Busting Breaking Bad Myths! | MythBusters | Season 9 Episode 10 | Full Episode

The MythBusters are de-bunking the science and chemistry of the hit TV show Breaking Bad!
Using science as a tool, Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk rumours, urban legends and popular myths that have captivated the minds of many individuals
#MythBusters #FactOrFiction

[@DrShempTV]

one of my favorite masterchef UK episodes.

[@craft_io]

Underrated lmao

[@redmist6630]

yum pork stew just like grandma use to make

[@catatafish100]

That pork dish looked delicious.

[@trueblade3636]

Lol

[@tomfrench5189]

Greg Wallace's beard and flat cap game was strong in this one.

[@thomasbruinsma]

13:36 "Here's Adam, on acid!" I never recognized the jokes the narrator did as a kid

[@phillipdoran3961]

I came here for this comment 👍

[@phenax1144]

also 40:15 "Yep inside that box is more than a fist full of Crystal"

[@illmakeyouuncomfortable7745]

Ah.. good old acid. 🤓

[@Fuckyoupayme777]

@@phillipdoran3961i came to this comment

[@redmist6630]

I LOVE METH AND NEW MEXICO!

[@Mann_Person]

To be fair, Walter does say "Fulminated mercury *and* a little tweak of chemistry" which means he could've added a million different things to make it explode from a throw.

[@ERICKCASTROH]

Also he did not mean kill anyone, just get away

[@Simoong94]

To be fair, Walter does say "Fulminated mercury a little tweak of chemistry" which means he couldn't have added a million different things to make it explode from a throw.

[@----.__]

@@Simoong94 To be fair, Walter does say "Fulminated mercury and a little tweak of chemistry" which means he could've added a million different things to make it explode from a throw.

[@user-bz6sr6ju2r]

@@----.__ yeah we got it...

[@----.__]

@@user-bz6sr6ju2r woooooosh

[@lanzhimself]

The secret sauce is Peroxide btw.

[@Bungstly]

^ This. Piranha solution

[@blake.phillips]

Hahaha just came here to comment that

[@balghair1]

I was going to say that too.. H2O2

[@kaptein1247]

Was kinda obvious when they said its basically hydrogen and oxide

[@roserichardson9480]

They don't even do a particularly good job of sharpie-ing out the label lol

[@NateyC214]

Binge watching all of these episodes has me really appreciating my favourite member of the Mythbusting team: The Narrator. Glorious wordplay for hours. Thank you so much Robert Lee, the "Canadian from Australia who narates American Television" - Adam Savage

[@sys-administrator]

I really dislike how us Europeans got a British narrator

[@hiddenbutdeadly]

"on this episode of Methbusters!..."

[@m4xw3ll75]

My favourite episode of methtesters

[@theREALTRUTHagn]

I proved the government wrong recently by taking meth for 2 years and giving it up one day, and haven't taken it since, like all the other DRUGS (taken every drug over 35years, LSD, ecstasy, speed/meth, smoked heroin, weed ECT...), proving meth (and OTHER DRUGS) AREN'T ADDICTIVE, it just that, people are brainless brainwashed by government morons with WEAK WEAK BRAINS, TRUTH and FACTS😉

[@ChrisK96y]

For the bathtub experiment, I would also use old damp boards as flooring material. It's safe to assume that the house was old, and the materials from which it was built are already years old, especially if there was a bathtub on it.

[@user-uj5sh8pz1d]

I'd say give the bathtub coating a nick to the metal(might happen when it's old) and then acid would have most likely eaten right through the tub in a few hours if it's reacting that vigorous

[@haroldcruz8550]

Were you not paying attention? They already made a small scale test where the metal or fiber glass were exposed and they didn't get result close to that of the movie.

