MacGyver Science: Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason

Image: Rhett Allain. A cordless drill used as a microphone.

Season 5 Episode 4

A quick comment. I really liked this episode. It has:

• Peter Weller as Mason — great.
• Desi and her family.
• An awesome real life hack with a drill. OK, I’m mostly just excited about the drill.

Now for the science.

Breaking Glass With a Temperature Difference

Image: CBS MacGyver

In order to break through a glass window, MacGyver first smears some sterno (that heating stuff for food trays) onto the window. He lights it on fire and then throws ice water on it. After that, he hits the window with a sparkling wine (we don’t know if it’s from the Champagne region in northern France) which breaks the window.

So, can you break glass with a temperature difference? Yes. In fact, here is a paper looking at the breakage of glass in fires.

Experimental Study On The Breakage Of Toughened Glass In Enclosure Fires. Xie, Q., Zhang, H., Wan, Y. T., Zhang, Q. W. and Cheng, X. D., 2007. Experimental Study On The Breakage Of Toughened Glass In Enclosure Fires. AOFST 7