The Spangler Effect - Bed of Nails Season 01 Episode 27

STEVE SPANGLER: Dit, da, dit, da, dit.
What are you doing, Barbie?
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
Oh, I'm just going to get ready to do pushups.
STEVE SPANGLER: Well, no time for pushups today, Barbie,
because today you're doing science.
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
No, I don't want to.
STEVE SPANGLER: Yes, you do.
You're smart, and you like science.
And I got your favorite
demonstration, the bed of nails.
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
No, not the bed of nails.
STEVE SPANGLER: No, you really like it.
Watch this.
No, don't lay down that way.
That'll hurt you.
So you have to lay down this way.
Ready?
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
Ohh.
STEVE SPANGLER: No.
It didn't really hurt because the pressure is distributed
all over your back.
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
No, that's a lie.
It totally hurt.
STEVE SPANGLER: No.
It'll be fine because I have a new thing for you to do.
Watch this, Barbie.
You're going to love this.
It's the Barbie bowling ball.
BARBIE: [MOCK FEMALE VOICE]
No, not the Barbie bowling ball.
STEVE SPANGLER: Yes.
It's only 10 pounds.
But dropped from here, it's not going to hurt you at all.
Watch.
[BOOM BOOM]
STEVE SPANGLER: Oopsie.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
STEVE SPANGLER: I'm Steve Spangler, and I'm all about
making science fun.
For the last 20 years, I've been teaching ways to turn
ordinary science experiments into unforgettable learning
experiences.
I have an amazing team who will do whatever it takes to
affect the way people think about science.
And to do that, I live by one motto, make it big, do it
right, give it class.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
STEVE SPANGLER: You guessed it.
Today is all about bed of nails and pressure.
I'm going to show you all the secrets of the bed of nails--
how they crush the cinder block, how you can make your
own bed of nails at home, and how we use the coolest bed of
nails I've ever seen on over 700 teachers in
less than 24 hours.
So if you're going to make your own bed of nails, you're
going to need some nails.
We wanted good-looking nails here for our bed of nails.
And we have 98 of them to be exact to correspond with the
98 holes that are in the board that you see right here.
Now we have this as a kit.
It's like a CNC machine did this.
It's spaced out perfectly.
But you could easily make this in the shop as a
simple little project.
But before you load up the thing with all of the nails,
try just one.
See here's what makes this demonstration cool--
is if you start with just one nail get to see the effect of
all of that pressure, the amount of force per a
particular, area exerted on this balloon.
And all the pressure as I push down will be exerted on the
tip of that nail.
What happens.
[POP]
STEVE SPANGLER: No surprise.
It pops because all of that pressure was on just a small
amount of that balloon.
What if we try two nails?
Watch this.
[POP]
STEVE SPANGLER: It still pops.
But I got to push a little bit more than I do
on the first one.
What if we do four nails?
See, every time I add a nail, it looks worse.
But in fact I'm just spreading that weight out
over a bigger area.
[POP]
STEVE SPANGLER: And I had to push harder.
You guessed it.
It's time for 98 nails.
Go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
STEVE SPANGLER: Last nail.
Looks good.
Just push down.
[BANG, BANG, BANG]
STEVE SPANGLER: Perfect.
And there's your bed of nails.
See, doesn't this look so much worse?
98 sharp nails.
It looks bad.
But I'm actually now spreading that pressure, or that weight,
distributing that pressure across 98 points instead of
the one or two points that was there before.
It looks bad, but it's going to be better for the balloon.
Don't make the mistake of pushing the balloon down with
your hand as hard as you can because you can see just a
small amount is perfectly fine.
But if you push harder, then this is going to pop, and,
finally you're going to impale your hands.
Not a good idea.
That's why we have these guideposts that
go on either side.
And now there's a safety piece that goes at the top that'll
now protect your hand.
Time for Mr. Balloon to meet his fate because it
goes down like this.
The safety panel goes on top here like this.
And now we're ready to go.
You start pushing and watch.
As you get closer and closer and closer, you can actually
see the tips of the nails working their
way into the rubber.
A tremendous amount of pressure goes in.
Look at this.
That's a lot of pressure.
Yet when you pull it back out again, the balloon is
perfectly fine with small, little indentations right on
the surface.
This time we use a clear balloon because this time I
want you to see the nails actually being forced up and
into the surface of the balloon.
Watch.
Look right down here.
As I increase the pressure, look at those nails being
pushed into the balloon.
Again, the secret is distributing that pressure
over all of the nails.
And that force is being distributed.
You can put a tremendous amount of
pressure until finally--

[POP]
STEVE SPANGLER: --it pops.
