Dear Ann Landers,
was very happy to see you print that letter about the toilet paper. It so happens I was taught, like you, to put the paper on the roller so it comes from under. My husband (a hot- tempered fellow with a serious booze problem) goes berserk if I don't 2 2 4 ANN LANDERS do it the other way. You wouldn't believe the yelling if he should find the tissue "upside down," as he calls it. Thanks to Al-Anon, I have learned to accept what I cannot change, so I go along with it, but I know, deep down in my heart, that I am right. I am waiting until he is sober enough to read, and then, I will show him your column. He thinks you are very smart. -Another Admirer

Dear Ann,
You are right about the toilet paper-and for a very good reason. The roll of paper pivots about the line of support between the axle and the hollow cardboard tube. To get it to turn requires a certain torque, which comes from the tension in the paper being withdrawn. The greater the distance between the plane of the paper being pulled and the axle support line, the less force is required and the less chance of tearing the paper before you have enough. -Your Friendly Physics Prof Two years later.; I was asked a related question: