Filling water cup/bucket: which way is faster?

[DaveC426913]

This came to mind when I was filling up my cup at the dining hall and there are people behind me waiting. I was wondering that if before I turned the water on, I brought the cup closer to the tap source (which is pretty constant) if this would result in my cup being full (full meaning "pretty much" to the brim, assume no spilling) in a less amount of time.

Ah.

You'll shave about 1/5th of a second off your time - If you don't squander that 0.2s getting the cup into position. Do you think you can move it into position in 1/5th of a second?

Remember: it isn't about how fast you fill your cup - the clock starts the moment the guy in front of you steps out of your way - and stops the moment you step out of the way.

 

[rugerts]

Thank you all for the patience and great in depth replies. I think I'm satisfied with the answers now.

 

[hmmm27]

What if we placed the glass at a low point and raised it as it was being filled at a relatively constant upward velocity; would this be even better than the abrupt bringing up?

Technically of course, you should bring the glass to the top just as the water stream ends, and wait 'til the last moment before bringing it up to get the full advantage of the open-siphon effect, but a bit of showmanship might be achieved by smoothly bringing it up and catching the last drop in mid-air aways below the faucet.

In either case the important bit is keeping a straight face and seeing how long it takes before somebody asks what the heck you're doing.