Scientists Discover How to Snap Spaghetti Into Two Perfect Pieces

Important news for pasta lovers: Researchers at MIT just figured out how to snap a strand of spaghetti into two perfect pieces, according to New Scientist. The days of having to sweep up the tiny fragments that fly in all directions when you break spaghetti into two pot-ready portions are over.

In 2005, researchers in France figured out why spaghetti cracks into bits: The strand flexes in the opposite direction after the initial snap, creating a “snap-back effect” that causes it to break a second time.

Now, after snapping hundreds of spaghetti sticks, MIT mathematicians have the solution. The researchers used a pair of clamps to twist individual strands of spaghetti almost 360 degrees. Next, the two clamps were slowly brought together to bend the stick, resulting in a perfect fracture. This worked for two kinds of spaghetti with different thicknesses—Barilla No. 5 and Barilla No. 7, to be precise.

The process was recorded using a high-speed camera (which can be viewed on MIT's website). While reviewing the footage, researchers realized that adding a twist is key because it prevents the spaghetti stick from forcefully flexing backwards. Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Even without equipment, you can can try this at home. It might take a bit of practice, though, so have a couple of boxes handy. Ronald Heisser, a former MIT student who is now a graduate student at Cornell University, came up with the technique for how to manually snap spaghetti in two.

“I would start with my hands opposite each other—one hand upside down and the other right side up—and then make both of them right side up while twisting the spaghetti so you can work your arm strength into it,” Heisser tells Mental Floss.

“You know you're twisting it right when you feel it really trying to untwist itself. Then, you can carefully bring the ends together, trying not to change the twist at all.”

He noted that your hands should also be dry, because oiliness can make the strand slip in your fingers.

However, it's unlikely that anyone has the patience to sit there and snap one strand of spaghetti at a time. So does this trick work for a whole handful of pasta? Dr. Jörn Dunkel, who led the study, says it’s difficult to predict how a handful of spaghetti would fracture, but he believes this technique would reduce the number of pieces you end up with.

“When many spaghetti become bunched together, they can transfer energy between them, which can change their bending and fracture behavior significantly,” Dr. Dunkel tells Mental Floss. “Very roughly, as a rule of thumb, one would expect that splitting the energy between bending and twisting should always help to reduce the fragment number compared to pure bending.”

Of course, if you want to cook the true Italian way, you’ll leave your spaghetti unsnapped and intact. (Longer pasta is said to wrap around your fork better, making it easier to eat.)

But if you want to try this bend-and-snap technique for yourself, the purists would probably give you a pass.