SQUID Device

This stands for Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUiD).  How long did it take someone to come up with that acronym?  Awesome job.  MacGyver’s version consists of a chain type thingy.  When a car passes over it, the chain hooks on to the axle and wraps up.  This would stop the car.

OK, it would’t flip the car over.  It would stop the front wheels and the car would skid to a stop.  But doesn’t the flip look cool?

Actually, that’s a great physics question.  How fast would a car have to travel such that a sudden stop would flip it over? That’s your homework.

Methanol fire

Yes. Methanol burns—and you can’t really see it.

Carbon Dioxide Putting Out Fire

Fire needs three things: fuel, heat (to start), and oxygen.  If you take away the oxygen, you take away the fire.  If you replace the air (which has 21 percent oxygen) with carbon dioxide, the fire goes out.

So, in this hack MacGyver uses some CO2 tanks to fight the methanol fire.  Yes, an exploding tank would put this fire out.  Oh, but it would also make it hard for a human to breathe.  Better hold your breath.

Pick a lock with a knife

This is theoretically possible.  If you stick something in the lock and use enough torque, it’s possible that the pins in the lock could break.  But otherwise, you need to jiggle the pins.

Comeback Can.

Real.  You can build one yourself.  You should.  Do it.

Chemical Detector

MacGyver puts a chemical detector on the comeback can.  When it rolls down the hallway and back, he can check if it contacted explosive chemicals.  This is very plausible—there are several ways you could make chemical detection paper.

Tarp Bomb Lift

MacGyver uses a tarp under a bomb with a rope over a rafter in the ceiling to lift a bomb.  A couple of notes.

• If the rope just goes over a rafter (no pulley), you would need as much weight pulling down as the weight of the bomb.  Since two people are pulling, this is at least plausible.
• A pulley would be better.  A full explanation.
• Actually, there is a cool physics problem here.  If Riley and Bozer pull at an angle, how much can they lift without sliding towards the bomb?  Don’t do this as a homework problem, I’m going to do it.