| Bgcolour: |
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| Num Episodes: | 23 (includes 3 specials) |
| Network: | Discovery Channel |
| Prev Season: | 2008 season |
| Next Season: | 2010 season |
| Episode List: | List of MythBusters episodes |
The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as the results of the experiments (the myth is busted, plausible, or confirmed).
| No. in series | No. in season | Title | Original air date | Overall episode No. |
|---|
This episode was an 87-minute-long special. The vehicles that were demolished during the episode all received an end credit in the form of an in memoriam (spelled in memorium onscreen).
With these tests based on numerous car chase scenes in films, the Build Team tested myths based on whether cars would be able to successfully drive through/into various obstructions. Two criteria were used to test each scenario: whether the real crash appeared similar to its Hollywood counterpart, and whether the car could be driven away afterward. They crashed into...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...a fruit stand. | Busted | The car completely demolished the fruit stand, but it was no longer drivable after sustaining heavy damage to its hood. | |
| ...a locked chain link gate. | Plausible | The car successfully crashed through the gate, but it suffered some damage and triggered its airbags. However, the car was still drivable. | |
| ...a camper trailer. | Busted | The impact completely demolished both the trailer and the car, rather than the car making a clean hole through the trailer as seen in movies. | |
| ...the cavity between the ground and a big rig trailer, tearing the roof off. | Plausible | The trailer tore the roof off the car, but the car's brakes failed and it rolled past the end of the test course and fell off an earthen berm. After examining the video, the team decided that the car looked drivable after passing under the trailer, and rated this plausible. |
As part of Discovery Channel's Alaska Week 2009 series, the MythBusters returned to Alaska to test more cold weather myths.
With this myth being based on Geoffrey Pyke's proposed project of building an aircraft carrier out of pykrete during World War II, which was never put into practice because the war ended, the MythBusters decided to test the viability of making a pykrete boat.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pykrete is bulletproof. | Confirmed | The MythBusters demonstrated that pykrete is bulletproof by subjecting a wastebasket-sized chunk of ice and another of pykrete to a close range impact (approximately 10abbr=onNaNabbr=on) by a .45 caliber round. The ice shattered upon impact, and the bullet easily penetrated it. However, the pykrete chunk held together and successfully stopped and deflected the bullet while sustaining only a small (approximately 1inches deep) impact crater. | |
| Pykrete is stronger than ice. | Confirmed | The MythBusters subjected ice and pykrete to a mechanical stress test where lead blocks were placed onto a cantilevered slab of each material to determine its breaking strength. The ice quickly failed when the weight exceeded, while the pykrete had no problem supporting all 300lb of lead blocks the MythBusters had and took Jamie several additional hammer strikes to break. After this test, Jamie made a slab of "super pykrete" (made out of newspaper instead of wood pulp). It held the lead blocks and Adam's weight combined, even holding strong against repeated hammer strikes. | |
| A working boat can be completely constructed with pykrete. | Plausible "but ludicrous" | The MythBusters first tested how long ice, pykrete, and Jamie's special "super pykrete" could last in warm water before melting. The super pykrete proved to last significantly longer, prompting Adam and Jamie to use that as their main building material. The MythBusters then built a full-size boat out of the super pykrete, dubbing it Yesterday's News, and subjected it to real-world conditions. Though the boat managed to float and stay intact at speeds of up to, it quickly began to spring leaks as it slowly melted. At twenty minutes in with the boat deteriorating, the experiment was pulled, and the boat lasted another ten minutes while being piloted back to shore. Though the boat worked, it was noted that it would be highly impractical for the original myth, which predicted that an entire aircraft carrier could be built out of pykrete. Adam and Jamie agreed to settle on a "plausible but ludicrous" conclusion. |
In additional footage shown on the MythBusters website, two additional tests were shown.[1]
The Build Team tested several myths that involve creating diamonds with household materials such as...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...several chemicals such as graphite and ferric nitrate by combining them in a pressure cooker. This myth was inspired by the episode "Lost Son." | Busted | Tory started by acquiring the required chemicals, as well as a diamond seed, and put them all into a pressure cooker, leaving the mix cooking for three days. However, he failed to obtain any results. | |
| ...peanut butter by using it to cover charcoal and heating it in a microwave oven. | Busted | Kari tried the method but failed to create any diamonds, despite managing to destroy two microwaves. | |
| ...molten graphite and iron by rapidly cooling it and soaking the iron in hydrochloric acid. | Busted | Grant performed the experiment but could not find any diamonds. |
Unable to produce any diamonds by using household items, the Build Team went on to test whether...
