Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the cup be a consistent width throughout? Or, even make the cup wider at the bottom to make it more stable when sitting on a surface?
In: Engineering
Less material is needed, generally the bottom is thick and the brim is thin.
Fluid dynamics also has a role, narrowing the opening will accelerate the fluid. Wider opening offers a lower flow which you can control better with your lips for make an opening you feel comfortable with.
You don’t have to lift the cup high to get the last drops.
And last but not least: stacking and molding both like to have narrow bottom and wider opening… which is the biggest reason: all of the above has exceptions, straight glass works just as well and many glass types have wide at the middle and narrow at the top.. Bottom being thick has more to do with balance than structural integrity but the bottom will always be thicker just because that is the surface that hits the table all the time. Multiple things are in play but wider opening glasses are usually always stackable and they are WAY easier (and cheaper) to manufacture without losing too much material. Long narrow glasses tend to have the problem that the liquid comes out too fast and unpredictable where as wider rim does everything “slower”. Wide in the middle is sort of compromise between the two, the distance from bottom to top is short but the opening is narrower (with cognac/brandy glasses, you need to tilt it more than usual, which puts your nose inside the glass… so there are many, many reasons for the shape)
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