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Cell Phone Destruction

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The Myth

THIS MYTH WAS FEATURED IN...
Episode Title: Cell Phone Destruction, Silicone Breasts, CD-ROM Shattering

Original air date:10/3/2003
Myth Title: Cell Phone Destruction


Myth Description: Using a cell phone near a gas pump will cause an explosion.


MythBusters on the bust: Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman


Hypothesis:


Procedure/Experimental Design: Build a blast chamber using the lexan sheeting, fill it with gasoline fumes, then use a variety of methods to try and cause an explosion. These were
  1. Cell phone
  2. Static Electricity stored in a liden jar
  3. Open flame


Results: The gasoline did not explode when the cell phone was rung, but did explode violently when the static electricity disharged from the liden jar.


Conclusion: A cell phone does not create enough of a spark to cause a gasoline explosion, however is was proved that static electricity cause through entering and exiting the car while ungrounded could cause the explosion described in the myth.


Busted or Not Busted: Busted

Fan Feedback

Highlights of the bust:






Best quotes by the MythBusters:

  • Adam: "Am I Missing an eyebrow?"
  • Adam: "How hard is it to make a room full of gasoline explode?"



Your Scientific Method

Did the MythBusters get it right? How would you have busted this myth differently? Share your experiment design for how you would prove/disprove this myth:

  • I would try to get near ideal conditions for combustion. Just filling the room with gasoline fumes makes it a far too fuel-rich atmosphere. The cellphone probably wouldn't ignite it anyway, but it would be better proof.










See Also

Related myths: Cell phones on planes , Gas stations and cell phones revisit



Related resources and reference pages:


Latest page update: made by Zyntab , Oct 3 2007, 3:33 PM EDT (about this update About This Update Zyntab Added a method - Zyntab

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