Physicists Finally Perfect Urinal Technique

That half of the population that pees standing up knows of the ages-long struggle to find the perfect position for avoiding urinal splashback. But worry no more: a group of physicists at BYU has dedicated time, energy, and specially-calibrated nozzles to solving the problem, and they believe they've finally done it. (And, yes, they probably did get grant money for this.)

The team of four scientists, who dub themselves "whizz-kids" (presumably while giggling and high-fiving each other), set up a water tank and several nozzles to spray colored water from different positions, mimicking a variety of urinal-standing and toilet-sitting pee techniques. Using high-speed cameras, they filmed the sweet splashback action and analyzed the results, which they'll be presenting next month.

But we know you only came here to perfect your public-restroom technique, so here are the results: the position resulting in least splashback is, unsurprisingly, sitting on the toilet. To account for times when there's only a urinal handy, the physicists delved deep into fluid dynamics and something called the Plateau-Rayleigh instability:

To avoid that, men should stand as close to the urinal as possible they advise. Also helpful is directing the stream to hit the back of the urinal at a downward angle. That creates less splash-back and the drops that do bounce, head downwards into the urinal drain. Conversely, to prevent messing one's trousers (or angering neighbors) they suggest men not spray directly into the urinal or into the pool that forms at the bottom of the urinal, both cause a lot of splash-back.
You heard it here first, folks. Now go pee like like you've never peed before.
If you liked this clip, share it with your friends and hit that "like" button!

1,500 Subscriber Behind The Scenes Reward Video -

Subscribe to our Podcast on iTunes for free!

@fowlershow
@richardafowler

[EricBlues]

raise your hand if you actually needed a physicist to help you figure this out...

[SolariEcho]

Isn't this just common sense? But why did Youtube suggest I watch this? XD

[JemH]

Do we really need 2 talk about this ??

[theewildrose]

Someone make diagram i can post to FB.

[derrickwilliams]

They should just stencil a bulls eye inside the wall of the urinal.

[dangr]

Who hasn't figured this out on their own?

[polebarner]

What do women do sitting on the toilet to prevent them from getting splashed?? Which is the best technique to prevent the water and waste from splashing on us including around the genital areas, vaginas and annals ?

[rorschach]

I thought there was going to be a special toilet not pissing techniques. 

[jawadad]

dude wtf??
 less time on youtube and more time on reading practice !!!

[sbonel]

Why is this guy in front of the white house talking about pee ? Does obama let you do that now ?

[blondzruleall]

I struggle to listen to this guy, he is not a news person, he can't speak or read without struggling with words, saying ummmm a lot...it is so hard to get thru his "news casts?" Every time I see his utube videos on TYt Network I immediately turn it off, cause it is so painful to watch!

[davidk]

it is as if he has never said or heard the word "physicists" before. this is horrible.. very random and unorganized overall..