How to Lie on a Bed of Nails

Whether you see it done at a circus or in your physics class, lying on a bed of nails appears to be an incredibly painful act. An explanation of how to do it and the physics behind it will show you it's not nearly as difficult to endure as you might think.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Choose a bed with the most nails possible, spaced close together and all of the same height. The reason stepping on one nail with the full force of your body hurts so much is that you're putting all that force on one tiny point. That one point cannot support such pressure and that's why the nail goes through your foot. If you spread that force out over many points, the pressure is distributed evenly. Hence, many small points (the bed of nails) can support a large amount of pressure (your body) without breaking through.
2. Sit on as much of the bed of nails as possible to get started. Place your bottom and as much of your thighs onto the nails while still allowing room to lie back onto the surface. Don't put your hands on the nails as you will want to put most of the pressure on them and not distribute pressure across the nails with your body. This step could be the most painful since the full pressure of your body is not spread out over the whole bed of nails just yet.
3. Lie back onto the nails slowly. If you can place your arms and hands on a flat surface beside the nails, use them to help in this action. Once you are lying flat on the bed, the pressure of your body is distributed across the most nails possible, decreasing the pressure on each nail and the amount of pain you feel.