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Mathematics

The mathematics behind pouring a glass of wine

Katie Steckles enlists the help of fluid dynamics researcher Kat Phillips to explain the versatile piece of maths behind dispensing wine from a box

By Katie Steckles

11 September 2024

Hand pouring white wine into a glass from a BIB - cardboard bag in box with open tap standing on a table. Close up image. Copenhagen, Denmark - November 2, 2022. ; Shutterstock ID 2221452919; purchase_order: -; job: -; client: -; other: -

How much liquid is left in this box of white wine?

Shutterstock/oleschwande​r

Have you ever found yourself dispensing wine from a box, or beer from a standing keg, and wondered how much liquid is left in the container? If you were thinking about it like a mathematician, you might have noticed that the fuller the keg is, the faster the beer comes out.

This might seem obvious, but this is a known mathematical relationship, and it uses a versatile piece of maths that crops up in many other real-world situations. Fluid dynamics is the study of flow: how liquids…

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