The Acid Bathtub in Breaking Bad (reviewed by The Professor) 

Now that the The Prof has the box set - feel free to request any specific chemistry-laden episodes you'd like him to watch!!!

Vince Gilligan has stated that the chemistry was slightly altered in every scene showing dangerous or illegal chemistry. Essentially, they made the chemistry wrong on purpose so that if any viewer tried to follow the show, they would get no reaction, or something harmless. this is especially true for the meth recipe where they purposefully left out a few key steps and also show Walt doing a few things wrong on purpose.

The professor doesn't mind the laws of physics being broken but he gets livid when someone violates the laws of chemistry. Unfair

he's the first person ive heard mention the plastic pools. hilarious that walter and jesse didnt think to use the pool instead.

In some ways, the show fared better than I expected against the professor's criticism. But he's right that the school had a suspiciously enormous supply of HF and that the small amount Walter took would never be close to enough to eat through a body, tub, and floor.

After much cajoling, the Prof. is becoming a Breaking Bad aficionado. Completely agree that concentrated HF is not something you'd find in a High School lab. There are some other howlers in the show, such as being able to light thermite with a blow torch, but in defense of Vince Gilligan and his excellent team of writers, they probably didn't want the show to become a 'how to use chemistry for criminal activities'.

As a programmer I feel the same when I see hackers in movies bashing their keyboards for 5 seconds and say Im in !!

I think an explanation about the paddling pools is that Walter never asks Jesse for any information, he just comes up with a plan and orders Jesse what to do. So he immediately started yelling at Jesse to go buy a bin, without ever asking him "hey, do you have anything around here we could use." And he never tells Jesse WHY they're buying a certain kind of plastic, he just yells terms at Jesse. If he had said "HF will eat through everything except plastic," Jesse might have said "oh, I have a kiddie pool can we use that?"

Absolutely love imagining The Prof having a giggle at Jesse in the hardware store. As a side note, I'd love to see some videos of chemistry that would have baffled scientists centuries ago. Chemistry that is clearly understood today, but would have had alchemists convinced that transmutation was viable, for example.

Great insight from professor. However, I think the showmakers once said in an interview that they are not really into 100% scientifically correct scenes for public safety reasons (and practical). However I would like to say that this shows popularity has definetly increased peoples interest in science and chemistry. It certainly inspired me to a few hour long wikipedia binge and science videos on RU-vid back in the day.

I'd love to see the professor review more chemistry in pop culture.

6:24 The Professor says "tuff gangsta". This video is pure gold :-D

the fact that he pointed out that it was unlikely that jesse would have two identical paddling pools and why didn’t they just dissolve in those was perfect 🤣

My high school had HF - in the art department. It was used to make etched glass projects.

The professor is such a treasure. I would watch him dissect every episode.

I'd like to get the professor's opinion on whether or not Walt and Jesse produced an optically pure product once they had switched methods to reductive amination. There is never any mention of a chiral resolution in the show after they moved away from the Nagai reduction, so I think it would be ironic if all this time Walt's "Blue sky" was actually racemic and not that potent.

To be fair, they use the chemistry as a springboard for the fantasy story, not give you a step-by-step guide to commit all the crimes :)

I love how the professor is like a kid who's been rapidly aged.

I had a very similar thing happen to me recently, well not really all that similar but I got a call from my dad, he used a concentrated sulfuric acid drain opened on a totally clogged drain without taking any steps to protect the metal of the drain itself. It filled up, ate through the drain and then leaked into the cabinet below and onto the floor. What a mess. Ruined the drains, the cabinet, the floor, turned everything black. Always follow the instructions, you know?

I remember an interview with the director where he spoke about learning the chemistry for everything Walter did, then deciding to twist everything so they weren’t teaching criminals to be better criminals. I can see how the misinformation can be frustrating, but, personally, I prefer it to my crazy neighbors suddenly learning how to perform a gas attack then make a body disappear from an AMC show

This is my most favorite RU-vid channel and will always be! A lot of thanks, Mr. professor personally to you and to the all staff involved in this brilliant work!

This is the best thing I’ve seen all year. I doubt he’ll review every episode but I’m here for all the ones he does!

