05x05 - Water Slides, Wheelies and Hard Hats

[bunniefuu]

[Dallas]
This is the Science of Stupid.

[Dallas] Yes this is the show
where intelligence and idiocy

are merged in a cornucopia of carnage as

our trusty team of testers
explore key scientific

principles so you don't have to.

With their assistance we'll scrutinize the
science behind amplitudes!

[air horn blares]

[Dallas]
Impact force.

And inertia.

So pay attention and
prepare to be schooled

because this is the
Science of Stupid.

In this show we'll be
looking at gravity.

Exothermic reactions.

[man] [bleep].

[Dallas] And horizontal velocity,
or lack thereof.

But first this.

To look at me you might not guess that I'm
an accomplished water skier.

And that's because I'm not.

In fact I'm terrible, but some people are
very good, so good in fact they throw

away their skis
and do it barefoot.

[Dallas] But without skis there's less
surface area to ski with,

so the boat must travel faster, and
falling is painful.

Doing it on one foot
looks even harder.

That's because it is.

But this couple seem
to have it nailed.

Hashtag relationship goals.

I don't know if you've noticed but whilst
a ski is flat and rigid

the naked foot isn't.

So a little scientific knowledge could
help you go a long way.

[Dallas] When skiing barefoot he needs to
move faster to displace as

much water and generate as much reaction
force as regular skis.

On one foot he needs to move
even faster to stay afloat,

assuming that he
can stay balanced.

Going backwards his heels form
a stable continuous surface,

but front on or the side his

feet and toes risk catching
the water

suddenly increasing drag and
flipping him over.

So there you
have a few of the basics.

Keep them in mind, avoid over confidence
and everything should work out just fine.

[Dallas] This guy
seems to have the hang of it.

He really is rather good,
but has he remember what

I said about avoiding
over confidence?

All the evidence
points to a no.

Everything was going so well for our c*ck
barefoot skier, going heel first meant his

feet formed a stable continuous surface,
but when he messed with his hat he lost

balance and, and that's enough to wipe the
smile off anyone's face.

As we have just learnt over confidence can
bring you down with a splash.

As she's just learnt the hard way.

As she attempts to lift her right foot the
toes on her left foot dig in,

she then experiences a pulling force at
hand height and a resisting force at

foot height, sending her
face first into the wet stuff.

But when you're good, you're good and
age should never get in the way,

as this mature gentleman
is so ably demonstrating.

And he's still cooler than me.

Without skis you need to move faster to
displace enough water,

but that's not the problem here, putting
all his weight on one foot is.

Which goes to show that experience
matters, but not as much as you think.

Now call me a traditionalist if you like,
but I've always thought that

the best way to cross any river was the
one that would keep me driest,

which is why I'm
such a fan of bridges.

But not everyone shares my aversion to
wet feet apparently.

[Dallas] Well
she's still got dry socks

but I still don't think
it's a good idea.

[man] Stop.

[Dallas]
Yeah told you.

Maybe a pole
would help out,

or maybe not.

River jumping like river dancing
is a terrible idea.

Don't believe well
let's look at the science.

[Dallas] For a successful jump our man
needs to maximize his horizontal

velocity with a fast run up,

before pushing hard against
the ground to launch at an

angle that
maximizes jump distance.

A short jump could
result in a soggy walk home.

So if your run up is as fast as possible
and you push off using as much force

as possible then river jumping
might not be impossible.

But has our friend in the burgundy hoodie
been paying attention?

[man] If I give you
a piece of advice...

...commit to it 100%

-[man 2] OK.
-[man] Don't hesitate.

[Dallas] Yeah if I could give you a bit of
advice it would be don't do it.

[woman] Oh no.

[Dallas] Yeah
you see my advice was better.

He literally got
everything wrong there.

He starts with too slow a run up and then
launches off weakly with a two footed jump

meaning his vertical and horizontal
velocity are too low,

and his problems are compounded with a
nearly vertical landing zone.

So he's just another man
with commitment issues.

This looks ambitious.

[man] He's gonna make it
look easy, unless he falls in.

Which will be
hilarious as ****!

[Dallas] But the large run up
should help considerably.

[man] Uh oh! Uh oh!

[man] [bleep].

[Dallas]
That looked painful.

But at least he made it.
Sort of.

And even more impressively
he didn't it in flip-flops.

[man] Yes!

[Dallas] With is run up he achieves good
horizontal velocity and he

pushes off with a good angle

for maximizing jump distance,
but unfortunately the river

was still too wide to
achieve the perfect landing.

[man] [bleep].

