The Surfing Scientist › Tricks

Newspaper bottle opener

Got a non-twist crown cap bottle but can't find a bottle opener anywhere? No worries! Master this party survival trick and you'll save the soiree, rescue the rave and become a barbecue hero.

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To open non-twist crown corks, most people reach for the bottle opener. Not you. Not anymore. Grab two sheets of ordinary newspaper instead (that's a total of four pages and it doesn't matter if the newspaper is a broadsheet or tabloid format.) Roll the newspaper up nice and tight. If you are doing this at a barbecue or a party, expect some raised eyebrows. Bend the rolled up newspaper in half and squash the crease as tight and hard as you can. There will now be several stiff, sharp, pointy bits in the crease. Wedge one of the sharp pointy bits under the crown. Move the hand holding the bottle up so the paper is pressed against your index finger just above the first knuckle (on your proximal phalange bone.) Your index finger is now the fulcrum of a first-class lever. Pull down with the other hand and… pop! Congratulations. You've just opened a bottle with a newspaper! Now go forth and be the toast of the barbie.



Note: if you don't succeed the first time, the part of the crease you used will probably be torn so use a different pointy bit for your second attempt.

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What's going on?

You have successfully turned an ordinary sheet of newspaper into a class 1 lever (the surprising strength of newspaper deserves some of the credit too.) Levers are one of the six simple machines every kid learns about in primary school but nearly all forget again before the end of high school. In case you've forgotten, the other simple machines are the inclined plane, the wedge, the wheel and axle, the pulley and the screw. Coming back to you yet? Quit yawning!

Levers amplify force and they're so good at it that Archimedes famously said: "Give me somewhere to stand, and I will move the Earth." He meant that, if he had a long and strong enough crow bar, he could use it as a lever and move planets. Oi! Pay attention!!

A lever is just a beam or a stick or a rod. Or, in this case, a few sheets of newspaper turned into a rod. What class of lever you have depends on where you put the fulcrum. This is the other bit most primary school kids learn to forget. The fulcrum is the point around which the lever rotates. A seesaw is a class 1 lever but, with the fulcrum smack bang in the middle, it gives you zero mechanical advantage. If you put the fulcrum closer to the far end, however, you can lift a heavy object a small vertical distance by pushing the other end down a large vertical distance.

Okay kids, fascinating as this is, even I can tell that's probably enough lever lessons for one day. If you really are that keen to refresh yourself with what makes a class 2 lever (think wheelbarrows) and a class 3 lever (think biceps lifting a dumbbell), then simply type "class 2 lever" into any search engine and you will be rewarded with more than five results (trust me, I checked!)

In the meantime, here are a few extra hints for how to open crown cork bottle caps with a newspaper. It helps to practice the technique with the thick handle of blunt butter knife or a wooden spoon so you won't get too frustrated when the pointy bits in your creased newspaper tear (once it does, you usually can't use that pointy bit again.)

Also, if you break the seal, the neck of the bottle often becomes wet, and in that event you'll just end up making papier-mâché. The lever action should not hurt your index finger at all. If it does, you're holding it wrong. The crown cork should come off relatively easily (ie not much force is required) and if it feels like there is no way it's going to budge… you're still holding it wrong.

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