safety tissues, err sorry, issues, I see GWR eventually supported your next experiment request, to measure the length of each side of kerb of very long stretches of road. I think this was an inspired idea , switching to the macro world from the micro world of loo tissue. It wasn't with out its challenges of course, one of which , is just how far you find yourself approaching the gutter sometimes, in the pursuit of science, there really should be a law against it, it's very commendable of you .
Today I came across one of your most significant areas of research, “Length",
"Length"
1. the longest extent of anything as measured from end to end: the length of a road, for example, with a special relevance to one side of the road 2. the measure of the greatest dimension of a plane or solid figure. 3. extent from beginning to end of a series, enumeration, account, book, etc.: a report running 300 pages in length, (somewhere close to the average number of pages in a loo roll)
But the area where I believe you've excelled the most , and got some real success , is in the nitty gritty data of the total mileage, compared with a mileage measured a long time ago, recorded by a contemporary historian, it shows a progressive increase in the mileage toward the end of the period of the experiment. It's very pronounced, and I believe confirms a link, that towards the end of the loo roll, the speed of the loo roll increases as each sheet is torn away. I think this shows a fantastic and determined effort and worthy of your accolade from GWR. I'm thrilled you are finally getting much closer to the core of the problem that has bugged you for so many years. I have to say, In this world of misunderstood facts, I'm glad there are people like you out there still questioning how far you can go in the pursuit of those naturally occurring features just waiting to be discovered , I believe you have the right state of mind and attitude to find them, and to inspire others in their pursuit of natural phenomena too. So, it just leaves me to say, in this, one of the most significant of months . I hope you have a fantastic week this week, see you soon !
as a student of physics many years ago i could not resist the temptation of your question, but first i would like to comment on the etiquette of mounting the toilet roll so the feed is underside as your picture. it has always bothered me for many years . I know it is said to allow complete control over the distribution of the tissues but i think it more visually appealing mounted in the other state. I still secretly reverse the roll in many bathrooms i visit . in fact it is something i find so amusing it would be a disappointment to find everyone conforming the same. Now i wonder if the snap was a stock photo or your own convenience.
ReplyDeleteI hope you dont say that you actually have a vertically mounted roll , that would be disappointing, but i am told it is an obvious advantage in earth quake areas !
The ease of rolling must be a factor considered if you are a pet owner i suspect.
There is probably an official study somewhere which when i get some time i would like to follow up.
so the task in hand mmm need some data !!!
wow, is it really two years since you introduced this problem, i would like to have a crack at the solution and i hope you will appreciate my efforts.
ReplyDeleteNow, as i see it, the actual problem itself, is not the problem, but rather the language needed to explain and demonstrate the solution adequately to anyones satisfaction is. So to start simply, i would like to introduce words like spiral, pi, multipliplying,( that is a special mutiplier action, that does multiply multiple times),the numerator two, arc tangent, radius, diameter,integral calculus, concentric, and circumference,and formula. These are all terms used in mathematical expression. Incidently, self expression is something im still working on from time to time, and still possibly need some help with, so bear with me if you get lost, it will all become obviously visual in the end ,... hopefully. Apart from these technical terms there is a common word also used in toilet roll jargon, namely thickness, as well as being a state of mind, it may already be known to you as a dimension , either obtained by measuring the distance between ones ears, or by feeling the quality between ones finger and thumb. But here, I will be using it to describe the distance between the outer sheet outer side, and the inner sheet inner side of the said toilet roll tissue, if you see what i mean. Now you may noticed that the structure of my solution is somewhat whimsical and random , you might say it is something of a stream of consciousness, and could be considered empirical, what i mean by that is, that im flying by the seat of my pants, i often do it, and it mostly works, except when it doesnt.
