It’s True!

Brighton Guy / CC

Does buttered toast really land butter side down? Years ago a researcher at Aston University in Birmingham, England, wrote about a study in a science journal under the title “Tumbling Toast, Murphy’s Law and the Fundamental Constants.” His study demonstrated that when a slice of toast slides off a plate, it tips and spins at a uniform rate. That rate and the average kitchen table’s height virtually guarantee it will land on its face. Or as Matthews put it: “The fate of the toast, whether it lands butter side up or down, boils down to the size of a ratio, and that ratio is the ratio of the size of the toast to the height of the table.”