Faraday made popular the amazing phenomena associated with vibrating plates. (Chladni figures).
Today’s invention is a geeky kitchen toy which exploits this amazing Physics.
There is a saucepan the base of which fits inside, attached by a loose rubber ‘seal’. The base is vibrated by a motor unit beneath, so that icing sugar dropped in the saucepan forms the complicated and beautiful Chladni patterns, which vary with frequency.
When you see a pattern you like, switch off the motor and put a flat-topped cake into the cylinder (top-down) until it’s in contact with the icing sugar.
Invert the whole system and remove the cylinder, leaving the sugar pattern on the top of the cake.