Adam, Jamie, and the Build Team tested three myths drawn from videos seen on YouTube.
This myth was not shown in the actual episode aired in the United States, but it was featured in the version of the episode aired outside North America and on the MythBusters website and included in the iTunes download as an extra scene. It was based on a video created by the YouTube user Household Hacker.
Adam and Jamie explored the physics of swimming in syrup, while the Build Team probed two "magic bullet" myths.
Adam, Jamie, and the Build Team joined forces to investigate a puzzling seesaw myth. This is the second myth in which the MythBusters and the Build Team tested a myth together.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The vibrations caused by a car stereo system at full blast is enough to trigger a misfire in an SKS rifle. | Busted | This myth originated from Russian gangs, who use an SKS rifle with a free-floating (as opposed to spring-return) firing pin. Supposedly, any large vibrations, such as from a loud car stereo system, can cause the firing pin to trigger and fire off round after round at random. To test this, the Build Team "pimped their ride" with the most advanced sound system they could get, and placed several of the appropriate rifles in different areas in the car before subjecting them to several decibel and tone levels worth of sound. However, none of the guns went off. Even taking the guns for testing at Meyer Sound and getting a custom car specifically designed for sound system contests—with a decibel level much higher than what Meyer Sound could produce—could not produce a result. | |
| The shock wave caused by an exploding bomb is enough to trigger a misfire in an SKS rifle. | Plausible | In a last-ditch effort to get the myth to work, the Build Team tested another, similar myth from the same source, involving an exploded bomb setting off guns placed around the blast zone. This time, one of the guns did fire from the shockwave of the explosion, but only one, proving that while vibrations can cause the guns to misfire, it takes a pressure wave much stronger than even the most powerful sound systems can produce to do it. |
Adam and Jamie tested whether or not a person could...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...hold on to the roof of a car with the windows down while the car is zigzagging. | Confirmed | A safety rig was constructed in case Jamie could not hold on, but he was easily able to hold on to a car going 450NaN0. | |
| ...hold on to the roof of a car with the windows up while the car is zigzagging. | Busted | Jamie could not hold on when the car was going 450NaN0. The windows were up for all tests after this. | |
| ...hold on to the roof of a car while the car is making a big turn. | Busted | Jamie fell off when the car was going at just 15–. | |
| ...hold on to the roof of a car when it makes a sudden stop. | Busted | Jamie lost his grip and almost blacked out after a 450NaN0 stop. | |
| ...hold on to the hood of a car while the car is zigzagging. | Busted | Adam fell off after the first swerve at just 200NaN0. | |
| ...hold on to the hood of a car while the car is making a big turn. | Busted | Adam fell off immediately at only 200NaN0. | |
| ...hold on to the hood of a car when it makes a sudden stop. | Confirmed | Adam was able to hold on to the hood at both 25and stops. | |
| ...shake someone off the roof of a car by going through a car wash. | Busted | The car wash had no effect on Jamie except for the chilly water. | |
| ...shake someone off the hood of a car by going through a car wash. | Busted | Adam easily held on to the hood. |
To help test this myth, the MythBusters enlisted the aid of the Blue Angels and their F/A-18 Hornets.[2] [3]
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A supersonic bullet can (and will) break any kind of glass just by the sonic boom it generates. | Busted | The MythBusters got their hands on an Armalite AR-50 .50 caliber sniper rifle, one of the most powerful rifles available. They then lined up two rows of glass objects, such as windows, wine glasses, cups, and lightbulbs, and fired the rifle so that the bullet would pass between both rows. However, the bullet's sonic boom failed to break any of the glass, no matter how close it passed by. | |
| A supersonic jet will break any kind of glass by the sonic boom it generates. | Busted | Jamie set up a test area filled with various glass items and products while Adam performed a flyby in an F/A-18 going supersonic. However, at flybys of 8,000, 2,000, and 500 feet (2,400, 610, and 150 m), the jet failed to break any of the glass. They then performed a series of low-altitude flybys at, but they managed to break only a single window. Since the majority of the glass was still intact, the MythBusters declared the myth busted. |
This myth was inspired by scenes from the film version of Wanted.
