Is there anyone out there who hasn't experienced that uniquely agonising moment of stepping on a Lego brick? If you have never, consider yourself lucky, but for anyone who has, the memory can be very vivid.
It could have been a cold Saturday morning and after sitting, warming yourself in front of the heater. You get up and begin to walk across the soft carpet feeling so nice and soft between your toes and then suddenly BANG! Excruciating pain rockets through your body. as the whole weight of your body presses down against the inexorable firmness of Lego plastic.
In a recent study by the American Chemical Society Reactions series the reasons for the unique and severe kind of pain that only comes from stepping on a Lego brick have been explored.
The excruciating pain is caused in part because of the tremendous amount of nerves that exist in the human foot, over 200,000 individual sensory receptors to be more precise. Particularly A-Delta fibers which sense fast, acute pain activate neurotransmitters which cause a reflex action generated by the nerves in the spinal cord, causing you to retract you foot before the pain information has been processed by the brain.
The pain also owes itself to the composition of the Lego brick itself which is ABS plastic. This special type of Lego plastic is a poylmer consisting of three monomers which give Lego its strength, its durability and its shine. These elements combine to form one tough nut to crack and explain why there is so little give when the pressure of a human foot is exerted against it.
Brickman Dan
Brickman Dan is the founder of Brick Yourself and publishes regular articles on how LEGO® Art & Design, as well as LEGO® Investment.
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