Narrator:
THE AGE-OLD SCIENTIFIC MYTH
THAT SPIDER SILK
IS STRONGER THAN STEEL,
IS COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE.
IN THEIR INITIAL
SMALL-SCALE TEST,
500 STRANDS OF SPIDER SILK
PROVED TO BE TWICE AS STRONG
AS ITS STEEL EQUIVALENT.
AND NOW THE MYTHBUSTERS
ARE READY TO TAKE THIS TEST
TO AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE.
THERE WE GO.
TO TEST THE STRENGTH OF
A 28-GAUGE STEEL WIRE
TO ITS MATCHING EQUIVALENT
IN DENSITY,
A WHOPPING 25,000 STRANDS
OF SPIDER SILK,
COLLECTED FROM 42 SPIDERS
OVER THE COURSE OF FIVE WEEKS.
THIS IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE
LARGEST AMOUNT OF SPIDER SILK
THAT'S EVER BEEN BROUGHT TO BEAR
ON A TEST
LIKE THE ONE
WE'RE ABOUT TO DO,
TO COMPARE THIS TO THE STRENGTH
OF STEEL OF THE SAME MASS.
WHY GO TO THIS LENGTH?
IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
THE FACT IS, THAT WHEN YOU'RE
TESTING STUFF IN SCALE,
AS LONG AS YOU ITERATE AND YOU
COME TO SOME GOOD CONCLUSIONS,
BUT, THE BEST WAY TO GET GREAT
RESULTS IS TO EXPERIMENT
IN THE LARGEST SCALE YOU CAN,
HENCE THIS MONSTER.
Narrator: AND FOR THIS FINAL
SILK VERSUS STEEL SMACK DOWN,
THE TEAM HAS ADAPTED THE TEST
RIG WITH A CLEVER ADDITION.
WITH OUR NEW RIG HERE,
WE'LL BE CONDUCTING
TWO DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS.
THE FIRST WITH OUR LENGTH OF
STEEL TWINE HERE.
WITH OUR WATER BEING RELEASED
IN A CONTROLLED MANNER
DOWN TO THIS BOTTOM TANK HERE
AND IT WILL WEIGH DOWN
THAT CABLE UNTIL, HOPEFULLY,
IT'LL SEVERE IT
AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SEE HOW
MUCH WEIGHT, IN WATER,
IS CAUSING THAT THING TO SNAP.
IF THE THE RESULTS OF THE
PREVIOUS TEST HOLD TRUE,
I'M PRETTY SURE THAT SPIDER SILK
IS GONNA KICK STEEL'S BUTT.
CUE THE BUTT-KICKING ATTEMPT.
THE 28-GAUGE WIRE'S UP FIRST.
STEEL WIRE TEST,
IN THREE, TWO ONE.
THEY'VE TRADED OUT WASHERS
AND PAPER CLIPS
FOR OVER 40 POUNDS OF WATER.
IT'S SO AMAZING!
SO QUIET.
GRAVITY DOES ITS JOB.
AND AS THE WATER TRICKLES INTO
THE LOWER BUCKET,
THE STEEL WIRE
STARTS TO SUFFER FROM
SOME SERIOUS
WATER WEIGHT GAIN.
IT'S STRETCHING.
OOH, WOW! LOOK AT THAT.
IT'S REALLY MOVING.
IT'S STRETCHING.
IT'S VISIBLY MOVING.
THAT IS CRAZY.
-I HEARD A NOISE.
-OOH, OOH.
[ CLATTER, WATER SLOSHES ]
-COOL!
-THAT WAS FANTASTIC!
♪♪
Adam: THAT COULDN'T BE
A BETTER RESULT.
ALL RIGHT.
LET'S WEIGH THIS PUPPY.
TWELVE POINT FIVE POUNDS,
CANNAN.
THAT'S A RESULT!
LET'S SET UP FOR SPIDER SILK.
DEFINITELY.
Narrator: TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND
STRANDS TO BE EXACT.
THERE WE GO.
IT'S A NICE YELLOW COLOR.
I'M GONNA LET IT
TAKE ON THE WEIGHT.
[ VOCALIZES ]
THIS IS THE MOST AMOUNT OF
SPIDER SILK
THAT'S BEEN TESTED IN THIS KIND
OF TEST, MAYBE EVER?
