Running head: MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT

Myth Busters Assignment Ashley Jordan Ivy Tech Community College

MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT The MythBusters episode that I chose to write about is called Chicken Gun and its original air date was on January 18th, 2004. This episode is from season three and is episode number five. I personally watched this episode on www.netflix.com, but it also can be found on several other sites (MythBuster's, 2014). The experiment that I am choosing to focus on from this episode is whether not there is any truth to a man that died while trying to compact his laundry in a washing machine by standing on it. The topic was selected from a pool of myths that the MythBusters keep. This particular myth supposedly happened in 1998, when a man put fifty pounds of laundry into his

washing machine. The man then proceeded to stand on the clothes in the machine to try to get all of it to fit. His foot was supposed to kick the on button of the machine, while he has fallen into the machine. His legs are then supposed to have gotten stuck in the laundry and he banged his head into a shelf. His head hits some bleach that then falls blinding him. After that, the man hits the shelf again and hitting some baking soda. The mans dog then runs in and pees on the baking soda causing an explosion. The man then spins so fast that he hits his head for hard that he kills himself. A brief summary is mentioned of the supposed man dying from a washing machine. The MythBusters go over the myth and in doing so they try to illustrate the story that is described. They then determine the items that they will need to recreate the myth. The first item they find is a washing machine this could be capable of holding fifty pounds of laundry. They continue collecting items for the myth by going to a thrift store for fifty pounds of laundry. The guys then set up a laundry room exactly comparable to the one in the myth. They stop the kill switch that way the washing machine wont automatically shut off. They have to also collect dog urine for part of the experiment.

MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT The guys then question whether the washing machine can even hold the weight of a human being. The MythBusters understand why the man in the myth stood on the laundry; basically because it would not fit into the machine. They question whether or not the machine will wash the forty pounds of laundry which it does not do. The first actual modification that they make is to take out the clutch that stops the machine for safety reasons. They also take out several other safety features in the washing machine. They make these modifications because

they want to see if they can get the washing machine to spin at the same speed as described in the myth. They determine that since the washing machine could be stopped with their bare hands the myth was busted. The guys then continue to modify the washing machine by putting on an electric car motor because they want to see if they can get the washing machine at a certain speed. They hook up a motorcycle control to the machine to test if the machine is close to the spin cycle. They want to try and test and see if they can spin their dummy Buster in washing machine with clothes in it. Some additional questions they have are whether or not Buster will go fast enough to knock off the bleach and baking soda from the shelf. I believe that the MythBusters do, in fact, use scientific inquiry because they have several ideas that correspond with inquiry. They use pictures or draw while they are going through the story which is part of the questioning process. The make sure that they have all of the materials required to set up the experiment which is all part of testing or investigating in inquiry. They proceeded to test the myth which testing is all part of inquiry because they are testing their questions. They came to the conclusion that the myth was not trying and continue to modify the washing machine. They are taking the myth to the extremes which may happen in inquiry.

MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT The main concept that is involved in this myth is the idea of torque. In the episode they mention revolutions per minute and the word torque which suggests that it is a main concept in this experiment. In my previous physics class we discussed the idea of torque and I remember that torque has to do with the amount of forced that is used. The idea of torque does not really

make sense to me because I do not remember the exact definition of what torque is. I also cannot remember how to find the torque of something. The idea that torque has to do with force makes sense to me because the washing machine is using some sort of force to continue spinning. Other than that I am confused about the whole concept of torque. The first question that I have is how torque is related to the experiment that the guys conducted. The second question that I was wondering about was how many pounds a washing machine can actually hold. I learned that torque is actually how much force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. The object that is used always rotates about an axis or what scientists call a pivot point. Another fact that plays into the idea of torque is something called a moment arm which is the distance from the pivot point to where the force is really acting. I tested the idea of torque by using a can opener. So, for the can opener I saw how the can moved while I was applying force with the can opener by twisting the handle. Seeing how the can opener sun or opened was an example of torque. This really helped my understanding of what torque and a moment arm was because I had to saw that the can rotated when I turned the can opener handle (WHAT IS TORQUE?, 2014). The normal capacity of a front loading washing machine is around eighteen pounds. Even though I have done laundry before I have never really weight how much laundry I put into one load. If a normal washing machine is only supposed to hold around twenty pounds of clothes then the guy in the myth was more than double the weight of clothes in his washing machine. Honestly, that clarifies one of the reasons why the myth was busted because one cannot

MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT

physically fit fifty pounds of laundry in a washing machine if it is only supposed to hold eighteen pounds. The suggested eighteen pounds is for a washing machine to still spin, so I know for a fact that a washing machine with more than double the amount of weight in it will not spin. The capacity of a washing machine really helped me understand why the myth was busted (How Much Laundry is in a Full Load?, 2014).

MYTH BUSTERS ASSIGNMENT Resources How Much Laundry is in a Full Load? (2014). Retrieved 02 10, 2014, from Grand Valley State University: https://www.gvsu.edu/housing/students/how-much-laundry-is-a-full-load58.htm MythBuster's. (2014). Retrieved 02 09, 2014, from netflix.com: www.netflix.com WHAT IS TORQUE? (2014). Retrieved 02 11, 2014, from physics.uoguelph.ca: http://www.physics.uoguelph.ca/tutorials/torque/Q.torque.intro.html