Air Date: February 23, 2005
Salsa was used by a Mexican prisoner to corrode the window bars of his cell and escape.
plausible
Given several years, it would be possible, due to the corrosive elements of the salsa. The use of electrolysis via a direct current source in conjunction with the salsa accelerated the effect, as it draws the electrons out of the bars and into the wires.
A urine-soaked silk shirt is strong enough to bend the bars of a prison cell when wrapped around them and twisted, as seen in the film Shanghai Noon.
busted
Adam tested this myth after he gave up on his salsa/alternating current escape plan. The bars proved too strong for the wet silk, tearing the fabric apart instead of bending under it.
A stick of dynamite can clean the leftover scraps of concrete from the inside of a cement truck.
plausible
A powder charge equivalent to 1½ sticks of dynamite worked well and loosened or dislodged a lot of the dried excess concrete without noticeably damaging the barrel.
A stick of dynamite can remove a slab of concrete from the inside of a cement truck.
busted
A solid slab of concrete is too hard to remove practically, and is tougher than the barrel itself. The MythBusters enlisted the aid of FBI explosive experts to load the truck and barrel with 850 pounds of commercial blasting agent. The resulting explosion reduced the truck to numerous very small fragments, and a few larger pieces; the observers had to stand a mile away from the explosion. Billed as the biggest-ever explosion on the show, Jamie admitted that "This has got nothing to do with the myth; it’s just a big boom".
A stick of dynamite can remove a slab of concrete from the inside of a cement truck.
July 16, 2007 at 11:38 PMYou claim to have busted this claim, however I have done many such jobs.
To start with you can not compare black powder (a low explosive, to dynamite (a high explosive).
The velocity of detonation is much high for a high explosive,and has a cracking action.
So boys the bottom line is. IF DONE CORRECTLY CONCRETE CAN BE BROKEN INSIDE A CONCRETE TRUCK. I have done it many times.
I totaly agree with Daryl.
The trick is that you have to drill into the middle of the concrete and put the charge in that hole. The boys only put the charge on top of the slab where it would do nothing at all. A very poor effort.
Also the case that I am familar with used gelignite, well a home made varient using fertiliser and deisel. It was done in Sydney, Australia, in the early 1980’s.
This despratly needs a revisit.
September 7, 2007 at 9:32 PMIf you have to drill a hole into the wall it seems like it would be getting outside the realm of the myth, unless you are the buddy of the imprisoned guy, and if you are, then shrapnel would be a huge problem.
September 9, 2007 at 3:20 PMThe point of the myth was that the concrete would be blown clean out of the truck without any manual labor. The idea was not just that the concrete would be broken apart. The claim of the myth that they were attacking was not that dynamite could not break apart the concrete, but that with one stick of dynamite the truck would be completely cleared of concrete. The myth also implied no drilling was necessary. They never said that it was impossible to remove the concrete via explosives over time or by using further technique to enhance the performance of the explosive. They were testing if a stick of dynamite was introduced to a truck, as is, and ignited that there would be nothing to do but shovel the remaining fragments of concrete from the truck.
September 13, 2007 at 6:52 PMit’s simple that some laws of physics were blatently ignored in this mythbusting. first thing you have to do is figure a way to rotate the barrel so the slab is top dead center, then simply throw the 1 and 1/2 stick of dynamite in the truck, try you just might be impressed.
October 29, 2007 at 8:15 PMI wonder how much electricity was going through that salsa: the idea of getting a radio and modifying it get DC current without guards noticing it is a little far fetched… not to mention taking apart a light fixture. However, if you could do the same thing with a simpler DC source (a battery perhaps) it might be more reasonable for actually applying this tactic, though I’m not sure if it would produce enough electrical current to get any results. Perhaps a car battery? Several dry cells?
Also, you’d need to do this to both ends of a bar to get the desired effect of actual escape. Would setting up a second device like this at the top of the bar work, or would the two currents produce undesired results?
February 1, 2008 at 4:19 PMThe bending of the bars “busted” was done completely wrong. I’m sure if you try bending 12-15″ prison bars with any fabric you’re going to snap the fabric. In the movie, the bars were floor-to-ceiling prison bars (figure 7-8 feet). There’s actually room for give when applying the force from the fabric. I think this one needs a revisit.
February 5, 2008 at 8:01 AMSo, we’re doing an experiment on the salsa and we’d like some more information.
February 29, 2008 at 9:49 AMThat was an excellent job with the cement truck dynamite myth. I always expect a big boom fro you guys and i loved seeing that truck fly in all directions. Good thing nobody got hit!
March 6, 2008 at 10:44 PMBusted or not, this IS my favourite episode to date. You blow up a lot of things of your show, but Cement Removal is still the best one!
March 20, 2008 at 3:59 PMYou guys rock!
i think that stick of dynamite can do the job,but it must be set outside of the truck,on the mixer,thick plate atached to the outside of the mixer and some explosive atached on plate in 3 or 4 positions will remove the cement, also explosive charges must be activated with delay,or detonation from oposite direction will reduce the other blast.
June 6, 2008 at 1:32 PMsorry for my english i learn it from the movies:-)
One day I was waiting for the ferry in Alameda. Behind me I heard little bits of a conversation…”mutter…mutter…explosion…mutter…mutter…cement truck.” I turned to them and said, “You’re talking about Mythbusters, right?” They were.
June 9, 2008 at 4:51 PMMYTH BUSTERS MAKE BIGGEST BOOM EVER!!!!!!!
July 4, 2008 at 9:44 AM