[@eeeeee8762]

@@haroldcruz8550 1. It's not a movie, 2. The small scale of the test made it incomparable to the real deal. Acid loses its potency as it reacts with something, if they had a bathtub full, the results would definitely have been very different

[@user-uj5sh8pz1d]

@@haroldcruz8550 it makes a difference whether you let the reaction run for 30 minutes like they did or 8h like the series said for the premise. As does the amount of surface area where the reaction takes place. And I am not talking about dissolving the whole bathtub. But it's very much possible that over 8h the acid would eat a HOLE through the bathtub and start draining itself on the floor if you give the coating a good, deep scratch

[@Datensaku]

Hydrofluoric acid , sulfuric acid and piranha solution don't eat through ceramic. their whole point is to convert the materials that are close to carbon into carbon and then make them evaporate into CO2

[@gmanhero]

@22:08 I'm pretty certain that "very difficult'' doesn't mean impossible. Also the crystalized form is highly susceptible to being thrown against a wall unlike the powdered form... the myth isn't throwing the powered variant wrapped in a bag on the ground, it's throwing the unstable crystalized form at a wall after being warmed up in a hand.

[@stasi0238]

Yep crystals would have exploded for sure. Its same as with silver fulminatr

[@Born_Stellar]

and where did they get 50g? Walts holding a damn kilo!

[@liamodynsky4871]

The problem then becomes how the hell Walt could survive it.

[@DaVoxxii]

@@Born_Stellar the chunk he threw at the floor was 50g, not the bag he was holding afterwards

[@kfc2180]

oxygen helps too

[@karxpoland5958]

Seeing Grant legit made me cry

[@ragusauce6573]

RIP Grant.

[@aitorleal4676]

From the creators of "Watching Paint Dry" and "Watching Grass Grow", in a colaboration with Tim Burton: "Watching Pigs Dissolve"

[@FatherMcKenzie66]

Hahahaha!

[@キラキラくりくり頭]

Ahahaha, I mean, I can't argue with that.

[@DrFoggyPants]

This is when Adam became Savageberg

[@ketalegaming2572]

Say my name.

[@Foundations01]

The one who busts.

[@benedektoth2646]

And Jamie became Walrus White.

[@Avliv_Satan]

I love how much Aaron is still Jesse somewhat in this episode, like he didn't let go of the role completely

[@koolerpure]

42:44 the details hes talking about is how in the show walter threw a crystal which myth busters straight up said they couldnt produce in their setup, in MythBusters they tried powder and that isnt gonna be as reactive with a toss

[@mr.c8101]

Also it was in a bag. That would absorb some of the force and negate friction.

[@robertgernon169]

​@@mr.c8101You're right, hitting it with a hammer will ignite it. If it was crystalized it would also be much less stable

[@UnWorthyDaisy42]

I think the biggest let down was jesse wasn't going to crystallize the fulminate. i swear it was the crystal walter said was unstable

[@pt_cruiser5131]

gets proven completely wrong* "Well, you see... in my mind's eye..."

[@calumsanderson6741]

he's a shifty one

[@Azzameen99AZ]

One might even say, "I reject your reality, and substitute my own."

[@uaxpavlo]

Should've use the cheese

[@arronalt]

should've used a more badass jesse

[@TheoHiggins]

​@@Azzameen99AZ "Niiiice, Dungeon Master!"

[@oreocookiedough]

I'm addicted to crystal myths

[@ml.2770]

44:09 The special sauce label says Hydrogen Peroxide 30%

[@aaronwalkot1201]

Wich makes the combo of chemicals piranha solution

[@joenathan8594]

Thought it was... Funny enough it was a Eric Andre sketch that Got me thinking it was H202... the sequel to water.

[@peterk9971]

If the acid mixture stays black or brown you should add more of the "special sauce". It will "reactivate" the reaction and the rest of the organic matirial will disolve

[@donovanschoor1473]

Why did they not mention or do this? i thought they had experts advising them?

[@raseli4066]

Maybe their sauce ran out

[@donovanschoor1473]

@@raseli4066 Maybe they are making TV and we took them a little too serious as kids.

[@mirkokujansuu183]

Yeah i was thinking how compared to for example nilereds video on piranha solution their reaction seemed super tame and slow.

