Tea Leaf Paradox
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-28
CORE DEFINITION
The tea leaf paradox describes the phenomenon where tea leaves in a cup of tea, after being stirred, gather at the center of the bottom of the cup, rather than being pushed to the edge by the spiral centrifugal force as one might expect. The initial explanation came from a 1926 paper by Albert Einstein, which was used to explain riverbank erosion (Baer's law).
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The tea leaf paradox describes the phenomenon where tea leaves in a cup of tea, after being stirred, gather at the center of the bottom of the cup, rather than being pushed to the edge by the spiral centrifugal force as one might expect. The initial explanation came from a 1926 paper by Albert Einstein, which was used to explain riverbank erosion (Baer's law).
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When stirring a cup of tea, the tea leaves do not get flung to the edges by the vortex; instead, they gather at the center of the bottom. This is because the centrifugal force is stronger near the walls, and the bottom return flow carries the leaves back to the center.
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8C%B6%E5%8F%B6%E6%82%96%E8%AE%BAverified
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