The Physics of Homemade Yankies
Entry posted by ihsseniorhill
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Homemade Yankies is a common holiday dish served in my family. Everyone in my family, from a young age, learns how to make this homemade pasta in sauce (with the option of homemade meatballs if you aren't vegetarian like me) The pasta has to be rolled into long strands where it's cut, boiled and then cooked in red sauce. However as a child and even now, I always hated rolling the dough because once I got to the end my hands would turn red and itch unbearably with heat. Later on I learned that this heat was created as a result of friction.
Friction is a force which opposes motion. Static friction acts on an object at rest while kinetic friction acts on an object in motion. By rolling the dough, the object set in motion. Therefore in the case of dough rolling, kinetic friction is at work. This motion of the dough then opposes the source of the motion, my hands. When rolling the dough out, my hands replicated the very same motion you create when rubbing your hands together on a cold winter night. As a result of friction there is a lost of energy this lost of energy is in the form of heat. This phenomenon explains why my hands become warm with heat and irritated
Towards the end I also tend to use more flour on the dough. When the dough is sticky it resists motion. This creates more heat because as you have to use more energy in order to roll the dough with your hands. When the dough is covered in flour the two surfaces are smoothened. Remember that only two things can change friction 1. the nature of the surfaces in contact 2. the normal force acting upon the object. So by changing the nature of the surfaces I can attempt to alleviate some of the friction while rolling the dough between my hands.
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