E = P x T

This is my 2nd blog post ever. How exciting! Unlike my first post this will be of one of me using my physics knowledge.

Do you enjoy eating popcorn? I eat popcorn quite frequently and I always have some bits of unpopped corn leftover. This is usually in the 30 - 40 pieces of unpopped corn when heated for 120s, which is too much in my opinion, so I had a problem i had to solve.

Problem: left over unpopped corn.

How can I reduce this without burning my popcorn and making my kitchen smell like tar? I only have a finite number of popcorn packets so I can't accumulate a large amount of data of how long I've heated popcorn so I have to do it in a simple manner without sacrificing many popcorn packets. I usually heat my popcorn for 120s.

Solution: E = P x T

The equation of e=pt can be derived by the formula Power = energy (or work done) / time p=e/t. In my current experience of solving physics problems I have most commonly used this equation in electricity funnily enough considering electricity has it's own entirely exclusive set of symbols and terminology like voltage, current and resistance, but energy is almost everywhere. Moving on however, I went to pick up the packet of popcorn when I noticed on the side of the box it said to have the popcorn in the microwave for 1 minute and 45 seconds, at 1100W microwave. My microwave has an output of 800W. I finally found a use of my physics knowledge outside of physics and applied maths. I can use e=pt to find the energy out put intended for the popcorn packets the company sold. 

so, here is the maths:

E (company) = power x time

 1.75 x 1100 = 1925 

E(company) = 1925 W

Power output of my microwave is 800W therefore 1925 = 800t

t = 1925/800

t = 2.40625mins

2.60625 x 60 = 144.375

t = 144.375s

t = 145s

If I want the intended energy output of the producer I must let the popcorn pop for 145 seconds.

Result: less remaining pieces of popcorn.

As I previously mentioned I would 30 - 40 pieces of popcorn leftover, but now I had only 8 pieces leftover. I reduced my prices of leftover popcorn by a maximum of 80% and by a minimum of 73%. I successfully managed to avoid using too many packets and over time I have noticed that when I have packets in the microwave for 145s there is usually less left over pieces of corn compared to my past time of popping popcorn for 145s.