Ep 3. Square Wheels

The show MythBusters has been entertaining viewers for 12 seasons with its unique approach to testing myths and urban legends. In season 12, episode 3 entitled "Square Wheels," the MythBusters team explores the myth of the square wheels and whether it is possible to create a car that can drive smoothly with such wheels.

The episode starts with Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman discussing the myth of the square wheels. Jamie explains that the idea of creating a vehicle with square wheels came from the novelty of the concept, but the practical purposes are limited. The duo sets out to test whether the square wheels can function correctly and whether they can travel over a bumpy road without any problems.

To test the concept, they build a custom vehicle equipped with square wheels to gauge how well they work. They start by driving on a flat road and observe how the square wheels react. The result is not surprising; the car's movement is incredibly jittery and bumpy, making it impossible to maintain a smooth ride. They conclude that the square wheels could only work correctly on a smooth surface, where they will have minimal contact with the terrain.

To test the myth further, the team came up with an idea to create a road with square elements to match the wheels' shape, hoping that the car could drive efficiently on such surfaces. They made the square road by cutting foam blocks to form segments that fit the wheels' dimensions and assembled them to create the square road.

Once they finish building the road, the team sets out to test the square-wheeled car on the new surface. The results are surprising; the vehicle manages to maintain a stable ride and even travels faster than expected on the square road. The audience is awe-struck in disbelief that the impossible could occur.

The MythBusters team wants to take the test further and introduce other variables, such as inclines and steep drops, to observe whether the square wheels can handle such conditions. To do this, they construct an inclined platform and a ramp to observe the car's reaction to the new conditions.

They built a custom-made camera sled to capture the square-wheeled car's progress as it moves up and down the inclined plane. They also installed several accelerometers to measure the car's speed and how well the wheels cope under stressful conditions.

As the square-wheeled car starts traveling on the inclined plane, Adam and Jamie observe that the vehicle can't climb the incline because the wheels have no grip on the surface. Jamie suggests another approach, whereby they increase the weight on the car's front to see if the extra weight produces enough friction for the square wheels to travel.

After loading up the car with additional weight, they test the vehicle on the inclined platform. This time, the square wheels produced enough traction to climb, albeit at a slower speed than the previous flat square road test. The extra weight trick worked, providing enough friction to help the vehicle climb the inclined plane.

The team later constructed another surface that mimicked the lunar terrain to test whether the square-wheeled car would be suitable for moon exploration. They built the lunar terrain surface out of foam and placed obstacles to simulate craters and moon rocks.

Jamie and Adam observed that the square-wheeled car performed better than anticipated on the lunar surface, providing enough traction to navigate through the craters and rocks. The audience was impressed with the team's ingenuity and outcome of the experiment, and concluded that creating a car with square wheels is feasible.

In conclusion, the MythBusters season 12 episode 3 titled "Square Wheels" is a testament to the team's ingenuity and creativity in busting one of the world's oldest myths. They went above and beyond in designing and testing the square-wheeled car, leading to new insights into what could have been impossible.

This episode also underscores the importance of testing myths and examining conventional wisdom through a scientific lens. Viewers will surely be looking forward to future episodes of MythBusters where the team tests more myths and legends.