You will need:
- Large uncooked, raw
potato - Simple drinking straw
For your next party, try this trick. Ask your friends to push a straw through an uncooked, raw potato. When they try and fail (which they will), show them the right way to pierce a potato.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Practise this experiment a few times before you perform in front of an audience.
- Take the straw and hold it as straight as possible, closer to the centre and not at the very end.
- When you are ready, stab the potato as fast as possible, keeping the straw at a right angle to the potato.
RESULT
With good luck (and a bit of practice), you should be able to pierce the potato with your straw halfway through, or even all the way through if you stab the potato at a narrower point. When the straw is pushed slowly through the potato, not only does the potato have time to deform, but also the straw begins to bend and eventually buckle. However, by moving the straw fast (absolutely straight), the potato does not have time to distort, and the straw is cut through every layer individually. Also, the straw when stabbed quickly through the potato is quite strong and sharp, and goes through the potato easily.
