As one pours the fabric softener under the line, it does not escape anywhere because it has not begun to escape through the center chamber. This line designates the point where if the softener were to be poured above it, then all the fabric softener would resultingly escape the device due to the mechanics of the Pythagorean siphon. Before starting the washing machine, the user pours fabric softener below the maximum fabric softener line in the loading tray. This technology is utilized in the fabric softener tray of a top-load washing machine. Due to this seal, air can then not escape through the central chamber, so the weight of the water in the central chamber forces all the remaining liquid in every chamber to pour out of the Pythagorean siphon. As this process happens, the liquid from both two chambers next to each side of the central chamber forms a seal above the central chamber due to the surface tension of the liquids. Once the liquid reaches the top of the Pythagorean siphon it begins to escape through the central chamber as the effects of gravity take hold. As liquid fills up the 4 chambers, the pressure acting on the liquids remains constant and so the level of liquid in each chamber remains the same. A Pythagorean siphon is composed of 4 chambers with 1 chamber in the center that liquids can escape through. Pythagorean siphons were originally introduced by Pythagoras in 6th century B.C., and its mechanical concept is still seen in washing machines today. The fabric softener tray in a top-load washing machine operates by utilizing a Pythagorean siphon to distribute fabric softener diluted with water across the clothing in the washing machine. Ī Pythagorean cup sold in Crete, known as o kounenos tis dikaiosynis ('the cup of justice') Modern Applications of the Pythagorean Cup Mechanics Most modern toilets operate on the same principle: when the water level in the bowl rises high enough, a siphon is created, emptying the bowl. Gravity then creates a siphon through the central column, causing the entire contents of the cup to be emptied through the hole at the bottom of the stem.

If the level rises further, however, the liquid spills through the chamber into the first pipe and out of the bottom. As long as the level of the liquid does not rise beyond the level of the chamber, the cup functions as normal. When the cup is filled, liquid rises through the second pipe up to the chamber at the top of the central column, following Pascal's principle of communicating vessels. The chamber is connected by a second pipe to the bottom of the central column, where a hole in the column exposes the pipe to (the contents of) the bowl of the cup. A small open pipe runs from this hole almost to the top of the central column, where there is an open chamber. The central column of the bowl is positioned directly over the stem of the cup and over a hole at the bottom of the stem. A Pythagorean cup looks like a normal drinking cup, except that the bowl has a central column in it, giving it a shape like a Bundt pan.

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