Taking the mangle from the sun, the sand as well as the squeals of wave-jumping children to pad over to the saltwater-taffy shoppe as well as watch the formidable apparatus do its pully-twisty thing is, truly, the single of the good joys of summer.It additionally turns out to be the single of the good joys of mathematics. In fact, the professor of fluid dynamics during the University of Wisconsin, Jean-Luc Thiffeault, whose field of investigate mixes arithmetic as well as physics similar to the air as well as sugarine which are taffys chief ingredients, has created an complete research paper A mathematical story of taffy pullers about the mathematical efficiency of taffy-making machines as well as the innovations over the years.In the report upon Thiffeaults research, the Washington Post highlights some interesting tidbits about taffys story to gnaw on. Among them:1. All which stretching as well as pulling as well as whiz-banging is not only show: Successful taffy creation indeed depends upon it to get air in to the mix as well as achieve its quintessentially taffyish texture.2. In the olden days, behind prior to the turn of the 20th century, all the pulling as well as rambling was done by hand, which was labor-intensive, unhygienic and, frankly, not terribly appetizing.3. In the early 20th century, the flurry of taffy-minded inventors came up with mechanical inventions to improve the process as well as law them.4. One early indication the Nitz taffy puller, law in 1918 which used three rods to stretch, overlay as well as loop the taffy, precisely mirrors the shape which mathematicians have been studying given the early 1970s. (Thiffeault was super-excited when he made the discovery theWashington Post calls ita Eureka moment.)5. Many other taffy-machine models have used more than three rods to do the commercial operation of stretching as well as pulling, though Thiffeault says they flattering much all achieved the same thing, taffywise.6. The most-common indication in make use of today uses four rods which spin, turn as well as pull the taffy in an infinite motion.7. Thiffeault created the puller which uses 6 rods, contending which it is more mathematically perfect, as the Post puts it, than the usual four-rod puller. But he says which doesnt meant that, from an engineering standpoint, its indispensably superior. So dont design large changes in the taffy world as the result.Fascinating. And only the arrange of thing which could put the person in the mood for taffy. Heres the recipe to try no fancy appurtenance needed.Photo courtesy of iStock