PURPOSE: To show pressure distributed over an area.
DESCRIPTION: A person carefully places their back across a bed of sharp nails. A cinder block is placed on the chest. A sledgehammer is used with extreme care to bust the cinder block into pieces. Note that a great deal of practice and experience are necessary. A safety shield can be used to protect the face from flying fragments.
EQUIPMENT: Bed 'o nails is stored in the x-ray lab room 55. The sledgehammer is stored next to the workbench. the cinder blocks are stored under the stairwell near outside room 168.
SETUP NOTES: Live dangerously or die without having lived.
Am. J. Phys., Vol. 56, No. 9, September 1988 Pages 806 - 810
The bed of nails revisited
Manfred Bucher
Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno, California 93740-0037
(Received 18 June 1987; accepted for publication 15 October 1987)
The popular bed of nails demonstration is analyzed by making use of a novel collision diagram. Cases of hitting rubber bricks or cinder blocks illustrate the
difference between elastic and inelastic collisions. While the analysis suggests several safety measures, a considerable degree of danger remains.
Phys. Teach., Vol. 34, No. 4, April 1996 Pages 227 - 227
A simple way to build a bed of nails
David P. Taylor
Erwin High School, 532 23rd Avenue NW, Birmingham, AL 35215
Phys. Teach., Vol. 13, No. 1, January 1975 Pages 52 - 52
Weight distribution in a bed of nails sandwich
Gerald L. Hodgson
Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas City, Kansas 66112