Which of the glasses in this topic’s doodle holds more liquid?
Before blowing the answer, check this out:
Researchers at a teen health and fitness camp found that teens given short-wide glasses poured 76 percent more juice than those given tall-slender glasses. And despite this, the stout-glassed group believed they’d actually poured and drank less juice.
Experienced bartenders fall into the same trap: an ounce in a wide shot is bigger than an ounce in a tall shot. Oh, and in the illustration above, the short glass holds almost double the liquid of the tall glass (remember volume = πr2h and so a cup’s radius is a much bigger deal than its height).
Eye Hack: Which Is Longer, Segment AB or Segment BC?
Because you know this is an eye hack, you might’ve guessed they’re the same length (really, they are). But our brains see this parallelogram as a tilted rectangle and ABC as a tilted right triangle with unequal sides.
Why, outside of trivia, does this matter?
Parents or dieticians can exploit the short-stout effect to trick their wards into drinking more healthy beverages. And restaurants can and do exploit tall, thin glasses when serving four-buck-a-cup fresh-squeezed orange juice.