Here’s a question worthy of a MythBusters episode: If, for argument’s sake, we consider Kool-Aid Man a “sentient humanoid,” would he be able to break through a brick wall just like he did in all those TV commercials? Thankfully, we have YouTubers like VSauce3 who are willing to address such pressing matters—all in the name of science.
VSauce3 provides a comprehensive breakdown to see if such a scenario could exist in reality.
Kool-Aid Man’s Actual Size
If you scale him up to life-size, the dude is seriously big. At 6 feet tall and made up of glass that’s 3.6 inches thick, Kool-Aid man has a dry weight of 5,800 pounds. When you add in his delicious Kool-Aid blood, that 5,800 jumps up to 11,000 pounds—or roughly the size of an elephant.
The Surprising Strength of Glass
As Jake points out, glass can be stronger than you’d think. It can withstand pressures up to 469 times that of our atmosphere, and even more crucially, it can withstand force up to 7 times stronger than brick. So to support Kool-Aid Man’s enormous weight, his glass legs would only need to be 2.4 cm in diameter (the diameter of a quarter), and his feet only 6 cm squared (the total area of three postage stamps). Sounds doable, right?
That means with glass at 3.6 inches thick, Kool-Aid Man would only need to be going at an average running pace to successfully break through a brick wall.
The American College of Surgeons Blood Loss Scale
The chart above, courtesy of The American College of Surgeons, shows a handy blood loss scale and the resultant effects on your body. At 30%, your skin starts to lose color; 40% and you’re most likely unconscious. With Kool-Aid Man’s vulnerability to blood spillage (he is an open container, after all), this means trouble.
Kool-Aid Man’s Excessive Blood Loss
VSauce3’s conclusion: Kool-Aid Man could definitely break through that brick wall, but the Youtube host estimates he’d lose about one third of his blood (defined as a class three hemorrhage), making him too disoriented to shout his customary “OH YEAAAAAAAH!”
#TheMoreYouKnow, yo.
[via Vox, YouTube/VSauce3]