[@psow4062]

I like how they make it a secret what the second ingredient is for the whole episode and then near the end Jamie straight up says that it's just a lot of hydrogen and oxygen, pretty much revealing that it's hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and the whole thing is the piranha solution. Have fun dissolving your dead bodies, I guess xD

[@sizskie]

The hydrogen peroxide label on the container is also clearly visible when they add it to the tub lol

[@fraaggl]

a pig in a farm talking to his friends : - "Hey did you know that I'm going to be on TV ?" - "46:33"

[@varunramakrishnan7676]

Some pig

[@zaiohellgren9266]

more like a pig in soviet union

[@zaiohellgren9266]

46:37

[@arronalt]

"brother, may I have some oats?"

[@varunramakrishnan7676]

@@arronalt Wtf, I just watched this video

[@desktopaccount8738]

Is Aaron wearing an inside-out Darth Vader shirt so it doesnt shows Disney (or Lucasfilm at the time) stuff on the show?

[@baxtersonline]

Great spot, yeah probably is

[@SBS24654]

They should have scratched the bathtub imitating heavy use over the years. This would give a lot more surface area for the acid to work and remove some of the enamel that is acid-proof

[@devinmcguinness4713]

RIP Grant. This was a fun episode.

[@ontariel]

Jesse, we have to bust some myths

[@bogdank4490]

3:16 why is Jessy a dropout student? He finished the highschool

[@MicroSausage]

Yeah he graduated, dick.

[@FiXato]

"get these guys to write us a writing robot" executives responsible for the writers to strike: "quick, write that down!"

[@ramikais1334]

putting colored liquids in beakers plus dry ice = science

[@enriquetorres-duque6802]

_Today on Mythbusters, we're going to see if it's actually possible to make 99.1% pure crystal meth in the back of an RV Truck. Stick around to watch Jamie _*_freak out_*_ in the middle of the desert while putting it to the test_

[@Patrick-mg3jp]

Alot of misconseptions of how long it takes for acid to dissolve. It doesnt just start instantly , it takes a very long time .

[@darkone666]

Mecury fulminate with a tweak of chemistry

[@eeeeee8762]

7:55 What they forgot to consider is that the acid loses its concentration and therefore potency as it eats away at the materials. In BB they had a bathtub full, the effects will not be the same and could be greater than what MB had set up. There also wasn't a whole lot of acid spilling down, and when you look at what came down with the floor, you'll see it's definitely plausible

[@freextrg]

Also, acid does not really need to go all the way through all the materials, just enough for the weight to do the rest, idk how much is that but it is something that is harder to take into consideration

[@Arcidi225]

Also house was old, and let's say old wood under a bath tub is not always in best condition.

[@MrBodies07]

RIP Grant. Cool seeing you having fun with the crew

[@socie01]

Explosives and acid sounds like my kind of fun! 😂😂

[@Harry-ff4vx]

Found it strange that they use the terms fulminated mercury and mercury fulminate interchangeably when they are infact two different substances

[@hyperfeen]

what's the difference?

[@Harry-ff4vx]

@@hyperfeen one is more powerful than the other and it’s a different chemical structure with different potential energies and I think one is like 50-100 years older than the other the channel explosions and fire did a fantastic vid on them

[@roserichardson9480]

That is 100% not the intended meaning of that sticker at 16:55

[@princelysnail1998]

The only time you can get away with that at your place of work😂 is

[@youngspinach]

Great profile pic, toa Gali

[@alberthofmann420]

Seems familiar 😅

[@jocax188723]

Actual body disposal would use a base, not an acid. Use saponification to your advantage.

[@BabyMakR]

I said this exact thing to my wife when we first watched this back in the day and she was "You don't know what you're talking about" and "I'm sure they got experts on to tell them what chemicals to use". Showed her this video years later and she was all "what are you talking about"? So much for women's infallible memory.

[@AllDayBikes]

21:10 what a poetic way to say Satan's shit lol

[@blankfrankie3747]

BB is the last legit cultural phenomenon I can remember.

