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French fries are delicious. French fries with ketchup are a little slice of heaven.
我們都知道炸薯條很好吃，再配上番茄醬簡直就是人間美味。
The problem is it's basically impossible to pour exactly the right amount.
但問題是擠出適量的番茄醬實在是太難了。
We're so used to pouring ketchup that we don't realize how weird its behavior is.
我們平時經常擠番茄醬，但是從來沒注意到過它有多么的奇怪。
Imagine a ketchup bottle filled with a straight up solid like steel.
想像你的番茄醬瓶里裝的是固體，比如不銹鋼。
No amount of shaking would ever get the steel out.
不管你怎么搖晃，不銹鋼都不會出來。
Now imagine that same bottle full of a liquid like water.
現在再想像一下番茄醬瓶子裝水。
That would pour like a dream.
把水倒出來簡直易如反掌。
Ketchup, though, can't seem to make up its mind.
但是番茄醬呢，好像很糾結。
Is it is a solid? Or a liquid?
它到底是固體？還是液體？
The answer is, it depends.
答案是，看情況。
The world's most common fluids like water, oils and alcohols respond to force linearly.
這世界上最常見的液體，比如水、油還有酒精，會對力的作用產生線性反應。
If you push on them twice as hard, they move twice as fast.
如果你用兩倍的力去擠它們，它們就會以兩倍的速度流出來。
Sir Isaac Newton, of apple fame, first proposed this relationship, and so those fluids are called Newtonian fluids.
因為蘋果而出名的艾薩克·牛頓先生，首次提出了上述現象，所以它們被稱為牛頓流體。
Ketchup, though, is part of a merry band of linear rule breakers called Non-Newtonian fluids.
番茄醬呢，卻是線性規則破壞者小團體中的一員，稱為非牛頓流體。
Mayonnaise, toothpaste, blood, paint, peanut butter and lots of other fluids respond to force non-linearly.
蛋黃醬，牙膏，血液，顏料，花生醬還有其他很多流體，都不會對力的作用產生線性反應。
That is, their apparent thickness changes depending on how hard you push, or how long, or how fast.
也就是說，它們的濃度會根據你的用力大小，時間和速度改變。
And ketchup is actually Non-Newtonian in two different ways.
事實上，番茄醬會表現出兩種非牛頓流體現象。
Way number one: the harder you push, the thinner ketchup seems to get.
現象一：你越用力擠，番茄醬越稀。
Below a certain pushing force, ketchup basically behaves like a solid.
但是如果力道小到特定程度，番茄醬看起來就像固體一樣了。
But once you pass that breaking point, it switches gears and becomes a thousand times thinner than it was before.
但是一旦超過了那個臨界點，它就搖身一變，變得比剛才稀很多。
Sound familiar right?
聽起來很耳熟吧？
Way number two: if you push with a force below the threshold force eventually, the ketchup will start to flow.
現象二：如果你的力道沒有達到臨界點，番茄醬最后還是會流出來的
In this case, time, not force, is the key to releasing ketchup from its glassy prison.
這種情況下，時間是擠出番茄醬的關鍵，而不是力。
Alright, so, why does ketchup act all weird?
好吧，那番茄醬到底為什么這么與眾不同呢？
Well, it's made from tomatoes, pulverized, smashed, thrashed, utterly destroyed tomatoes.
嗯，首先，它是番茄做的。番茄經過各種切碎，擠壓，攪拌之后變得面目全非。
See these tiny particles?
看到這些小顆粒了嗎？
This is what remains of tomatoes cells after they go through the ketchup treatment.
它們是在番茄被各種處理后殘留下來的番茄細胞。
And the liquid around those particles?
那么這些小顆粒周圍的液體呢？
That's mostly water and some vinegar, sugar, and spices.
大部分都是水，還有一些醋，糖，以及香料。
