Thomas Parnell (scientist)

Thomas Parnell ( born July 5, 1881 in Northants, England; † September 1, 1948 in Brisbane, Australia) was an Australian physicist. He was the first professor of physics at the University of Queensland.

1927 Parnell launched an experiment to demonstrate the flow properties and viscosity of pitch, the so-called pitch drop experiment ( pitch drop experiment ): He was warm, liquid pitch into a sealed glass funnel, let it cure for three years and then undid the clasp. In fact, eight years later was the first drop, a further nine years later, the second, and in 2000 the eighth, and being the last drops of pitch from the hopper.