[@vasqueos]

fortnite avengers phonk skibidi toilet among us digital circus

[@Archer690Channel]

​@@vasqueosonly if you are like 12

[@vasqueos]

@@Archer690Channel 😡😡😡😡 eat a poop

[@BasedRichEvans]

@@vasqueos You just listed trash that will be forgot (or already has been forgot about) in the next 12 months.

[@mooleydaman2964]

@@vasqueos brother how old are you 😭😭

[@viktorhhh1]

wow that breaking bad intro still gives me goosebumps. Maybe it's time to rewatch it again.

[@boardmandave]

Maybe crystalline Mercury fulminate is more sensitive and more reactive

[@stevehandy-ck2vd]

An old building would have an old bath tub with cracks in the finish leading to acid leaching through to the metal, this should help in an 8 hour period. And I'm pretty sure the crystal form would react to impact more easily.

[@PBMS123]

AFAIR and in the picture, the tub looks plastic not metal.

[@waidebraaf2690]

Little known fact, Vince Gilligan is also the inventor of a fun 'video' game called "Pile of bullets"

[@ChanArtCreative]

15:11 H2S04 plus H2O2 piranha solution 🤫🤫

[@KernelGhost]

46:50 Gives it away too

[@antisoda]

24:23 Miss ya, Grant.

[@itsmemigooo]

"Explosive proof box" Procedes to show wooden box.

[@chrishughes3405]

That 4th guy at the beginning I've only seen once before in community as the vhs game master cowboy.

[@the-lettere]

On this episode of Meth Tasters

[@krommezuidvrucht6474]

Mastermeth

[@komosky]

Special Sauce = hydrogen peroxide

[@nielsdorhout058]

That guy is way to smooth chopping up that powder 🤣 i bet he has done it with some other powders

[@waves42069]

explosion proof box is hilarious

[@ChemicalEuphoria]

they didn't even know the most basic rule about concentrated acids, NEVER ADD WATER TO THEM (or in this case the diluted peroxide), always the other way...

[@vadiks20032]

25:53 this was a genious pun

[@3choblast3r4]

This reminds me that a highschool friend of mine, years later suddenly contacted me asking me if I've ever seen breaking bad .. and that he's started chemistry at a uni and that it was "super easy to make what they make in breaking bad" ...

[@BabyMakR]

I was making Acetone Peroxide before High School for fun. Next door neighbours uncle showed us how. He worked on a mine out west, so I assume he was one of the guys who took the explosives down.

[@dominikmilien]

@@BabyMakR It wouldn't be so much fun if the primary explosive you were making tore your hand off. But like seriously man, how could you do it safely? Especially considering the drying of bigger batches

[@BabyMakR]

@@dominikmilien Yeh. No idea. We had no idea what we were making was so dangerous. I can only put it down to luck.

[@themoonsevilsister1561]

it's funny how they can't say "meth" but they keep showing a dissolved body falling through the ceiling

[@TailOfThePup]

In the popular swedish science show "Fråga Lund" (meaning "Ask Lund", Lund being the university town) they dissolved a piece of chicken with piranha solution and they readily revealed the secret sauce. So anyone watching on a Tuesday at 8 pm would know this. :)

[@javierloco-s1t]

mercury fulminate is probably more reactive to impact in a crystal form since a bag of powder absorb the shock the crystal would shatter and release energy. the other Jesse said it was possible to make so the show may be more accurate that they make it seem to be

[@sizskie]

Absorbing the shock is actually what would set it off. When a crystal shatters it doesn't release energy, it absorbs energy. The kinetic energy of both samples is distributed between the samples themselves and the surface they impact, there is no release of energy in any case, just distribution

[@javierloco-s1t]

@@sizskie cleaver i didnt think of it that way. but it's still untested it may react an unexpected way (not that i am a chemist or anything)😂

[@BabyMakR]

@@sizskie Nah. The sudden stop is more triggering. I still say they should have used Acetone Peroxide. Far more sensitive than Mercury Fulminate. Acetone Peroxide would have decomposed (exploded) under it's own weight if you made a fraction of what was shown here. You could drop a few grains of powder like shown on the floor and 2 of them would detonate as they hit the floor and the rest would go pop under your shoe as you stood on them leaving little burn marks in the sole of your shoe.