[Dallas] The man in fetching pink is
attempting to prep a landing zone for a

slightly less
agile accomplice.

I'm not sure a stick is
going to help that much.

Its awful being
right all the time.

There are very soft edges on both sides so
they can't see the actual bank.

This problem is made worse by not
pushing hard enough on the take off,

and having very little
horizontal velocity.

And he doesn't land on solid ground,
meaning he can't force his body forwards,

and that's ruined
a lovely day out.

We all like to keep our new trainers clean
but can you guess what key

scientific principle this one handed
hopper is about to demonstrate?

[Dallas] So have
you guessed what science this

inverted kitchen gymnast
is about to show us?

Yes it's brittleness.

He needs to pump his legs to hop on his
hands but he accidentally kicks the light

fitting which is made out of a brittle
material, meaning it can't deform

very much before it breaks.

Like that!

Your mum is going to k*ll
you when she gets home.

I love rock climbing,
but I've learnt the hard way

that it's one of those sports that's great
fun when you're good at it,

but fraught with painful
pitfalls if you're not.

[Dallas] If you know nothing
about climbing this guy

might look really good.

But he isn't, and shouldn't
he be wearing safety gear.

This guy should definitely be wearing a
helmet, and maybe a box for his friend.

And if you're more of
hobbyist than an expert,

please don't take any unnecessary risks,

especially if your partner's motto is,
every man for himself.

Don't worry, apart from some mild pain and
embarrassment she was fine.

But she could have done with being a bit
more dynamic, which reminds me of my

favorite climbing
move, the dino.

Where your next hand hold is out of reach
so you have to jump for it.

[Dallas] First he needs to crouch
and then push hard against

the rock with his legs.

This generates a reaction
force from the rock which

applies an impulse to his body.

When he reaches the next hole
some of his linear momentum

is absorbed by the rock and some

of it is converted to angular momentum as
he rotates around the hole.

That guy was bouldering, low level
climbing in a controlled environment.

But if you're higher up or outside you
always need safety gear,

especially if you plan to do a dino where
you're often completely separate from the

wall for a brief yet terrifying moment.

Sounds like if you get it wrong it's
going to be painful.

Shall we take a look?

[Dallas] Has this guy got to
grips with the physics.

[rock climber] Damn.

That's like woo!

[Dallas] No!

Due to the magnitude and direction of his
momentum a lot of it is converted into

angular momentum when he grabs
the hold,

swinging him upwards
and his grip isn't sufficient

to generate enough impulse
to complete the process.

[rock climber] Damn!

[Dallas] This
looks promising, or not.

She generates a large reaction force
from the wall

which gives her a big enough impulse

to reach the next hold, but once again
grip and angular momentum

battle it out,

and grip comes off second.

Well that's two
fails, third time luck?

Sadly not.

This climber is handicapped
by a very small jump

and not nearly
enough momentum meaning

the only way is down.

Put it away
Wilkins, I said away.

It's time for
today's science lesson.

The part of the show where we take a long
hard look at one scientific principle.

And today it's a potentially dangerous
one, so please don't attempt

anything you're about to see.

Right who can tell me what
the following have in common?

[Dallas] This
poorly considered prank.

She was fine but
she'll miss those eyebrows.

This breakfast surprise.

That woke him up.

And these
unconventional artists.

[artist] [bleep].

[Dallas] I've never really
understood modern art.

The correct answer is they all involve
exothermic processes.

This means that they release
energy into their surroundings.

It's opposite is endothermic where energy
is taken in from the surroundings.

Shall we see some examples.

[Dallas] Striking a gas lighter starts a
combustion reaction as the gas

fuel reacts with the
surrounding oxygen.

New bonds are created between
atoms which release heat.

This process is exothermic.

[Dallas] This raw egg contains proteins,
as it cooks and turns white the

bonds between its atoms are broken
requiring energy so it absorbs heat.

This process is endothermic.

Some of these processes we see everyday,
while others are potentially

deadly and should
never be tried at home.

Okay let's see if you
can spot which is which.

Question one, what happens between
atoms during an exothermic process?

[man] Didn't work.

[Dallas] This guy is attempting
to mount his tire on the

wheel of his car using science.

[man] One more time.

[Dallas] As the fire burns bonds
are created between atoms

which release heat.

Sometimes quite a lot of heat.

Combustion is an exothermic chemical
reaction which requires fuel.

When he moves the tire
more oxygen gets to it

and the reaction happens
more vigorously.

[man] Oh that works.

[Dallas] I think it's fairly obviously why
you shouldn't try this at home.

[boy] Did that hurt you, Dad?

