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Written by river95
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Saturday, 05 April 2008 |
MacGyver Myths
Episode #100
Original Air Date: February 20, 2008
MacGyver Myths
The Myth:
Sodium Jailbreak – Could MacGyver actually blow a hole in a wall using one gram of pure sodium?
The Expert: J.D. Nelson of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department is there to make sure that everything is safe.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Jamie (while ensconced in the bomb suit): Feel like I’m ready to go out clubbin’!
(after which he starts jigging around!)
Adam (referring to Jamie in the bomb suit): It’s not dissimilar to how Jamie was dressed when he first came to Earth!
The Action/Results:
Adam hauls out the “Birds in a Truck” truck for this one, and uses it as a safe experimental space. He and Tory rig up a remote device for breaking the vial holding the sodium by installing a pulley, which holds a weight in a tube. When the vial containing the sodium is placed in a bowl of water under the pulley, the guys can stand outside the truck and drop the weight, thus smashing the vial and exposing the sodium to the water.
Sodium is very reactive to water, including vapor in the air. So Tory and Adam have to wear special coveralls to protect themselves. Adam carefully cuts off a gram of sodium, puts it in the vial, and then takes it to the truck. He places it on a stand in the bowl of water, and pours enough water in so that it is just above the surface of the water. He retreats to safety, and they trip the weight, so that the vial is smashed. After waiting for a few seconds, they hear and see several quick “kabooms” in succession. The sodium does, in fact blow up when exposed to water. Repeating the experiment with the sodium underwater yields an even bigger explosion. So, they are clear to go onto replicating the circumstances of the myth at the Alameda County Bomb Range.
Jamie gets the guys who work in his shop to build a wall for the sodium to blow up. Then Adam carefully places a cold capsule full of sodium in a jar of water, just as Mac does in the show, and he buries the bottle. They wait…and wait…and wait. Nothing happens. Adam knows, from previous experiments, that it should take 90 seconds for the cold capsule to dissolve and release the sodium. So, after waiting 30 minutes with no reaction, Jamie gets suited up in the bomb suit, and goes to prod at the bottle with a broom. Nothing happens, so they are clear to check it out. Once the bottle is uncovered, it appears that the sodium has dissolved into the water, but the reaction wasn’t strong enough for anything to occur.
So, the guys decide to use a bigger capsule (one used originally for horse medicines) and pack it full of 100 grams of sodium. They place it in the bottle, wait, and are finally rewarded with a nice flame from the opening of the bottle. However, the wall is still solidly in place.
Of course, there are also other metals that are reactive to water. The guys move on to using 500 grams of potassium, which is more reactive than sodium. They place the potassium in a metal tube, so that they can aim the explosion directly at the wall. The potassium explodes, and it is a nice “big boom” but the wall is not affected.
At this point Adam says, “The great thing about working with J. D. {Nelson} is that when we say we want a hole in the wall, all he says is, ‘How big?’” Sergeant Nelson uses some C4 and demolishes the wall. Then Jamie, Adam, and Sgt. Nelson all declare this myth BUSTED.
The Myth:
Bamboo Ultralight: Could MacGyver actually make a flying ultralight out of garbage bags, duct tape, bamboo, and a cement mixer engine?
The Experts; Kari, Tory, and Grant
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Rob Lee (The Narrator): This is a rare moment in Mythbuster history – the whole build has gone off without a hitch!
The team starts off this myth with some research on real ultralights. They go flying, and find out that a modern ultralight has a stronger engine than the one that Mac used, and that they are made of aluminum and carbon fiber – not bamboo and duct tape. However, they go to the shop and are determined to try to make one like Mac did.
Three days later, they have an ultralight that looks like the one that Mac made. It is made of bamboo, duct tape, and wire, and it is powered by an engine from a cement mixer. Grant has remote controlled it, since none of them are willing to fly it themselves. They pack it in the truck and take it to Teichert Aggregate, where they have a cliff and a road that look very much like what they saw on the episode. They set the ultralight up, and Kari and Tory get in, just to see if it will even run with two people in it. It does, and Kari screams, “Oh my God – we MacGyvered it! We MacGyvered it!” Tory and Grant join in the celebration, and then it is time for the moment of truth. They duct tape Buster and Jane the simulaid to the seats, and then Grant revs the engine. The craft rolls toward the edge, goes over, and for a brief second is airborne, and then it crashes down the rest of the hillside and ends up upside down. This myth is BUSTED.
The Myth:
MacGyver Challenge: Can Jamie and Adam act like MacGyver and think on their feet to solve four problems? They are: Light Bulb Lockpick, OJ Film Lab, Mechanical Compass, and Sky High Signal. Adam and Jamie are graded pass/fail on these – they do not use busted, plausible, or confirmed.
The Experts: Jamie, Adam, Grant and Tory
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Grant: Now you can have your own evil lair in a matter of hours with our “instant evil lair” kit!
The Action/Results:
Grant and Tory blindfold Jamie and Adam, make them sit down back to back in the “evil lair” and tie them together. Then they lock the door. The first problem that they have to solve is to get out of the “evil lair”. They do this just the way MacGyver did, but picking the lock with the filament from a light bulb. Adam flattens the filament by using the steel toes of his boots as a hammer and an anvil, and the guys take turns picking the lock. It takes them almost an hour, but they do manage to do it. Pass!
Then, they have to discover where they are supposed to go next. To do this, they have to develop some film, using common household chemicals. Mac did it with orange juice and ammonia, and the guys finally guess their way to using these chemicals, but they do not do it for long enough, and so it doesn’t work for them. Fail ☹
Tory slips the guys a note, so they know where they are supposed to go and what they are supposed to do. The note tells them that they have to follow some directions with a compass, but they don’t have a compass. They decide quickly that they have to make one, and so they do. They quickly rig up an electromagnet with some batteries, tape, wire, and a screw, and they magnetize a paper clip. Then they stick the paper clip through a cork, and float it in some water. It points north, and they are off again. Pass!
They follow the compass to the middle of a field, where they spot the bad guys’ hangout. There, they are instructed to make a signal that must be one hundred feet high, in order to catch the attention of a passing helicopter. The intent is for the guys to make a potato gun, but Jamie sees the tarp and the PVC pipe as the essentials for making a big kite, so that is what they do. Grant, who is seated some distance away, talking to the camera, is shocked when the guys finally manage to get the kite to fly, and Tory, who is in the helicopter, says that the kite was high enough to be seen. The helicopter lands and rescues Jamie and Adam, before taking off again. Pass!
All in all, Jamie and Adam were able to make three of the four MacGyver-inspired challenges work.
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Episode Descriptions 