The Build Team tested various myths involving popcorn.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popcorn can be made by detonating a propane tank with high explosive. | Busted | The explosion failed to cook or pop any of the popcorn kernels since the blast blew the kernels away before they could absorb any heat. | |
| Popcorn can be made by igniting sawdust and dairy creamer. | Busted | The Build Team loaded popcorn kernels into a can filled with flammable dairy creamer and ignited it, but the team failed to pop any of the kernels. Like the explosives, the ignited creamer did not meet the specific requirements needed to cook popcorn. | |
| A plane-mounted 5-megawatt laser can be used to cook popcorn, and enough popcorn can expand to the point where it can break open a house. This myth was based on the final scene from the film Real Genius. | Busted | Since a 5-megawatt laser does not currently exist, the Build Team used a 10-watt laser and still successfully popped a kernel. Even though this proved lasers could pop popcorn, there currently is not a laser powerful enough to cook such a large amount, so the Build Team resorted to using a large pan to cook popcorn through induction. They then placed a panel representing the wall and window of a house over the pan to see if the popcorn could break through it. However, the popcorn lacked the power to push through the window because it cannot pop when pressure is exerted on it. They then decided to test the expansion potential of popcorn by loading pre-popped popcorn into a small model house. They then used a piston to exert pressure on the floor of the house at 0.22psi, but nothing happened. They then used the piston at maximum power to destroy the house. To end on a bang, the Build Team used high explosive to destroy a house filled with popcorn. |
The MythBusters tackle various myths relating to the "handyman's secret weapon". They tested whether or not duct tape can...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...lift a 5000lb car. | Confirmed | Through small-scale tests, the MythBusters discovered that a single length of duct tape can support up to 70lb. They then attached the car to a crane with duct tape. The car was lifted successfully, and it was left suspended until the tape failed. The MythBusters were quick to point out that the tape itself failed by breaking, not by its adhesive properties. | |
| ...be used instead of standard adhesives when building a potato cannon. | Confirmed | The Build Team constructed two potato cannons, one held together with polymer cement and the other with duct tape. They fired both cannons repeatedly to compare their range and velocity, and they found that they gave essentially identical performance. | |
| ...be used to build a fully functional cannon. | Confirmed | The Build Team used 1adj=midNaNadj=mid tiles of duct tape to measure how much strength it could tolerate. Using a small-scale test cannon equipped with a strength gauge, they discovered that the duct tape tile was indeed strong enough to withstand a cannon blast. They then built a duct tape cannon with a 2adj=midNaNadj=mid barrel and compared its performance to that of a conventional steel cannon. Although the range and speed of the duct tape cannon were inferior to the steel one due to friction caused by the deformation of the duct tape barrel, it successfully fired a cannonball and remained intact. | |
| ...be used to seal leaks in a boat. | Plausible | The MythBusters patched a damaged boat with duct tape and floated it out into San Francisco Bay. The tape managed to keep the boat afloat, with only minor signs of damage after 40 minutes of exposure. Adam then decided to test whether duct tape can seal an existing leak while the boat is still in the water. He noted that it was more difficult to get the duct tape to stick underwater, but he successfully patched the leak. However, the "emergency" fix was not nearly as effective, and the duct tape quickly failed. The MythBusters concluded that duct tape was a viable temporary repair method when applied in dry conditions. | |
| ...be used to construct an entire boat. | Confirmed | The MythBusters built an entire sailboat using 690square feet of duct tape for the hull and sail. They then took the boat, dubbed the Stuck on You, into San Francisco Bay. The duct tape boat turned out to be fully functional with no sign of failure and, as stated by Adam, "adequately seaworthy", confirming the myth. |
Adam and Jamie test whether a dirty car gets better gas mileage than an equivalent clean car, while the Build Team tests an old adage concerning beer, liquor, and hangovers.