That's the reason we have the safety shield.
You want it bigger?
This is bigger.
2,000 nails in our new bed of nails.
It's bigger.
It's scarier.
But it still works on the same principle of a distribution of
the weight on all the nails.
And it even passes the balloon test.
Watch.

You have to always remember that the
bed of nails is dangerous.
If you just let it sit here on the floor unattended, somebody
could walk on it.
It can be very, very dangerous.
And so you need to have a cover for it.
And that's what these are for.
See, these thin pieces of wood cover the nails so that nobody
accidentally trips and falls on it as well.
And now we're ready for Higgensworth.
Oh, there is one more thing.
We have a little fake blood.
All right.
So just a little fake blood here like this.
We just throw a little bit here like this.
Ahh, that's perfect.
We have to have some splatter marks here.
This will freak him out when we reveal it.
And we'll say, no, it's OK.
Ever since we fixed the problem, it's perfectly fine.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of
all ages, it's come to the time of the show you've all
been waiting for.
That's right.
That's where we do the bed of nails.
And who better to lay on the bed of nails than our own--
you know him, you love him, the master, the dangerous, the
disastrous, it's Higgensworth.
Where is he?
Higgens?
Higgensworth?
I'll get him.
Hey, it's going to be OK.
Come here.
Higgensworth, come here.
HIGGENSWORTH: I'm getting tired of this [BEEP].
STEVE SPANGLER: So I got everything worked out, all the
bugs worked out.
This is going to be great.
You're going to like this.
HIGGENSWORTH: I've heard that before.
STEVE SPANGLER: And when they see this, they're
going to love you.
Drum roll please.
HIGGENSWORTH: Brrrrrrr.
STEVE SPANGLER: Little bit more enthusiasm.
HIGGENSWORTH: Brrrrrrrrr.
STEVE SPANGLER: Watch this.
Drrrrr-rup.
2,000 nails.
Look at this Higgensworth.
These are two--
HIGGENSWORTH: [BEEP]
is that?
STEVE SPANGLER: That's find.
Don't worry about it.
It's just a little thing.
You're going to be perfectly fine.
This is a carny stunt that's been done for hundreds and
hundreds of years, maybe thousands of--
who knows.
I don't-- maybe Egyptians did this.
Maybe they didn't.
I don't know.
But today you're going to lay on this, and
it's going to be awesome.
They're going to love you.
HIGGENSWORTH: All right.
STEVE SPANGLER: I would do it myself, but I have to talk and
explain what's working.
So that's why I'm asking you to be the star of the show.
HIGGENSWORTH: That sounds really important.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
Just--
why do you have a pillow?
HIGGENSWORTH: Don't worry about that.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
Just put it here.
OK.
This is going to be great.
Ouch.
OK.
Important if you're doing this at home--
I mean don't do this at home.
But if you're helping a friend do it at a friend's home, you
have to help them down onto the nails.
So you just don't go lay down on the nails.
So watch.
I'm going to help you, Higgensworth.
Ready.
So I'm going to hold your wrist like this.
Now go ahead.
You're just going to sit down.
OK.
HIGGENSWORTH: All right.
STEVE SPANGLER: Ahh.
Perfect.
OK.
Now ready?
And you're just going to kind of put your hands there and
kind of lay down.
OK.
Your head is going to be back here like this.
All right here.
I'd better take this hat.
HIGGENSWORTH: Yeah.
Get that off.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
Good.
HIGGENSWORTH: All right.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
How is that?
HIGGENSWORTH: Pretty good.
STEVE SPANGLER: How does that feel?
HIGGENSWORTH: Not terrible.
STEVE SPANGLER: Is that pretty cool?
HIGGENSWORTH: Yeah.
I think we're good.
STEVE SPANGLER: This, ladies and gentlemen, is the bed of
nails trick.
And it kind of is boring.
You see, it's boring because for years and years and years
people have done the bed of nails.
But see, the wow moment is the moment that the
person touches the nails.
When he sat down here like this and then he started to
lay back, you knew he wasn't going to get hurt.
And so all that motion of him laying down and finally the
ta-dah moment, there is not ta-dah moment because
all he's doing is--
HIGGENSWORTH: Steve, Steve.
Am I done?
STEVE SPANGLER: No we got more.
So-- here, just wear this.
HIGGENSWORTH: What is this for?
STEVE SPANGLER: Don't worry about it.
It's fine.
HIGGENSWORTH: All right.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
Just stay right there.
For years, people have done this classic stunt.
And Higgensworth is going to perform the crushing cinder
block trick.
