Team Potjie-dinamika wins first prize

The Department of Physics’ “Potjie-Dinamika” team, with team members Hannes de Meyer (captain), Louwrens van Schalkwyk, Mauritz van den Worm and Walter Meyer walked away as overall 1^st place winners at this year’s potjiekos competition.

On Wednesday 8 September 2010 the University of Pretoria celebrated Spring Day. As part of the celebrations a potjiekos competition was also held, in which more than 40 potjies from various departments were entered.

The “Potjie-Dinamika” team approached the making of their potjie from a physics perspective. They realized that one of the big risks with a potjie is that the food inside the pot can easily be burnt, if the temperature is not regulated correctly. The problem was solved using thermocouples to monitor the temperature inside the potjie.