Stephen ([info]chronicpaint) wrote,
@ 2009-06-29 16:51:00
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I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but it bears repeating
"I go to the laundromat to do a wash. Included in the wash are 8 pairs of socks.
Out of the wash come 6 pairs of socks plus 1 grey sock and 1 blue sock.
A week later I go to the laundromat to do a wash. Included in the wash are 6 pairs of socks.
Out of the wash come 4 pairs of socks plus 1 black sock and 1 green sock.
A week later I go to the laundromat to do a wash. Included in the wash are 4 pairs of socks.
Out of the wash come 2 pairs of socks. The other socks never show up.
The next day I go to the laundromat. As an experiment I put in nothing but my last 2 pairs of socks.
Out of the wash comes a body stocking. In the body stocking I find a note.
The note says: "Quit trifling with the laws of nature and bring the machine more socks."

Jules Feiffer

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[info]greg_kennedy
2009-06-29 09:07 pm UTC (link)
Reminds me of this one which I used to like, "The Quantum Theory of Laundry" ( http://www.laundry-alternative.com/fateofmissingsocks.htm )

The QTL explains the fundamental of problems of laundry in a very direct manner. The origin of lint can now be defined as the sum of probabilities that a sock traveled or tunneled through the washing system into the lint trap. The sock tunneling phenomenon is analogous to the electron tunneling phenomena in quantum mechanics. The occasional presence of large quantities of lint is easily explained by the real likelihood that entire socks can spontaneously take on the wave function of the lint trap.

The QTL also explains that socks never actually disappear. Quite simply, at the time of disturbance or stopping of the machine they have a wave function that puts them temporarily in the washing system or completely converts them to lint.

Furthermore, if a machine is disturbed during a subsequent washing cycle there is a finite probability that a sock lost in previous cycles may reappear in the main washing compartment. This explains the appearance of other people's sock in your wash.

Lastly, the disappearance of entire loads can be explained by the existence of the finite probability that all of the socks in the main compartment have taken on the wave function of the lint trap and subsequently turned to lint. This further implies that instead of accusing someone of stealing your socks, running the machine while empty for long periods of time will increase the chances of retrieval of most of the socks.

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