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This is fantastic Dr Lee, keep it up! Seeing more maths hackathons around would be cool :smile: and it's great to see the different applications of mathematical modelling, not just to coffee but the other things as well.

Is there a scope to move on to tea next? 😂
Reply 2
What the **** is this? If you want a good cup of coffee, put the effort in and brew it. Lazy bastards.
There is no such thing as the perfect coffee.

Spoiler

This has blown my mind :headfire:
Reply 5
Coffee is rather subjective though right, no number of crazy equations is going to satisfy everyone
Original post by SeanFM
This is fantastic Dr Lee, keep it up! Seeing more maths hackathons around would be cool :smile: and it's great to see the different applications of mathematical modelling, not just to coffee but the other things as well.

Is there a scope to move on to tea next? 😂


Moving onto tea is an excellent idea! I just need to find a company to work with.
Original post by fefssdf
Coffee is rather subjective though right, no number of crazy equations is going to satisfy everyone


It's true that a perfect cup of coffee will be different for different people. I hope that a mathematical model of coffee brewing will help everyone brew their own ideal cup of coffee.
You what? I don't see the point of this at all, it all tastes the same to old Len.
Original post by She-Ra
This has blown my mind :headfire:


I know! I'm always amazed by the things mathematics can be applied to.
Original post by Len Goodman
You what? I don't see the point of this at all, it all tastes the same to old Len.


Maybe one day you'll find a cup of coffee that will get a 10 from Len?

Apart from that though, it might be that the equations could be employed in a different context. For instance, when contact lenses are made, they contain chemical impurities which have to be removed by washing with water. My colleagues and I used the coffee equations to model this process for a contact lens manufacturer.
Are you a believer that mathematics can explain everything? i.e there is always an equation for everything? I'm very intrigued by this project and look forward to hearing about some more of your projects!
Excellent article! I have now graduated, but I particularly enjoyed mathematical modelling like this at university so I would enjoy reading more!

After tea, please consider hot chocolate as that's my hot drink of choice!
Reply 13
A question about coffee in Mathematics 2017 confirmed.
Original post by metrize
Are you a believer that mathematics can explain everything? i.e there is always an equation for everything? I'm very intrigued by this project and look forward to hearing about some more of your projects!


Hi, It is amazing how much you can do with mathematics. Some of the projects that I've been personally involved in have looked at applying mathematics to microelectronic devices, explosive decompression of volcanic rocks, predicting crystal quality, packing cars onto transporters, and sinking bubbles in stout beers.

I'm not sure I would like to say that there is an equation (or an algorithm) for everything. Or that even that, when you can take a mathematical perspective on a problem or a question, that is the only perspective you should take. Nevertheless, when I'm faced with a decision, I do try to look at things from a mathematician's point of view. Sometimes there are estimates, or tools from statistics or game theory I can use. Often though these don't so much make the decision for me as clarify exactly what the decision is.

But, more importantly for me, mathematics lets me see more of the world I live in. Knowing some of the equations that describe brewing my cup of coffee helps me to enjoy it more.
Original post by Dr William Lee (University of Portsmouth)
Nevertheless, when I'm faced with a decision, I do try to look at things from a mathematician's point of view.


That's very interesting (and I enjoyed your work on this). Do you think looking at something mathematically is more than just thinking logically - it's about seeking out pattern and trying to formulate general rules?
Original post by rayquaza17
Excellent article! I have now graduated, but I particularly enjoyed mathematical modelling like this at university so I would enjoy reading more!

After tea, please consider hot chocolate as that's my hot drink of choice!


Hot chocolate would be an excellent system to study (in moderation).

Delighted to hear you are a fan of mathematical modelling. If you are interested in learning some more about the mathematical detail of the model this article might be a good place to start.
Original post by Reality Check
That's very interesting (and I enjoyed your work on this). Do you think looking at something mathematically is more than just thinking logically - it's about seeking out pattern and trying to formulate general rules?


The right mathematics to use varies so much from problem to problem. Sometimes looking for patterns and general rules is exactly the right thing to do. This is great when the you can discover that the problem is one that has already been solved or partly solved in another context. (Coffee is a great example of this: our starting point for the coffee model was looking at models of groundwater flow, that is water soaking through the earth.)

Other times what is required is quantitative thinking. When I was living in Ireland one question I had to consider was the right time to buy a house. At the time house prices were falling but the rate at which they were falling was decreasing. Thinking quantitatively suggested that the right time to buy a house was when the fall in house prices per month was less than my monthly rent. (Later this helped me when I was collaborating with economists on working our the right time to invest in carbon capture and storage technology for a power plant.)

As I said before, I'd always consider what comes out of a mathematical approach as one piece of advice to consider, not a definitive answer.
Original post by Fadel
A question about coffee in Mathematics 2017 confirmed.


Or maybe an answer to a question in a lecture?

From time to time my students ask me if they'll ever use the mathematics I'm teaching them. I think this is a perfectly reasonable question: mathematics is hard, so I think it is sensible to ask whether the investment in learning it is worthwhile.

Working with industry on problems like brewing coffee enables me to reassure students that, although the mathematics they are learning looks very abstract sometimes, it is in fact directly applicable to the kinds of challenges industry is facing every day.

(I much prefer this answer to "you'll need it when you sit the exam.")
Very good, clever idea but I like tea!! Coffee is disgusting man

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