the Mythbusters telephone book experiment
In an episode airing this week, the Mythbusters will perform several experiments using phone books.
During one of his afternoons off (Senioritis) Middle and I decided to duplicate one of the phone book feats - for our amusement and yours.
As I canceled the delivery of phone books to our home some time ago we were forced to use two large professional camera catalogues for our challenge.
Each catalogue contained the same number of pages - over a thousand.
We lined the books up on a table carefully wove them together page by page.
See? I fold one page down and then Middle folds one page down. I don't think I'm doing a very good job of describing how we did this.
We continued until we had one big interwoven book with a spine on the left and a spine on the right. I hope you are still with me...
Here's what it looked like when it was done. Middle is holding one spine, the pages of both books are completely intertwined and the spine of the second book is hanging toward the floor.
AND THEN the amazement happens.
The two books, in this combination CANNOT BE PULLED APART.
You can try anything, (The Mythbusters eventually used two military tanks) but the two books will NOT separate.
It. Cannot. Be. Done.
We had a great time trying.
If you are interested in seeing the experiment on Mythbusters, check your television listing for the Phone Book Friction episode.
During one of his afternoons off (Senioritis) Middle and I decided to duplicate one of the phone book feats - for our amusement and yours.
As I canceled the delivery of phone books to our home some time ago we were forced to use two large professional camera catalogues for our challenge.
Each catalogue contained the same number of pages - over a thousand.
We lined the books up on a table carefully wove them together page by page.
See? I fold one page down and then Middle folds one page down. I don't think I'm doing a very good job of describing how we did this.
We continued until we had one big interwoven book with a spine on the left and a spine on the right. I hope you are still with me...
Here's what it looked like when it was done. Middle is holding one spine, the pages of both books are completely intertwined and the spine of the second book is hanging toward the floor.
AND THEN the amazement happens.
The two books, in this combination CANNOT BE PULLED APART.
You can try anything, (The Mythbusters eventually used two military tanks) but the two books will NOT separate.
It. Cannot. Be. Done.
We had a great time trying.
If you are interested in seeing the experiment on Mythbusters, check your television listing for the Phone Book Friction episode.
Comments
I think it's the combination of the beret and a moustache.
Of course all the men in this house love it.
And I'm also choosing not to dwell on just how long it would have taken you guys to interweave every single page. I do salute your collective dedication to a cause.
Because I really have an hour to spend intertwining pages. hahahahaha.
Oh, well.
You say it cannot be done...
But you have yet to witness the brute strength I'm capable of harnessing.
I say:
IT SHALL BE DONE.
(You people are madcap hedonists, I can tell.)
-J.
I also want to know WHY it works, but you could explain it and my rudimentary knowledge of physics would not allow it to pierce my brain. I have a similar relationship with statistics.
jbhat
paola
MasterM 'But WHY did they do that?'
Me 'It was like a science experiment'
MasterM (shocked voice)
'Didn't they believe MythBusters?'
You can see how trusting he is.
Seriously, I hope I can inspire such fun with my little man.
It's comforting to know that being one is an excellent and entertaining hobby as well.
ErinH
It took ages.
That's a good memory.
Thanks for your other posts, too.
No suckup - you're awesome.