Now, although i have introduced mathematical terms to get you in the mood as it were, they are completely superfluos, there is an inherant flaw in replying to blogs, and that is the inability to use pictures and some mathematical symbols in the reply, so i have decided to only use one mathematical symbol that will hopefully work, something nearly as representative !
it is not coincidental that the mathematical equal sign was developed to represent toilet tissue when unrolled off the roll as you will see from my formula
====================================================== = =
the length of each side of a completely unrolled toilet roll is exactly , well exactly equal
Now you might say i have ignored any expansion or contraction of each of the tissues when tensioned in the roll, i will maybe explore these next time, but for now its enough to simply enjoy a simple solution !
An excellent point!
ReplyDeleteIs it that time again already, doesnt it roll around quickly, did i say roll, mmm, did you know that volvo was latin for, i roll,i expect you did, origins and roots and all that, anyways, i was looking into the flames of the campfire last night, thinking about campers and vans and fires and such, and wanted to say im still on the case, but i thought, mmm, i have some other unfinished business , errr, not that kind of business, but you know, this roll thing weve been on about for awhile, another twelve months rolls by, and im thinking, i would really like to get to the bottom of it, oh dear , did i say bottom, oh shit, man, i still need to get to grips with the language of toilet rolls, strewth, stroll on , next year maybe !
ReplyDeleteAs the end of April quickly approaches, I'm reminded of the mileage I'm getting out of this post, Now, its nothing like the mileage your getting on the bike of course,(10,000 miles or so) as you roll around the country, but I had this sudden desire to express my thoughts on origami endings on the roll, you know, those folded triangle things, there completely irrelevant to your question, but they do set off the roll quite nicely, and I just wanted to say I find them quite appealing. Anyway, suffice to say that I'm still working on an accurate solution. Hopefully it will be coming any year now :)
ReplyDeleteBeing a good researcher, sometimes involves coming up with brilliant ideas , but it's also putting them into practice. It's been 5 years since you asked the world this problem , and your research has steadily rolled on through many stages of ability and states of mind, discoveries and experiments, but it’s now become clear to me, having found various articles, that it was a partially formed hypothesis you've had in the back of your mind for a while , and I’m so glad that you've managed to make some progress , because, it's quite obvious , I've began to flounder.
ReplyDeleteso, restating your question:
How are the lengths of each tissue in a loo roll, related to the length of each GWR , (Great Western Railways) rail track.
This week I've been reflecting on the last 12 months of your sponsorship from GWR, and I think, Indeed I hope, I have determined the facts correctly.
It's clear that having contacted GWR prior to last year, it would involve very long measurements of distance. When your application for experimental access to the railways was denied due to health and safety tissues, err sorry, issues, I see GWR eventually supported your next experiment request, to measure the length of each side of kerb of very long stretches of road. I think this was an inspired idea , switching to the macro world from the micro world of loo tissue. It wasn't with out its challenges of course, one of which , is just how far you find yourself approaching the gutter sometimes, in the pursuit of science, there really should be a law against it, it's very commendable of you .
Today I came across one of your most significant areas of research, “Length",
"Length"
1. the longest extent of anything as measured from end to end:
the length of a road, for example, with a special relevance to one side of the road
2. the measure of the greatest dimension of a plane or solid figure.
3. extent from beginning to end of a series, enumeration, account, book, etc.:
a report running 300 pages in length, (somewhere close to the average number of pages in a loo roll)
But the area where I believe you've excelled the most , and got some real success , is in the nitty gritty data of the total mileage, compared with a mileage measured a long time ago, recorded by a contemporary historian, it shows a progressive increase in the mileage toward the end of the period of the experiment. It's very pronounced, and I believe confirms a link, that towards the end of the loo roll, the speed of the loo roll increases as each sheet is torn away.
I think this shows a fantastic and determined effort and worthy of your accolade from GWR. I'm thrilled you are finally getting much closer to the core of the problem that has bugged you for so many years. I have to say, In this world of misunderstood facts, I'm glad there are people like you out there still questioning how far you can go in the pursuit of those naturally occurring features just waiting to be discovered , I believe you have the right state of mind and attitude to find them, and to inspire others in their pursuit of natural phenomena too. So, it just leaves me to say, in this, one of the most significant of months . I hope you have a fantastic week this week, see you soon !