Video summary

Is It Really Impossible To Pull Apart Two Interleaved Phone Books? | MythBusters

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Overview

MythBusters tests the “interleaved phone books can’t be separated” myth. The episode begins as an in-joke/spoof: Adam and Jamie react to Dutch duo Tim and Steve claiming they’ve filmed a full MythBusters-style segment just to propose the challenge.

How the Myth Is Tested (and Repeatedly “Almost” Beaten)

Initial interlacing

  • They spend a long, tedious setup interlacing two unglued phone books page-by-page, using time-lapse.
  • They pause when pages reach “M for Mafia” for a gag about counting money for the mob.

Friction-based mechanism

  • The core idea is that the books act like a massive friction / “finger-lock” system.
  • Since there’s no glue, the separation resistance comes from thousands of page-to-page contact points.

Weakest equipment fails first

  • Early on, their clamps and rig hold less than the phone books.
  • They then try tug-of-war by having the two hosts pull directly—and the phone books still hold firm.

Scaling up manpower

  • They escalate from a few people pulling to 10 people.
  • It then grows further to 10 MythBusters coordinated at max effort, measuring forces up to thousands of pounds—still without separation.

More “science-y” measurement

  • They quantify resistance using a scale, citing values around ~320 lb for a basic tug test.
  • They then expand to larger group tug experiments to reach much higher forces.

Attempts with Stronger Tools

Phone-book ripping skill (jokes + technique)

  • The show shifts briefly into a comedic “how to rip a phone book” trick (bending into a V, tearing page-by-page).
  • The point: single books can be ripped “easily”—but the interleaved pair remains stubborn.

“Tricks” don’t work

  • They try more serious pulling-only strategies, including thinking about it like a Chinese finger lock.
  • Heavy machinery enters, but the setup ends up tearing or breaking the phone books’ spines rather than cleanly separating the interleaved pages.

Rental cars as “drag racers”

  • They finally use two sedans, pulling in opposite directions.
  • Even with high measured force (force gauge peaking around ~4800 lb), the phone books remain intact and interlocked.

Final Escalation: Tanks

  • Adam and Jamie bring in serious muscle from a military vehicle collection: armored tanks.
  • The books are strapped into a tank-chain rig, and the throttle is applied very gradually.
  • The force ramps up rapidly while the phone books keep holding.
  • Result: The phone books are ultimately separated, but only when tank power reaches about ~8,000 lb of force.

The episode frames this as proof the myth isn’t truly “indestructible”—it’s just extremely difficult to overcome without real traction/power and better machinery.

Key Highlights / Jokes / Reactions

  • “M for Mafia” mob-counting gag during interlacing.
  • Repeated wrestling-style, macho-trope moments (pride/sensitive egos driving the tug-of-war).
  • A recurring joke about Adam wanting to “make a phone call.”
  • Contrast between “easy single-book tearing” and the interleaved pair’s near-impossible resistance.
  • Exaggerated frustration when equipment can’t keep up (clamps fail; traction matters; rigs are tested).
  • A “we need more power” escalation payoff: manpower → cars → tanks—each stage feeling like a bigger “mythbuster ballet” until the final breakthrough.

Main Plot (One Line)

They test whether interleaved, unglued phone books are effectively impossible to separate—failing with friction-based reasoning, manpower, cars, and heavy equipment—until tanks finally tear them apart at about ~8,000 lb.

People Who Appear

  • Adam Savage
  • Jamie Hyneman
  • Tori (guest in the machinery/ramp-up portion)
  • Carrie (helps with the rig/operation during the escalation)
  • Jacques Littlefield (military vehicle collection head)

Original video