NINE AND A HALF MILES OF SILK,
RIGHT THERE.
THAT'S CRAZY.
NINE AND A HALF MILES!
THAT'S INSANE!
Cannan: YOU GUYS READY?
-TOTALLY.
-YEP.
TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND STRANDS
OF SPIDER SILK,
IN THREE, TWO, ONE.
Allie:
RELEASING THE WATER.
Adam: OOH!
Narrator: QUART BY QUART...
IT'S NOW STRETCHED
ABOUT A FULL INCH.
...THE 25,000 STRANDS OF SILK
BEARS THE LOAD.
OKAY. WE'VE PASSED
THE WEIGHT OF THE STEEL.
WHOA!
Narrator: THE SILK HAS SURPASSED
THE STEEL'S HOLDING POWER.
Adam: [ EXHALES SHARPLY ]
WE'RE COMING UP ON DOUBLE.
Narrator:
BUT THE STRAIN OF THE WEIGHT
IS TAKING ITS TOLL.
[ SPROING! ]
[ ADAM GASPS ]
THAT WAS THE -- IT POPPED.
Allie: THE SIDES SNAPPED.
WHOA!
[ ELIJAH LAUGHS ]
[ CLATTERS ]
WAH! THAT'S A RESULT!
Allie: OH, MAN,
THAT WAS COOL!
THAT WAS FANTASTIC.
♪♪
ALL RIGHT. OUR STEEL WIRE
HELD 12.5 POUNDS,
THIS IS THE AMOUNT OF WATER,
IT'S EQUIVALENT IN MASS
IN SPIDER SILK, HELD,
AND IT IS...
Narrator: CUE THE DRUMROLL.
[ DRUMROLL ]
TWENTY-SIX.
TWENTY-SIX POUNDS!
THAT IS SO COOL!
AREN'T YOU EXCITED?
YEP. EXCITED.
HERE, GIVE ME A HIGH FIVE.
WE ARE SO PSYCHED.
[ LAUGHS ]
CAN'T YOU TELL?
Narrator: JUST AS IT DID
IN THE PREVIOUS
DENSITY EQUIVALENCY TEST,
THE SPIDER SILK PROVED TO BE
A LITTLE MORE THAN TWICE AS
STRONG AS STEEL.
TWO HEAD-TO-HEAD DENSITY TESTS,
TWO ALMOST IDENTICAL RESULTS.
A SATISFYING CONCLUSION TO THIS
CLASSIC SCIENTIFIC MYTH.
THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE OF MY
FAVORITE STORIES THIS SEASON.
NO FIRE, NO BOMB BASS,
JUST 9.5 MILES OF SPIDER SILK
AND A SET
OF REALLY ELEGANT METHODOLOGIES
FOR TESTING ITS STRENGTH.
AND, YOU CAN PICTURE,
IN YOUR HEAD,
WHAT A FINE STEEL WIRE FEELS
LIKE, LIKE JEWELER'S WIRE,
YOU CAN FEEL THAT. OKAY.
NOW I WANT YOU TO HOLD THAT IN
YOUR HEAD AND WATCH THIS.
THIS IS, THIS IS SO GOSSAMER
IT IS BARELY EVEN THERE.
AND THE IDEA
THAT IT HELD
TWICE AS MUCH WEIGHT
AS THE STEEL WIRE?
MIND BLOWING.
ALL RIGHT, MYTHBUSTERS,
IT'S TIME TO CALL THIS ONE.
FROM A MASS PERSPECTIVE,
IN A TENSILE-STRENGTH TEST,
IS IT TRUE THAT SPIDER SILK
IS STRONGER THAN STEEL?
HOW DO YOU FIND?
WELL I MEAN, IT TESTED TWICE AS
STRONG CONSISTENTLY.
SO I WOULD SAY CONFIRMED.
-CONFIRMED.
-CONFIRMED.
CONFIRMED IT IS.
ALL RIGHT.
THAN YOUR SPIDERS.
Mythbusters:
THANK YOU, SPIDER.
NO SPIDERS WERE HARMED DURING
THE FILMING OF THIS EPISODE.
[ SNORTS ]
[ LAUGHS ]
