Another great post from the always-excellent Gizmodo addresses one of the questions that have troubled humanity in recent decades. Strewn LEGO® bricks turn floors into minefields for bare-footed parents, and the suffering involved in stepping on a hidden LEGO® mine buried in carpet is up there with having fingernails pulled one by one by cackling oompa loompas. Why do they cause so much hurt?

It turns out that the torture involved turns on a number of factors combining to create a perfect storm for your sensitive footsies.  A big part of it is the quality of your average LEGO® brick – each one can be subjected to approximately 4,240 Newtons of force before it deforms, meaning a single, lowly LEGO® brick can support weights in excess of 432 kilos before it reaches its breaking point and compresses.  Not even Chuck Norris can manage that much force.

Take that detail, combine it with the fact that your feet are among the most sensitive parts of your body, the design of the brick itself with studs and sharp corners, and then the density of bricks on your floor, and BOOM! Inevitable agony.

Gizmodo goes into great detail on the maths involved, taking weight, force, acceleration and applying it to the surface area of the brick to derive pascals of pressure, but frankly, when your husband or wife is standing there with tears in their eyes and a LEGO® embedded in the sole of their foot, it is best not to try breaking that down for them. Take it from me 😉 .

Now, speaking of pain – spots on our Sydney school holiday programs for July are going quick.  One program is already booked out and three other programs have only a couple spots available.  Save yourself the hurt and get your child in before they are all gone!  And, if you’ve booked your child in already, thanks – your support is appreciated.

The image at the top of this post is shared from The Oatmeal, a very clever geeky blog published by Matthew Inman in Seattle.  Check it out!

Keep building, onwards and upwards!