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Study Reveals Liquids Drain Differently from Tilted Containers

3/26/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Brown University researchers studied how long liquids drain from tilted containers, using fluid mechanics and experiments on a tilted surface.
They found that water drains in seconds, while milk takes about 30 seconds to drain 90%.
Thicker olive oil requires over 9 minutes to drain.
Cold maple syrup can take several hours to drain.
For the "wok problem," most water takes about 15 minutes to collect at the bottom.

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Story summary

Brown University researchers studied how long liquids drain from tilted containers, using fluid mechanics and experiments on a tilted surface.
They found that water drains in seconds, while milk takes about 30 seconds to drain 90%.
Thicker olive oil requires over 9 minutes to drain.
Cold maple syrup can take several hours to drain.
For the "wok problem," most water takes about 15 minutes to collect at the bottom.