The Physics of Tortes

By: Emma Rice, Madison Brand, Lucy Ostrowski, Tanner Spence, and Vanessa Diaz

Definition
torte
tôrt,ˈtôrtə/
noun
1. a sweet cake or tart.

Recipe
Total: 1 hr
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients

● 1 1/2 sticks (12 tabslespoons) unsalted butter or margarine, cut into small pieces, plus
more for the pan= 0.173 kg
● 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped=0.3402 kilograms
● 6 large eggs: Large egg (0.05 kg),
● 1/2 cup sugar= 0.104 kilograms

● Pinch of kosher salt

● Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting (about 2 tablespoons)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform
pan. Combine the chocolate and 1 1/2 sticks butter in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a
saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and stir until melted and
combined. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let cool slightly.

Combine the eggs, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until
pale and thick, 5 to 8 minutes.

Gently fold half of the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until just combined, then
gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top is no longer
shiny and barely jiggles and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few
crumbs, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely in the pan. Remove the
springform ring and transfer to a platter; dust with cocoa powder.

Work Cited Page

Food Network Kitchen. “Flourless Chocolate Torte.” Food Network, Food Network, 5 Jan. 2014,

www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/flourless-chocolate-torte-recipe-2121190.

“Torte.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/torte.

Gantt Chart
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Plan Script, with physics, apply to day
recipe recipe

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Memorial Day update check

Present Work Final

Physics
● ag of ingredients into mixing bowl
● Gravitational Potential Energy of torte baking
● Chemical energy in the food and calories
● Mass: the amount of matter in an object (and size of atoms
 ● Force of falling ingredients
● Force of cracking egg (25 newtons of force)
● Pressure on egg
● Friction of Ingredient mixing
● Voltage of oven
● Transverse/Longitudinal Waves
● Circuit of oven
● Force of cutting torte
● Heat and molecules
● Atoms

Script
(Emma’s Kitchen Intro)

(screen saying “Physics of Tortes”)

Tanner: Today, we will be explaining the Physics of Tortes. (pause) A torte is a type of sweet
cake or tart.

Vanessa: We will go over the science of a torte, in addition to the baking of one.

(change in image on screen)

(Applause)

Emma: (walks into kitchen as “people” applaud) Let’s go over the recipe. (Pause) First, find
your ingredients.

Vanessa: Mass is the amount of matter in an object. In other words, it is the number and size of
atoms in the object. These ingredients for example
:1.5 sticks of unsalted butter with a mass of 0.173 kg
● 12 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate has a mass of 0.3402 kilograms
● 6 large eggs: each have a mass of 0.05 kg),
● 1/2 cup sugar which is 0.104 kilograms
● Pinch of kosher salt

Emma: Start the baking process by preheating the oven to 350. (turns on the oven, preheating
it to 350).

Lucy: Heat is a form of energy. All heat is due to the movement or vibrations of molecules. The
oven works by convection, where there is heat circulation within the air in the oven. The heat of
the oven will speed up the molecules in the torte, and cook it.

Emma: Now, lightly butter the bottom and side of a pan. (butters the bottom of the pan)

Emma: Take the chocolate and the butter, and combine them in a heatproof bowl.

Madison: (as Emma drops the ingredients into a heatproof bowl) The ingredients, like
everything else on Earth, fall into the bowl with an acceleration of 9.8 meters per second
squared. This is called the acceleration due to gravity.

Emma: Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and do not let the bowl touch the
water. Stir until melted and combined. (does this)
Tanner: In a single calorie, there's about 4.2 joules of energy, about enough to heat one gram of
water by one ℃. This energy can also be used to do other things, such as create movement, and
be burned to create fat energy. Each gram of protein contains 4 calories, each gram of
carbohydrates also have 4, but one gram of fat contains 9 calories.

Emma: Now, remove the bowl from the saucepan, and let it cool slightly. (does this) (Pause)
Crack the eggs into a large bowl.

Vanessa: (as Emma cracks the eggs into the large bowl) when the egg is cracked, 25 newtons of
force are applied to the shell. The Force of the egg cracking is higher than it falling into the
bowl because Emma applies extra pressure when hitting it against the bowl.

Emma: In addition, put the sugar and the salt into the bowl.

Lucy: Each ingredient falls into the bowl with a different force. The eggs hit the bowl with a
force of 0.49 n each. The chocolate falls into the bowl with 3.33 newtons of force. The sugar hits
the bowl with 1.02 n of force, and the butter has 1.7 n of force.

Emma: Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, 5 to 8 minutes.

Madison: (as Emma does this) Friction is the force acting against the direction of motion,
caused by a molecular collision. As the combination of ingredients are mixed, the molecules of
the different ingredients are colliding, so this causes them to combine and form one cohesive
mixture.

Emma: Gently fold half of the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until just combined,
then gently fold in the rest. (does this)

Emma: Pour the batter into the prepared pan. (does this) Bake until the top is no longer shiny
and barely jiggles and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs.
This should take approximately 35 to 45 minutes.

Lucy: (as the cake is baking) (get clips of cake baking, both in normal view, and in time lapse)
The oven works as a circuit, and it's current has 110 volts of electricity. A circuit is a complete
loop of conductive material from one side of a power source to the other. The oven works as a
circuit because the current runs from the power source to the oven, which works as a resistor,
and creates heat. It is heated at 350 degrees. The heat from the resistor makes the molecules
move faster, and the change positions, forming a solid instead of a liquid.
Emma: (as she takes the cake out of the oven and places it on a rack.) Doesn’t that look good!
Make sure to have the cake cool before serving.

Madison: (as Emma cuts a piece of cake) Pressure is a measure of the force applied over an
area. A knife is the most efficient way to cut a cake, because it is a large amount of force applied
over a small area, due to the thinness of the blade.

Emma: (takes a bite of the torte) MMM, mmm, MMM! That was tasty! Tune in next time for
more science and cooking expertise!

(End)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ghAxtIpjlk4