Dr Henry Burridge debunks a popular water theory

by

Henry Burridge

Dr Henry Burridge was recently interviewed for BBC Radio 4's PM programme regarding a 50-year old theory called 'the Mpemba effect'.

In 1963 a Tanzanian man called Erasto Mpemba 'proved' that in some circumstances, warmer water can freeze faster than colder water.

Dr Burridge, Lecturer in the Fluid Mechanics section, has recently proved that this theory, held to be correct by the scientific community from this time, is wrong, and this research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

In his interview for PM he mentioned that, although he should be delighted at proving this, he was actually very disppointed because he had hoped it would be true.

The interview can be listened to on BBC iPlayer at this link.

Dr Burridge was also recently interviewed for an Imperial College podcast which can be accessed here.

Reporter

Lucy Chivers

Lucy Chivers
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Click to expand or contract

Contact details

Tel: +44 (0)20 7594 6098
Email: l.chivers@imperial.ac.uk

Show all stories by this author