This Blog's History: Why Does Toast Always Fall Butter Side Down

This Friday for This Blog's History I bring back to you a post that provides a bit of a science explanation for one of life's more frustrating moments:  watching toast almost ALWAYS fall butter side down on the floor.  At first glance one would think that a falling piece of toast has a 50/50 chance of falling butter side down.  But it seems like it's more 90/10 in favor of butter side down.  Is the Universe out to get you?  No, there's a perfectly good explanation and that explanation is gravity and center of mass.  Here's what I wrote in the original post which you can view here.

"Most of the time a piece of toast is dropped one one edge. Think about a piece of toast slipping off the counter/table top.  When the first half of the toast goes over the edge it starts to fall due to the force of gravity.  Since one half of the toast starts to fall before the other, the toast begins to rotate through the air about the toast's center of mass.  Unfortunately for the toast eater, the toast strikes the ground less than 1/2 a second later.  Therefore, the toast doesn't have time to make one complete rotation and land butter side up.  It's still in the first half of its rotation, so it usually lands butter side down."

So there you are, a scientific explanation to one of life's mysteries.  I say this is I sit here watching my 3 year old hold a piece of buttered toast in the not so careful way that a 3 year old holds a piece of buttered toast!  :-)