The first to correctly answer this question wins a super-secret prize of no monetary value!
What makes the ink in a pen flow?
And no fair searching on the web!!!! Figure it out in you head, it's funner!UPDATE: Okay, I did some research, and the answer I had in mind turns out to be wrong. That settles it: Everything I was ever told by a high school teacher -- that was on a subject other than his/her specialty -- was bull.
The answer I had in mind was surface tension. Gravity couldn't be the answer since a ball-point can write upside-down, right?
Well, thanks to a post by Stevie, I took a trip over to bored.com and clicked on the HowStuffWorks link and read:
As the pen moves across the paper, the ball turns and gravity forces the ink down the reservoir and onto the ball, where it is transferred onto the paper.
and:
In the case of ballpoint pen ink, the ink is very thick and quick-drying. It is thick so that it doesn't spill out of the reservoir, but thin enough that it responds to gravity. That is why a normal ballpoint pen cannot write upside-down -- it needs gravity to pull the ink onto the ball.
What?! So I grabbed a pen and an envelope I have sitting here, held it above my head so I would be writing with the pen upside-down.
This is how far I got:
how long will this pen write upside-down before the ink
So Rachaeliscorrect
Gravity
Posted by: Rachael at September 13, 2003 02:23 PMNope.
Posted by: Tuning Spork at September 13, 2003 02:25 PMGravity and liquidity. :-)
Posted by: Jennifer at September 13, 2003 03:31 PMIf you have the rest of your life to spend in front of the computer, may I suggest you try the TV Show/Movie thing. Once I start with that infernal thing, I can't stop.
One thing I HAVE learned: Before starting this thing, go to the bathroom, get your coffee and don't forget a new pack of smokes if ya do smoke.
Have fun!
Posted by: Stevie at September 13, 2003 07:37 PMI always thought it was wicking. This reminds me of a joke though.
"Say, does this pen write upside down?"
"Yup, and a whole bunch of other words too."
Posted by: Jim at January 28, 2005 08:27 AM