[@RADZIO895]

I gotta bring up the legendary sentence: "They look like if Walter White unfused"

[@foggy7577]

Myth number 1: Its impossible to use your combined industry knowledge in electrical engineering and special effects to cook meth at home, fueling the drug industry in the US, whilst funneling the profit through an educational Discovery channel science show to clean the profit.

[@rgb.offset]

you guys are SO BACK with this episode!!!!!!!!

[@DrLazerbeam]

I'm having like a weird anachronistic mind wobble because for me MythBusters ended in an era of TV completely different and way before the television revival era that Breaking Bad was in.

[@ihatemax206]

I was just thinking to myself that this is peak Millenium tv, It was the turning point into streaming and a totally different media ecosystem.

[@matthewbarbieri2249]

"hey this acid doesn't dissolve bodies really well so wait a Lil bit and we will show you what works best"

[@TheoHiggins]

As a kid this is what convinced me that I needed to watch Breaking Bad someday. It only took me another 12 years lol

[@DanyloBiletskyi]

Jamie: we are not in a business of showing how to dissolve bodies Also Jamie: 18:27 showing exact chemical they are using which is 30% cleanroom LP :D

[@khazareek]

Its 100% to make the show more dramatic, chemistry isn't really a secret. Buying ingredients is what makes you suspicious, not just knowing how to use them.

[@eidodk]

@@khazareek It's not. It's made for TV, and there's rules and regulations that prevents them from teaching people how to make volatile compounds. Also - "Cleanroom LP" Is a registered trademark. The liquid is 30% Hydroogen Peroxide. It's not a secret how to make the Piranha solution, it's just not safe for Primetime TV ... Just as they can't teach you how to make Methamphetamine on TV, even though the chemical composition is freely available, and the stuff you need to make it from, is somewhat easy to come by.

[@khazareek]

@@eidodk You're right, having only watched stuff online for the last 10 years I forget TV is even a thing anymore, haha

[@akphoto2010]

Legend says that the chemist, Jesse, is a washer now for a cannabis company

[@wingstar4691]

I had always assumed that the tub was fiberglass. All the tubs/showers I've ever been in except for one have been fiberglass. Very commonplace, and now i deliver freight for a hardware store that sells tubs and showers, and not once have i offloaded a tub that was anything except for fiberglass

[@suryamgangwal8315]

21:23 Of course, it wasn't. The special sulphuric acid sauce only works on organic matter, and the tub isn't made out of that

[@WildCard1104]

RIP Grant you are sorely missed

[@jasonhemphill8525]

RIP Grant Masaru Imahara.

[@eucompsa]

I use nitric and ethanol for cleaning glass frits that even Piranha can't deal with, but only when the boss isn't around. The old-timers talk about even more aggressive witch's brews of chromic and oleum but that sh*t will get you fired these days

[@peteruelimaa4973]

What do you mean with "one of the main characters of the show". He was always the main character for me.

[@PoetryInMotion-n4x]

I find it funny how they’re airing this episode as if it were still for kids

[@I_Am_Watching_You247]

I work in a mine lab and we do use some of the world’s dangerous acids. Just seeing these dudes hold the reagent bottle with their bare hands made me nervous 😬

[@TheoLcr]

I was waiting for this upload!!

[@tultrapfighter]

they made piranha solution, they mixed the sulfuric acid with hydrogen peroxide.

[@Bredlack]

Lol the explosive expert is wearing a terroist scarf 😂😂

[@gben82]

For those wondering: Episode 206 - "Breaking Bad Special" Original US air date: August 12, 2013

[@smallmushroom9984]

10:30 I never realised this before but this "explosive expert" is using glassware to prepare the fulminate, either super sketchy or a bit of a faked scene

[@Staymare]

I think he doesn't want to put strong nitric acid in polyethylene containers.