The MythBusters test two potential kitchen disasters, as well as whether cheese can be used with a cannon.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| If a person tries to put out a stovetop grease fire by pouring 8USoz of water on it, a 30feet fireball will result. | Busted | Adam and Jamie set up a stove and started fires with three different cooking materials: canola oil, peanut oil, and lard. The ratio of oil to water was 8 to 1 in each case, with 64USoz of oil and 8USoz of water. In each case, a large fireball formed when the water was poured in, due to the sudden formation of steam, which propelled the burning oil upward. No fireball reached higher than . To investigate further, Adam and Jamie did some smaller-scale tests, varying the oil/water ratio and the shape of the cooking pot. The latter had no apparent effect on the fireball height, but they decided to use a 2:1 ratio (2USqt of oil, 1USqt of water) for further full-scale work in a mockup kitchen set. Under these conditions, they were able to get a 30feet fireball; however, they declared the myth busted because the original 8:1 ratio did not generate the stated result. In a further test, Adam and Jamie set up a shelf to drop an unopened can of soup into the oil, reasoning that having all the water-based material at the bottom of the pot would more effectively launch the oil when it vaporized and exploded. The result was a fireball with an estimated height of . | |
| It is possible to put out a grease fire with enough water. | Confirmed | Adam called in a firefighting helicopter, which dropped 500USgal of water on the grease fire and successfully extinguished it. |
Adam and Jamie tested whether windows should be open or closed during a hurricane, while the Build Team took on two myths involving liquid nitrogen.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A human head dipped into liquid nitrogen for five seconds can be shattered into pieces (based on a scene in the film Jason X). | Busted | For this test, Grant built a pan hammer robot to simulate an object being smashed on the counter. Four heads using a mold of Kari's bust were then made: three made of ballistics gel, each with a skull and brain matter analog inside, and one completely made of ice. In the two control tests, the ice head shattered, while the ballistics gel head in room temperature had only its front part broken. The test for the one dipped into liquid nitrogen for five seconds showed a result seemingly in between the two control tests: Parts of the head did shatter but not completely. To achieve the results shown in the film, the third head had to be dipped in the liquid nitrogen for five minutes. To really simulate human flesh and bone, the myth was then retested using two pigs' heads. The head dipped for only five seconds merely had its snout flattened, while the one submerged for fifteen minutes did not even shatter, completely busting the myth. In a related test not aired in the actual episode but shown on the MythBusters website, Kari made an ice sculpture of a pig's head. The pan hammer broke off only the snout of the ice head; the rest of the head was shattered after it fell off the table. | |
| A fresh Christmas tree doused with liquid nitrogen can spontaneously explode. | Busted | For a control test, a Christmas tree explosion was made using a detonation cord. Then, a second Christmas tree was sprayed with liquid nitrogen. However, after half an hour and with the temperature of the tree plummeting to almost -330F, no explosion occurred, not even after Tory fired it with buck shot. The myth was busted because conifers and other kinds of cold-climate trees have air spaces outside the tree cells large enough to accommodate the expanding water as it turns into ice, thus preventing an expected explosion. |
Adam and Jamie tested whether a car would explode when driven off a cliff.
The Build Team saw if a rocket could launch a cage containing a human.
