The secret to creating sand castles

Scientists have discovered the secret to building the highest sand castles possible: using very little water.

Research has shown that water plays a role in keeping sand together by forming 'liquid bridges' between the contact points of sand grains. However, too much or too little water will cause the sand castle to collapse.

Ed Jarrett is keeping the Guinness World Records for a long time
highest sand radio (nearly 12 meters). (Photo: World Records)

So exactly how much water do we need to create a perfect sand castle? Traditional estimates give a ratio of 1 bucket of water to 8 buckets of sand (ie about 12.5% ​​water for a sand castle).

However, the new study determines the amount of water needed to reduce to only 1%. That proportion of sand - water ratio will allow your sand castle to reach its maximum height, which is roughly equal to the radius of 2/3 of the power of the upper part. This formula means that we can build tall, slender sand columns but will not collapse.

'Using the correct value for beach sand, a cylindrical column with a radius of 20cm can reach up to 2.4 meters high. This will be great for building real sand castles , 'the team wrote in a report published in Nature Scientific Reports.

Ed Jarrett, who holds the Guinness World Record for the highest sand castle, may need to be aware of this research result. He was honored in Connecticut last year by building a sand castle nearly 12 meters high atop a relatively large platform.