Video:
Does Bread Land Butter Side Down Part 2 - Educational Science Experiment (YouTube)
For All Experiments Involving Bread or Toast:
•Bread or toast was dropped from a height of about 31 inches - This simulates a dinning table
• The bread or toast was dropped 20 times each way
• Horizontally - Butter Side Up
• Horizontally - Butter Side Down
• Vertically - Butter Side To The Camera’s Right
• Vertically - Butter Side To The Camera’s Left
The Peanut Buttered Bread and Peanut Butter Jelly Bread Experiments:
A control was set up with unbuttered bread. A small mark was placed on one side of the bread. The marked side was the butter side.
Control - Unbuttered Bread Data:
Next, the Peanut Buttered Bread Experiment was conducted. Peanut butter was applied to one side of the bread with exception to a small area that was used to hold the bread before it was dropped. This prevents the peanut butter from sticking to the holder as it is being dropped.
Peanut Butter Bread Data:
Observation: 3 of the 4 times the bread landed butter side up, when dropped vertically, some peanut butter landed on the floor .
The experiment was modified to add jelly on top of the peanut butter. It was observed that the jelly did not like to stick to the peanut butter because there was little friction between the two.
Peanut Butter and Jelly Data:
Observation: When dropped vertically, jelly landed on the floor even if the bread landed butter and jelly side up. On occasion the jelly slid off the bread before it was dropped. This was due to the fact that gravity was pulling on the jelly and there was not enough friction to hold the jelly to the peanut butter.
Conclusion of Peanut Butter Bread and Peanut Butter Jelly Bread Experiments:
The data points to the fact that bread with peanut butter or peanut butter and jelly has a tendency to land butter side down.
Contradiction of MythBusters?
The Peanut Butter Bread Experiment and the Peanut Butter Jelly Experiment came to a conclusion that seemed to contradict the MythBuster’s findings. The MythBusters concluded that toast was more likely to land butter side up. However, the MythBuster’s experiment involved buttered toast dropped from a roof. Since the experiments are different, the conclusions do not contradict each other.
Since learning of the MythBuster experiment the toast and buttered bread experiments were added to the video and this page.
Buttered Toast Experiment:
An experiment using buttered toast was created. The toaster's setting was at 3 of 6 darkness. The butter was room temperature and applied as soon as the toast popped up. The toast was dropped the same way and amount as with the bread experiments.
Control - Unbuttered Toast Data:
Observation: The toast bounced and rolled much more than the bread upon impact with the floor. The toast was observed to have a more elastic collision, than the bread, with the floor.
Buttered Toast Data:
Observation: When buttered, the toast curled, thus, creating a concave.
Conclusion:
Buttered toast is more likely to land butter side up. When dropped, the air resistance forced the toast to fall butter side up. This experiment’s data is similar to the findings of the MythBusters data.
Butter Jelly Toast Experiment:
Since many people enjoy having jelly on their breakfast toast. A butter and jelly toast experiment was created.
Butter Jelly Toast Data:
Observation: The butter melted into the toast. The surface of the toast was not smooth allowing the jelly to cling to the toast better than the peanut butter or buttered bread. The jelly did not hit the floor when the toast landed butter side up.
1/2 Butter Toast and Butter 1/2 Jelly Toast Experiments:
Since it is possible to drop toast while applying butter or jelly, an experiment of half buttered toast was done.
Butter was applied to 1/2 of the toast
1/2 Buttered Toast Data:
Observation: A slowing of the video showed that time after time the toast fell favoring the buttered side, however, the elasticity of the impact, with the floor, caused the toast to flip over and land butter side up.
The experiment was modified to apply jelly to 1/2 of the buttered toast
Buttered Toast 1/2 Jelly Data:
Conclusion Of The Toast Experiments:
The buttering of hot toast creates an curl (concave) in the toast. The air resistance seemed to take command of the situation with the full buttered toast. As the mass increased, (adding 1/2 jelly and full jelly) with the full buttered toast experiments, it seemed that the increase in the force of the dropping toast increased the chances of the toast landing butter side down.
The 1/2 Toast Experiment showed the toast favoring the butter side as it fell but the elastic bounce caused the toast to flip, thus, landing butter side up.