The MythBusters test new tangents from five previous myths.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| An exploding water heater can shoot up about 500feet in the air at around 300mph. | Confirmed | The MythBusters did this test after some viewers doubted their estimates in the original water heater rocket myth. They set up a full-sized 52USgal water heater, removed all safety mechanisms, and covered it with blankets to speed up heating. After the eventual explosion, Adam used the high-speed camera footage to help him in his calculations, which revealed that the unobstructed water heater shot up 560feet at an initial speed of 350mph, which was near their estimates in their original test. | |
| A water heater can explode like a rocket and shoot through the roof of a two-story house. | Plausible | The MythBusters set up a three-tier scaffold to simulate a two-story house. The lowest level housed the 52-US gallon water heater, the second level was a set simulating a living room, and on top was a roof built to standard California building codes. The resulting explosion from the water heater did cause it to shoot through the living room floor and the roof, landing on the metal scaffold next to the house model. The myth was deemed plausible because, unlike with the original myth, the show did not mention any documented events of water heater explosions in two-story houses. |
The Build Team tested various Hollywood methods for shooting around corners, beginning with an offshoot of the Bend a Bullet myth from episode 123.
Grant and Tory also tested other techniques of shooting around a corner in Hollywood movies. Starting from Kari's position at the doorway, they tried to hit the target in the room by...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...firing with only the gun exposed to the target while still hidden. | Busted | Because Grant could not see the target, all of his shots missed. | |
| ...jumping out of the corner and shooting at the target. | Plausible | Tory hit the target by using this technique and landed on a mattress that had been placed to break his fall. However, chances of doing this in a real-world setting (i.e., no mattress on which to land and the target shooting back) are slim. |
According to Tory, this "complete set" appears to have set a first on MythBusters, where three myths were tested simultaneously with one confirmed, one plausible, and the remaining one busted.
Taking off from the original Car Cling myth, Adam and Jamie tested whether or not someone could...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ...hold on to the roof of a car with the windows up while the car crashes through a wall of cardboard boxes. | Confirmed | Jamie stayed on the top of the car, even though he let go seconds before the car crashed through the wall. Some boxes were hit by the front end of the rig, and only one box directly hit him. | |
| ...hold on to the hood of a car while the car crashes through a wall of cardboard boxes. | Confirmed | Adam stayed on the car despite feeling what he described was a force acting on his feet from the boxes. Upon closer inspection of the high-speed footage, Adam actually let go of his grip on the hood and slid up the windshield. He then regained his grip on the hood just as he was about to fall off the car. Since the loss of his grip happened so fast for anyone to notice (around one second), this myth was deemed confirmed. |
The MythBusters pointed out that the tests were done with empty cardboard boxes, as they seemingly are in many Hollywood movies. A different result may suffice if they contained any shipment, especially heavy ones such as electronics or "anvils."
Fans requested having this myth tested after the original Liquid Nitrogen myths were shown in the episode "Hurricane Windows".
The original Snowplow Split tests shown in the second Alaska Special focused only on the circumstances of the myth. This new, supersized test presented below looked onto the results.
Adam and Jamie test a Hollywood chase scene jump, while the Build Team probes a gruesome diving disaster. Kari departs to begin her maternity leave, and Jessi Combs joins the Build Team in her absence.
Adam and Jamie put a story of a prisoner's escape to the test, while the Build Team investigates a supposedly foolproof method for smugglers to avoid detection.
Adam and Jamie test the Hollywood cowboy's ability to shoot a gun out of a villain's hand, while the Build Team tries to re-create a big-budget bus jump.
Adam and Jamie tackle two health-hazard myths, while the Build Team tries to skip a car like a stone.
The MythBusters examine six small bizarre tales. A notice appears after the end credits, honoring rocketry expert Erik Gates, who contributed materials and expertise for several segments. He died in a construction accident on December 20, 2009.[4]
| Myth statement | Status | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A whole coconut can be sent by mail without any packaging. | Confirmed | Adam and Jamie addressed a coconut to themselves, stamped it, and put it in the mail. It later came back to the M5 workshop with no visible damage. | |
| A strike-anywhere match can be lit if grazed by a bullet fired from a gun. | Confirmed | Adam and Jamie set up a .45 caliber pistol and aimed it at a match head. After several shots that either missed the match or destroyed the head entirely, they were able to get a bullet to graze the head and ignite it. They commented on the high degree of accuracy needed to make this shot. |