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space-iconSpace and Physics
clock-iconPUBLISHEDFebruary 9, 2016

Mathematicians Devise Formula For The Perfect Pancake

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Tom Hale

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture.

Senior Journalist

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture.View full profile

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture.

View full profile
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Paul Biryukov/Shutterstock

Today is Shrove Tuesday, better known to some as Pancake Day. To celebrate this glorious day of fried goodness, mathematicians from the University of Sheffield have developed a formula for the perfect pancake.

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The University’s Maths Society collaborated with chefs from the local Meadowhall Shopping Centre to create a formula that works out how much of each ingredient you need to add to the mix, taking into account your preference of thickness, pan size, and number of pancakes desired. All quantities are based on a recipe from the British TV chef Delia Smith.

University of Sheffield Maths Society

If you’re too busy fine-tuning your flipping technique to work out the formula yourself, the University of Sheffield has also created a spreadsheet where you can just enter your preferences and it will do the legwork for you.

 

The quantities above are based on this Delia Smith recipe and are meant only as a guide.

 

Gaby Thompson, President of the University of Sheffield’s Maths Society and one of the formula's creators, said: "Cooking is a fun and innovative way to demonstrate how maths can be used and explored in everyday life and we hope by developing this formula it will encourage more people to engage with the subject and help to combat maths phobia."


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