The Best Way to Eat Pizza Is Scientifically Explained

It could be argued that there really is no right or wrong way to eat a pizza. I mean, as long as that delicious slice of cheesy, tomato-y pie is going into your gullet, it’s a pretty good situation, right? The folks at It’s Okay to be Smart beg to differ, however, releasing a video analyzing the proper techniques to eat and enjoy a pizza.

Ya fold it. 

That’s right, one of the most common techniques of devouring a slice has now officially been proven by science to be the preferred method. Joe Hanson, of the PBS series, analyzes the basic structure of a pizza, and says that its natural state allows it to go limp causing difficulty in consumption. Hanson references 19th century mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss to support his pizza argument.

Gauss had a theorem he called the Theorema Egregium (“excellent theorem”). Essentially it means that a pizza slice begins flat and has zero Gaussian curvature. Gauss’s theorem states that one direction of the slice must always remain flat. This means no matter which way you let it bend, the pizza will have some form of flatness.

When a slice goes limp, it points sideways and is more difficult to eat. When one folds a pizza slice, however, it points in the direction of your mouth. Thus, because it’s more rigid, the pizza slice is easier to eat.

Check out the video below to go deeper into the theorem.

H/T First We Feast