1/2 Peanut Butter and Peanut Butter 1/2 Jelly Experiments:
Since an experiment was done for 1/2 butter and 1/2 jelly. It is only fair to do 1/2 peanut butter and 1/2 jelly experiments with bread
One interesting observation is that, on being dropped butter-side up, the bread tilted significantly as if it was to turn over. At this height the bread did not turn over and landed butter side up.
1/2 Peanut Butter Bread Data:
Observation:
Peanut Butter 1/2 Jelly Bread Data:
The last series of experiments in this set includes bread, butter (sweet cream butter) and jelly.
Control UnButtered Bread Experiment Data For This Set:
The butter was room temperature and spread carefully over the bread. The bread can be ripped or damaged by spreading sweet cream butter to hard. The experiments follow the same format as the other bread / toast experiments.
1/2 Buttered Bread Data:
Buttered Bread Data:
Buttered 1/2 Jelly Bread Data:
Butter Jelly Bread Data:
Observation: There was little friction between the butter and the jelly. There seemed to be less friction in this setup than when peanut butter was used. Jelly splattered all over the floor during impact with the floor.
Conclusion:
As the mass increased, the bread was more likely to land butter / jelly side down.
Final Conclusion Of All Bread / Toast Experiments:
The idea that bread “always” lands butter side down is not true. the data points to the fact that bread lands mostly butter / jelly side down in certain circumstances.
The toast and bread did not turn over when dropped butter/jelly side up. This might be do to the fact that the bread or toast did not have enough distance to to turn over.
As the mass increased, the bread was more likely to land butter / jelly side down.
The toast experienced a similar situation when more mass was added. However, the concave (curl) that occurred when the butter was applied to the toast caused the air resistance to favor landing butter side up.
The 1/2 buttered toast did not have a concave like the full buttered toast did. The 1/2 buttered toast did want to fall butter side down. It was observed, many times, the elastic bounce flipped the 1/2 buttered toast over, so, it was more likely to land butter side up.
Some Psychology:
The myth that “bread always lands butter side down” can be attributed to the fact that bread may land butter side down most of the time but still leave a mess when landing butter side up. The is true when jelly was applied to the butter or peanut butter bread. In psychology, this can lead to an association that makes the person believe that butter always lands butter side down.
Association:
Butter Side Down = Mess
Butter on floor, even if butter side landed up = Mess
Jelly on floor, even if butter side landed up = Mess
Mess = Butter Side Down
Questions To Ponder or Experiment With:
Why did some peanut butter / jelly end up on the floor even when the bread/ toast landed butter side up?
If the peanut butter / jelly was applied to the bread so it made a curve (concave) in the bread, would that change the way the bread falls and lands?
What happens if larger or smaller pieces of bread / toast are used?
What happens if different amounts of butter, peanut butter, and jelly are used?
What happens if the toast / bread were dropped from a different height
What would happen if the bread / toast was dropped after being partially or mostly eaten?
Does the angle of the bread / toast when dropped make a difference?
Does the butter, peanut butter and jelly have an elastic or inelastic collision with the floor?
On the experiments where 1/2 butter or jelly was used the bread / toast was dropped where the buttered / jelly portion was below the unbuttered / unjellied portion. What happens if the buttered / jelly portion was dropped above the unbuttered / unjellied portion of the bread / toast?\
What happens if the bread / toast was dropped on a rug? (Please do not use a good rug for this experiment)
Expert Level:
How do you think buttered bread would land on the moon? Remember, there isn’t any air resistance on the moon. The moon is essentially in a vacuum.
To help you come up with a hypotheses, take a look at the Apollo 15 Hammer - Feather Drop description and video.
The information is located on NASA’s website. (QuickTime Required)
Joe Allen, NASA SP-289, Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report, Summary of Scientific Results, p. 2-11
Links to Other Butter Bread Ideas and Experiments:
Butter Side Down - Experiment On How Toast Falls Off A Table
Kitchen Science Experiments - Must Read
Why Toast Falls Butter Side Down BBC
Why Does Bread Land Butter Side Down? Jimmer UK
Why Toast Lands Butter-Side Down Stumbierz
Next Blog - Some Humor With Science