I hope Sir Martyn continues watching the series, we haven't even gotten into the meth-related chemistry yet! Great video as always.

I seem to remember the producer saying he purposely changed some of the chemistry to keep people from doing things at home.

I love how the "final thought" is not about the TV show or even the details of the chemistry, but about the importance of following instructions.

I've heard that strong bases like potassium hydroxide can be used as a strong solution in boiling water, and work even better than acid (hence their use as an eco-friendly alternative to cremation).

I giggled when he said that Krazy-8 looked like Veritasium

Haven't watched a Periodic Videos video in a loooong time. The Professor was the biggest drive behind my interest in chemistry and science in general. Nice to see hes doing well!

The show had a scientist on call for accuracy if I recall correctly. Same with Better Call Saul had a legal expert. However for both I think the showrunners are more than willing to sacrifice accuracy for the story when needed which I personally agree with.

So, I think that "forgetting" about the plastic pools is not at all unrealistic, because both of them are amateur criminals, as is referenced later when they heist the barrel of raw material for their little...venture. It's one of the points of the story that in the beginning they're not adept at criminal stuff, so they're on edge and make mistakes. I can't remember if Jessie just owned these kids pools or Walter just forgot that there are other liquid holding items made of PE that they can use besides tubs. I think that's totally believable.

I never been here to see a video so soon!!! One of my favorite channels becoming a chemistry review series is awesome

Professor, you are a gift to humanity, thanks for bringing us smiles with all your videos while still keeping them interesting and informative!

I love that the professor mentioned that Krazy 8 looked like Daemon from Vlysium

I think the most interesting part is the Mythbusters tried to replicate this scene and the acid didn't eat through the tub, or at the very least, it didn't weaken the floor enough to break.

I really enjoy hearing what parts of the show they get right and what is off. Great video i would love to see more like it!

Amusingly, when the Mythbusters did this, they were equally unimpressed about the amount of flesh-dissolving when they replicated the feat using pigs. They eventually resorted to Piranha Solution, which worked significantly better (as we all know). What I want to know is, what would you have done, professor? I’ve heard lye works significantly better, and would decompose bone as well, making it better for purposes shown here. Is that true?

i like how the professor says he doesnt like super violent/messed up stuff and then goes on about john haigh lol

My face when I tell my friends: No, this proffessional reacts video is REAL

Thanks to Sir Martin for exposing himself to all the gore for the sake of chemistry! A really good breakdown - I've seen a lot of errors pointed out over the years, but never the fact that they could have used the paddling pools all along and avoided the bathtub disaster! Well spotted!

Haha, loved the comparison to Derek Muller aka Veritasium. Just watched his latest vid also about the tracking of nuclear testing.

Is there any chance the professor will ‘break bad’? 😱

Please make this a miniseries, so we can hear from the Professor on all the episodes and seasons as he works his way through.

Love to see the Professor doing well and making videos!

I loved my chemistry teacher he was wonderful and watching this professor explain this is as close as I'll ever get hearing my science teacher explain it so I'm so happy to watch this. Really lovely video from a really great guy.

There are certain acids that you can make in bulk from on the shelf products which you can buy in bulk from certain stores in the US which can completely dissolve tissue and bone down to the DNA structure. I find it more unrealistic that the teacher didn't go and buy these products from different stores -- though the amount of people who watched that series *should never* be exposed in how to make such things for safety reasons.

I’d say one reason why the chemistry on the tv show is not accurate is so people can’t copy it and get hurt or hurt others because we all know how smart some people are lol

Prof , you lighten up my day every time i see you in a video. Thank you

Dissolving bodies in HF was one of the tijuana cartels methods of disposing of bodies. A notorious one caught while the show was in it's infancy (2009) and very likely an inspiration for it in some way was El Pozolero, the Stew Maker (pozole is a kind of mexican meat stew), who admitted to dissolving more than 300 bodies after, you guessed it, bits of human bone were found scattered around his property. He used to dump bodies in barrels and ship them out as industrial waste. The undissolved bits were ground and used as plant fertilizer.