And this is where we take a cinder block and we put it on
Higgensworth like this.
All right, Higgensworth, this is a cinder block.
I don't know exactly where to put it.
Do you want it right here?
HIGGENSWORTH: Yeah.
STEVE SPANGLER: Does that feel good?
I've never actually done this before, but I read about it on
the internet.
OK.
I'm just going to smash down.
You're ready?
Here we go.
Drum roll please.
Drum roll.
HIGGENSWORTH: Brrrrrrrrrr.
STEVE SPANGLER: Louder.
Here it goes.
HIGGENSWORTH: Brrrrrrrrr.
[BANG]
STEVE SPANGLER: Look at that.
And he's OK, ladies and gentlemen.
I remove this from the Higgensworth.
Look at this.
He's perfectly fine.
You did such a good job.
I think you're going to actually get a t-shirt for
doing this.
All right.
HIGGENSWORTH: A t-shirt?
STEVE SPANGLER: Yes.
This is the other part that's important.
Help them back up again.
Otherwise, they get hurt at the end of the trick.
And then you're not amazing anymore.
I'm going to help you Higgensworth.
Are you OK?
OK.
Lift up.
Perfect.
Look at your back.
There's indentations all over your back, but, see, it's
perfectly fine.
You're fine.
HIGGENSWORTH: I'm good.
STEVE SPANGLER: Turn around.
Ta-dah.
HIGGENSWORTH: I survived.
STEVE SPANGLER: He'll never actually have kids,
but he did the trick.
It was awesome.
All right.
So I need you to do it one more time.
So I'm going to have you just lay down.
HIGGENSWORTH: I don't want to do it another time.
STEVE SPANGLER: It's fine.
Don't worry about it.
Just--
I'll let you go home early today.
HIGGENSWORTH: That's fair.
STEVE SPANGLER: OK.
So we're just going to lay down on it one more time.
I got another idea.
Come on.
Play along.
HIGGENSWORTH: All right.
STEVE SPANGLER: Well, after the last time Higgensworth
pulled me off to the side and said, could I
please do it again?
And I said, sure.
Right, Higgensworth?
HIGGENSWORTH: Yep.
STEVE SPANGLER: So here's what I was thinking.
This a totally a boring demonstration because the
moment of wow is lost.
Wouldn't it be really cool if the nails
actually lifted you up.
What if you just got lift-- hey, hey, hey.
What--
what--
No.
I didn't mean lift--
I don't mean the whole bed of nails lifting.
I just meant if the nails lifted you up.
Like--
Higgens--
If you were just like on a bed of nails.
This--
hey--
Higgens, if you're-- it'll be all--
We already did this with 700 teachers.
Take a look.
How about this.
How about 4,500 nails.
And this is the bed of nails from the
Oklahoma Museum Network.
And they're nice enough to let us borrow it so that we can
show teachers the difference between pressure and support.
FEMALE SPEAKER: There you go.

STEVE SPANGLER: So when I push the button,
4,500 nails will rise.
FEMALE SPEAKER: [LAUGHTER]
STEVE SPANGLER: Isn't that weird?
FEMALE SPEAKER: [SCREAMING].
STEVE SPANGLER: You're going to feel this unusual pressure
that's all over your body.
Isn't that kind of an unusual piece?
So if you put your fingers here now, you actually can
feel that you're on the very tip of the nail.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
STEVE SPANGLER: So your body is supported on the tip, I
don't know, of about 1,000 nails, somewhere there.
When I let you back down again, keep your hands there.
You're going to feel the tip of the nail go into the top of
the table, and it literally will vanish.
But if I took out half of those nails, you couldn't lay
on the bed of nails because the pressure
would be too much.
Isn't that a great sensation?
So as a teacher--
FEMALE SPEAKER: Kind of neat.
STEVE SPANGLER: -- what would it feel like as a teacher if
we had 100% support in everything that we do?
It'd be amazing.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Ahhh.
STEVE SPANGLER: Ahh.
Isn't that great?
FEMALE SPEAKER: It would be awesome.
STEVE SPANGLER: We clicked your picture
when you had wonder.
All right.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
STEVE SPANGLER: And then I have a new name tag for you in
five minutes is [INAUDIBLE]--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
HIGGENSWORTH: Thanks, Steve for the sweet shirt.
STEVE SPANGLER: You survived the bed of nails.
You did a great job.
HIGGENSWORTH: Thank you.
STEVE SPANGLER: You did perfect.
You just laid on the nails, and everything was just fine.
I told you it'd be OK.
HIGGENSWORTH: I guess you were right.