[man] No, no, no it
didn't hurt me, baby.

[man] It surprised the
heck out of me, though.

Question two, is fire the only example
of an exothermic process?

[Dallas] When the air gets really cold the
water gives out it's heat,

eventually freezing,
this is exothermic.

But when you're frozen you
can be a little brittle.

Question three, is boiling a liquid an
exothermic or endothermic process?

[Dallas] Yes you get an endothermic
process, like this beer fountain.

To boil, the beer needs
to absorb lots of heat,

but that is something
this barbecue has.

So it boils and expands.

Geysers like this one are driven by the
endothermic process of

water boiling deep underground.

So that's exothermic and
endothermic processes.

Alright class dismissed, you can all go
outside and let off a little steam.

[woman] That was a good one.

I don't like to brag but I'm so good at
sleeping I can do it with my eyes closed.

And whilst there's nothing better than a
good night's sleep there are few things

funnier than seeing
someone being woken from one.

[Dallas] This crayfish needs to be
careful or he'll be sleeping

with the fishes tonight.

[man] Oh [bleep].

[Dallas] He looks a bit disorientated
after his midday nap.

And this granny is
being very boring.

Ah that's better.

People who say they sleep like a baby
usually don't have one.

Sleep shows us what happens when your
body is purely governed by gravity.

And that is as true for animals as it is
for us humans.

[Dallas] A series of highly orchestrated
events put the brain to sleep in

stages from light sleep where you can
easily be awoken to deep sleep and finally

rapid eye movement sleep.

Most animals need all body
parts independently

supported when
disabled during sleep.

But for some, like horses, the skeleton
and soft tissues provide enough stability

and support that they can sleep
lightly while still upright,

as long as their center of mass stays
within their base of support.

A wise man once said laugh and the world
laughs with you,

snore and you sleep alone.

Sadly no one told this dog.

[snoring]

[Dallas] This dog has found a comfortable
surface to independently

support his body and quickly
gets himself into deep sleep,

but not as quickly as that
kitten gets him out of it.

This horse is looking very drowsy, he
might want to consider lying down,

or he could just
fall on his face.

[woman] Go to sleep.

[Dallas] Horses can sleep lightly standing
up, but they need to make sure

they're in a stable position with
their center of mass

within their base of support,

and not lean or
bend their knees.

That bit's quite important.

[woman] Herbie just lay down.

[Dallas]
This cat is in deep sleep.

[man] I love my
kitten, I just, I love.

[Dallas]
Which is why he can do that.

In deep sleep the brain
blocks transmissions

so only involuntary
muscles used by

organs like our
lungs carry on.

I hope she does that
when you're asleep.

I went to the doctor recently because my
hands were shaking uncontrollably.

His first question was do
you drink a lot of coffee.

Well obviously not at the moment, I'm
spilling most of it.

Anyway I'm not the only
one to spill drinks,

especially when there
are trays involved.

[Dallas] As
they can obscure your feet.

Forget about trays maybe just
hold the drinks next time.

No, maybe trays are better.

But they can be tricky,

even if you
aren't holding them.

[boy] Ow!

Carrying anything on
a tray is fraught with hazards,

and as soon as you start looking into the
science it's quite clear why.

[Dallas] Our man's
hand forms a fulcrum about

which the tray
could easily rotate.

So he needs to keep it
level and avoid sudden forces.

Walking with the tray increases
instability as the side to side motion can

destabilize whatever is on it.

So you're better to keep on
flat ground wherever possible.

Now if I understood that correctly then
it's all about fulcrum points,

side to side stability and
avoiding any sudden forces.

Which sounds simple enough,
unless you're in a hurry.

[Dallas] Like that.

This lady was doing a good job
of compensating for the side

to side motion
caused by her run.

And even when she loses her footing she
still manages to keep her tray upright,

for a millisecond.

[waitress] Look at me I'm
holding a tray like a boss.

[Dallas]
Maybe, but a clumsy boss.

This waitress's problem first started
when one glass topples,

she moves the tray suddenly to
compensate, but it's all too late.

[waitress] [bleep].

[Dallas]
Well quite.

This looks a lot more tricky,
top heavy glasses and stairs.

It could have gone worse.

This man is holding his tray with two
hands so he doesn't need to

worry about fulcrum points.

But he does have to worry about getting
another round in.

Okay that's all the science based idiocy
we've got time for.

And I hope that it's more than enough
evidence of why you shouldn't try

anything you've just seen.

But if you needed another
reminder, then watch this.

[music plays through credits]

[man] [bleep].

[screams]