With regards to the paddling pools, one could assume before they started the clean up they went out and bought everything they needed? But the creator Vince Gilligan has said he used artistic license to embellish some of the science. Still, love both BB and any video the professor is in.

It's so nice seeing this man slowly join the fanbase.

One reason why you couldn't use the pools: they were probably made of PVC, which melts between 80 and 100°C, and can start degrading bellow that. HF reactions can heat up to far above that temperature

On the pulse as always! I kid, it's an amazing series and I'm glad the Professor is enjoying it.

This reminds me of a story my dad told me about when he did something similar. He had a body to dispose of, I mean he worked in government lab and the sink was badly stained. Everything they did to clean it just didn't work so in the end they tried the HF on it. It came up spotless but was no longer water proof!

Please please please have the Professor 'react' to the whole BB series.

I love that the prof takes a teaching moment from all of this ware safty stuff and fellow the instrouctions

Really hope this becomes a series, this was fantastic

Breaking Bad was a difficult show to take breaks from watching in one sitting! I learned to find a stopping point in the middle of the episodes because the episodes always end with a cliffhanger 😅 The show brilliantly illustrates how difficult it can be for an unseasoned person to be a successful criminal. I am eager to see your analysis of the shows chemistry! 💜

My exact thoughts when I watched the show: “How on earth did they manage to dissolve the tub, but not the body, using this tiny amount of acid?!” 😂 I also just realised they must have dissolved the floorboards under the tub as well, for it to fall through the ceiling like that…! Though I believe the producers kept some of it purposely vague, since the shows lawyers were quite worried about publishing an actual “how to dissolve a human body in your bathtub” tutorial. On a side note. I am always so impressed by Professor Poliakoff’s enthusiasm. No matter the subject, if he applies himself, he seems to do it with a great deal of enthusiasm. I really appreciate him sharing his thoughts and insights.

Ty for posting this. I learned a lot

It's nice to see this channel is still active and consistent

I think it's plausible there would still be a lot of red blood left in the partially-dissolved corpse. Unlike the chicken, the gangsters weren't drained of their blood, and as pointed out, there wasn't enough acid to dissolve everything. So when they hit the ground real hard, it makes sense how the force could basically "eject" a bunch of red blood out.

I laugh at how the characters remain faithful to the idea of “better living through chemistry”, when they had a giant desert with scavengers to work with.

One of the videos that I was really looking forward to

That's great. Love to see the Prof watching Breaking Bad and I hope we get some more episodes breaking down some of the other chemistry parts of the show.

I love this old guy it’s kind of adorable how he’s so legit upset over how they got it wrong because of how much he loves his field of study so much that a work a fiction getting it wrong triggers him this bad you can tell he just loves chemistry so much he’s probably dedicated most of his life researching it and teaching others to understand it that he considers it almost a crime to misrepresent it.

This reminds me of my high school chemistry lab. Not only did we have HF (not much though), we managed to steal a lump of sodium and tossed it into the boy’s toilet. Later when the lights were turned on, there was a huge explosion in the toilet that demolished the partitions. The school couldn’t identify the reason of the explosion and it didn’t have the toilet fixed for some time. So we used it with absolutely no privacy for a few weeks 😅 this was almost 30 years ago…

Good to see you Prof! A nice video as usual.

Really nice video. i love the way he talks its so calm,

Professor is going to get hooked on Breaking Bad.

This will be a viral video.

One thing to note is that later in the show they did switch to dissolving bodies in 55 gallon barrels using much more acid. I wonder if someone told them that was a more correct way to do it, like that serial killer did?

Everyone with a body to get rid of frantically taking notes.

This is the moment veritasium becomes crazy-8

Wow. This is the crossover we all wanted to watch!!

Looking forward to you reviewing the SUPERLAB!

I loved my chemistry teacher he was wonderful and watching this professor explain this is as close as I'll ever get hearing my science teacher explain it so I'm so happy to watch this. Trait liberty video from a really great guy.

For your next trick: mercury fulminate wouldn't explode the way it did in Tuco's office. Someone else already mentioned the problems with thermite. And a phramacology issue: would whatever poison was in the tequila be slow-acting enough to be partially absorbed by the presumably activated-charcoal capsules that Gus swallowed, and the rest vomited, so that it wouldn't be fatal.

