1. The myth Adam and Jamie are trying to "bust" is that a person can be electrocuted by urinating on an electric fence.
2. Background information: Electric fences are designed to deliver a painful but non-lethal shock to deter animals or people from crossing them. Urine is mostly water, which can conduct electricity, especially if it contains dissolved salts and minerals. The key question is whether the stream of urine can complete an electrical circuit between the fence and the ground (through the person's body).
3. Their hypothesis about the outcome is likely that urinating on an electric fence could indeed cause electrocution, because the urine stream might act as a conductor, allowing current to flow through the person’s body to the ground.
4. The materials they need to test this include:
- An electric fence (or a simulated high-voltage source)
- A mannequin or dummy capable of simulating urination (e.g., with a tube or pump system)
- A way to measure electrical current flow
- Safety equipment (insulated gloves, grounding mats, etc.)
- Possibly a real human volunteer under strict safety controls (though typically MythBusters use dummies for dangerous tests)
5. Brief description of the experimental procedure:
- Set up the electric fence at a typical operating voltage.
- Position the mannequin or dummy so it can “urinate” onto the fence wire.
- Use sensors or meters to detect whether current flows through the urine stream and into the dummy’s body/ground.
- Repeat with variations (e.g., different distances, stream thickness, conductivity levels).
- If safe, test with a human volunteer under controlled conditions with emergency shutoffs.
6. The control for their experiment would be a baseline test where no urine stream is present — i.e., measuring whether any current flows when the person is simply standing near the fence without urinating. This helps isolate the effect of the urine stream.
7. Factors that must be kept constant in the experimental group include:
- Voltage and current output of the electric fence
- Distance between the “urinator” and the fence
- Conductivity of the simulated urine (salt content, temperature)
- Grounding condition of the test subject/dummy
- Environmental conditions (humidity, wind) that might affect the urine stream
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of mythbusters worksheet.