[@BabyMakR]

@@Staymare Nitric acid doesn't attack glass, true, but Hydrofluoric acid most definitely will eat through glass. PTFE is how you store and react HF.

[@lexicase8805]

I wanted to see them leave it in the "explosion proof box" 39:55 and see what it does 😂

[@MINIMOTOMADNESS]

respect to grant,i miss him,r.i.p fella,

[@Rohit-fh4pz]

they did soo many things to hide the fact about the secret sauce but they just had to give a hint which led to know what the secret sauce was "Hydrogen Peroxide"

[@AJ...99]

15:03 hydrogen peroxide for those wondering

[@ammaarkhanlodhi5002]

Ah I thought it was hydrochloric acid because mixing them makes aqua regia

[@Cornz38]

Special sauce = hydrogen peroxide

[@Cream.cheese]

They should've changed the name of the show for this special from myth busters to meth busters

[@corlyscrawlies]

They should have called themselves Methbusters for this one 😂

[@Rutgerman95]

ThrowBot? I think Lego has the trademark to those.

[@raulinday]

The thing is that the fulminate could be mixed with another things in less quantity or proportion (like silver fulminate) and of course, making it crystalized it's going to give it more concentration than a fine powder, thus making it more sensitive to impact So I would say that the fulminate one is _kinda_ confirmed

[@schwuzi]

Walter would still be hurt badly. He surely couldn't walk out of there unharmed being at the epicenter of the blast.

[@raulinday]

@@schwuzi I always assumed that him being unharmed was more of a epic moment due to writing than realistic, but the explosion I thought it made sense However, if I remember correctly, he clutches the moment he throws, also the throw was in a right angle to be prone to impact in a way that the explosion goes upward and forward when expanding in a "V" shape But... yeah, unharmed it's just too much, but having the luck of escaping barely unharmed could still be a very little possibility

[@javierloco-s1t]

i was expecting them to test the me7h recepe from the show and spend the rest of the episode smoking it🤣

[@killzer990]

best show daytime tv has ever seen. RIP Grant

[@tristindurocher-batley4780]

This episode is what taught me that acids are most effective on organic matter and doesn’t work too well on inorganic matter they should’ve taken the opportunity to bust the myth that acids can corrode metal since despite what certain tv shows and movies have shown acid doesn’t work on metallic objects

[@hantrio4327]

It's much more complex than that. You always have to look at the acid and the material it's supposed to dissolve. Most metals dissolve in acid. There are organic materials that are resistant to every acid

[@kaptein1247]

I can assure you theres a lot of acids that can corrode metals. It wont eat through it quickly, but eventually.

[@hantrio4327]

@@kaptein1247 All depends on the acid and metal. Aluminium will be corroded pretty quickly by hydrochloric acid

[@MansMan42069]

metal + acid → salt + hydrogen gas

[@user-uj5sh8pz1d]

Pretty much every acid will eat every metal ( except gold, silver and MB one or two other common metals) given the right amount of time

[@elialrayess3395]

thank you for making this!

[@Initialxg2]

Tight….tight tight tight yaaaaa

[@JMK29]

13:36 seriously thought i was gonna see adam tripping balls

[@Teqnyq]

They should've had the robot hold another bag of fulminated mercury.

[@JoeMoss83]

Could've made a much simpler and cheaper throwing device with something similar to a slingshot with auto-release mechanism.

[@illmakeyouuncomfortable7745]

I don't care that it didn't go through the floor. But imagine, opening the bathroom door the next day. 😳😲😯😖🥴🤢🤮

[@BabyMakR]

Would have made it easier to clean up. Just scoop it into the toilet with a bucket and flush.

[@Datensaku]

Piranha solution wouldn't dissolve ceramic, its main thing is to dissolve carbon based materials

[@canadiangoose1451]

This is a banger keep em up guys

[@NorbertStu-wd1qg]

if anyone wondering, they mixed the sulfuric acid with hydrogen peroxide

[@antiheldd.3081]

Their acting was so awkward - love it :D

[@chopracer]

RIP grant imahara