Lava vs. Acid: The Destruction Showdown

Objective

The goal is to determine whether lava or acid is more destructive by putting them to the test against various objects and introducing a wildcard element of destruction for each object. The winner is awarded a car.

Participants

• NileRed: Known for expertise in chemical reactions, representing Acid.
• Kevin, the Backyard Scientist: Known for expertise in dealing with lava.
• Mark Rober: Hosts and organizes the competition with additional wildcard challenges.
• William Osmond: Uninvited guest acting as the referee.

Challenges and Outcomes

1. Turkey Leg

• Lava: Charred the outside, but cooked the inside perfectly.
• Acid: Efficiently dissolved the turkey leg down to the bone.
• Wildcard (Mark Rober's Choice): Bucket Tetras fish that failed to eat the drumstick, leaving it mainly intact.
• Winner: Acid

2. iPad

• Lava: Practically melted the iPad stopping it from playing videos.
• Acid: Minimal reaction, only changed color after one hour.
• Wildcard: Golf balls fired at 200 mph from a cannon, causing significant damage.
• Winner: Wildcard (Mark's Golf Ball Cannon)

3. Ice

• Lava: Broke through only one layer of ice.
• Acid: Bored holes through every layer via an exothermic reaction.
• Wildcard: Steamroller and destruction tools were used, total destruction.
• Result: Referee ruled a technical foul due to combined use of tools, not awarding points to the wildcard.

3. Toys

• Lava: Caused significant damage to toys, especially targeting a model school.
• Acid: Minimal damage due to the non-reactive nature of plastic.
• Wildcard: Steamroller was used, causing major damage but with mixed results.
• Outcome: The wildcard received criticism but was still considered "cool".

4. Baseball Bat

• Lava: Melted the top half of a metal bat.
• Acid: Unable to dissolve the bat effectively.
• Wildcard: Used Kevin's 2000-watt laser on a wood bat causing significant burning.
• Decision: Controversial but considered a win for lava.

5. Diamond

• Lava: Encased the diamond with no damage.
• Acid: Made the diamond fizz but caused no damage.
• Wildcard: Failed to impact the diamond with a 50-ton excavator causing no significant damage.

Final Challenge: Car

Goal

To disable their car the fastest.

• Nigel's Acid: Used heated and concentrated acid but the car remained functional.
• Wildcard (Mark Rober's choice): A 50-ton excavator was used to crush the car effectively destroying it.
• Kevin's Lava: Managed to stop the car after pouring lava onto it.

Winner

• Kevin, the Backyard Scientist: Achieved the fastest car disablement with lava, winning the competition with the grand prize of an indestructible 1.2 carat diamond.

Bonus

• A new game trailer for "Build a Rocket vs Mark Rober" was introduced with a chance to win a platinum ticket to visit CrunchLabs in real life for those who complete the game by the end of the year.