I have a B.S. in chemistry. I’m currently doing my PhD. Is the chemistry exaggerated? Very. Is it a great show? Absolutely.

Nothing more awesome than watching a kindly old professor talk about dissolving a corpse in acid.

Love these, thank you!

There's a well-balanced man. I'd watch a full season a day and finish the show within a week

Mythbusters proved this as false, but your actual chemical reason why is great! The fact you did this analysis is awesome! You have to admit, it was one of the best shows in modern times.

3:09 “fortunately nothing unpleasant happened to him” yeah, about that…

I've studied semiconductors and went through lab classes multiple times at university level... Never have I seen such a large bottle of HF, it's absolutely insane that a highschool would have any

Of course, I trust the professor to know the chemistry and of course, it doesn't change any part of his analysis, but for American viewers, the jugs of HF are shown in what most would recognize as a 1 gallon jug. Many things, especially cleaning supplies like windshield wiper fluid or ordinary vinegar are sold in such jugs.

In defense of the "mistake" where Jesse puts the corpse in the bathtub fully dressed not knowing that HF wouldn't dissolve the natural fibers, I could see him making that mistake. Walter never told him to undress the body, and Jesse did fail Walter's chemistry class. Heck, I took chemistry in high school, and we never covered HF in our class. So while Walter (A professional chemist) should have known, it's completely understandable that Jesse didn't. Also, as someone who lives Phoenix, Arizona (kind of next door to Albuquerque, New Mexico), I can tell you that you'd DIE in an Albuquerque or Phoenix summer wearing 100% Polyester. While their shoes, belts, watches, etc. would be largely synthetic, their shirts, t-shirts, and jeans would be cottons or cotton blends. For example, the Wrangler brand of blue jeans I wear are 100% cotton. And it's the same for my t-shirts. While it would be ideal to strip the bodies naked for dissolving and washing everything else for donating to Gooodwill (a charity thrift store in the US), it's not like what we wear in the Southwestern US would pose much of a problem for HF. Now, when the HF solution "ate" through the bathtub, dumping the "solution" onto the floor below, yeah, there should have been things left over that HF didn't eat. That's completely inexcusable.

Also, Snatch covered this issue. You just feed the body to pigs. It's still chemical dissolution (enzymatic dissolution as opposed to acidic). It's just that the chemicals are inside the pig.

I needed this today.

Great video going into detail. Could we also have a video with professor Poliakoff commenting whether he believes he (like Walter) could make the best and cleanest version of Crystal Meth? 😊 Does being a chemistry professor make you a better drugs producer?

Respirators are quite easy to obtain along with their various filters, one model I bought came with a vacuum sealed filter for various fumes or organic odours etc,

i think the Professor in another timeline is the cleaner John Wick calls.

"I understand you made a purchase." Prof is on a watchlist.

These are fair and well reasoned criticisms. Well done professor! We need more of these on Breaking Bad!

I love how Martyn leverages his academic knowledge to bring fictional entertainment to reality. Great job!

can't wait for professor to discuss about reductive amination of P2P(phenyl-2-pronanone) using methylamine.

Wow i am so happy i stumbled across this gentleman's page again, he is so smart and enjoyable to watch!

I love that he's mostly upset that there wasn't enough HF. It's for the purpose of the show. Just imagine that he grabbed more HF later but could only grab two bottles at a time. Grabbing bottles from the school is also a plot device for later.

Honestly I never thought of the paddle pools as potential containers for the acid and bodies, now that you mention it, it just makes Jesse sound like even more of an idiot. Of course, nobody mentions whether or not the pools are of a material that will resist acid, but it seems more likely than some other options. And to think that if he just listened for a moment, he might still have a bathtub.

Those are one gallon bottles, that sort of bottle is used to sell vinegar and washer fluid.

A great video. Have you done the experiment of leaving a microscope slide in HF for a few minutes and then bending the microscope slide? The acid removes all the scratches and flaws that would initiate a crack so you can bend a dipped microscope slide to a surprising curvature. Also... Yes films have loads of errors that I spot as an engineer. It does irritate me too. Rob