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A wooden broom propped up against a wall. The wall is two different colors. The top half of the wall is solid chocolate brown. The bottom half of the wall is bead board, and it has repeating parallel lines spaced a few inches apart. The bottom section of the wall is a light shade of blue. Propped up against the wall is a tan wooden broom. The broom has angled bristles gathered with a dark thread. There is white molding separating the two sections of the wall and at the floor, which is comprised of light-colored wood.

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A wooden broom propped up against a wall. The wall is two different colors. The top half of the wall is solid chocolate brown. The bottom half of the wall is bead board, and it has repeating parallel lines spaced a few inches apart. The bottom section of the wall is a light shade of blue. Propped up against the wall is a tan wooden broom. The broom has angled bristles gathered with a dark thread. There is white molding separating the two sections of the wall and at the floor, which is comprised of light-colored wood.

Photo by: Spiderstock

Spiderstock

The Broomstick Challenge is Not What it Appears to Be

By: Ashley McNertney

The Broomstick Challenge is clearly sweeping the nation, but don’t let it fool you. If you take a closer look behind the meaning of it, it’s not exactly based on real science.

Have you been seeing a lot of brooms on the internet lately? That’s because the #BroomstickChallenge is a new viral challenge in 2020, and it all started with one tweet.

Let’s take a look into how the #BroomstickChallenge evolved into the latest craze on the internet and how it has everyone questioning the validity of the claims behind this challenge.

It all started when one Twitter user (@mikaiylaaaaa) posted a video of a broom standing up straight on its own. The user claimed that NASA said it’s the only day a broom could stand up on its own, because of the earth’s gravitational pull.

Twitter users from all walks of life started chiming in on this weird phenomenon, including some celebrities.

However, this claim turned out to be false, and NASA never actually said such a thing, nor do they have any sources or information that supports this claim. But that didn’t stop the internet from getting in on the craze and raising questions about gravity.

The Broomstick Challenge
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The Broomstick Challenge

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The Broomstick Challenge is the latest craze on the internet, but if you take a closer look, it's not exactly based on real science. This internet challenge raised questions about physics and taught us all a big lesson in fact checking.

This internet challenge raised questions about physics and taught us all a big lesson in fact checking before spreading false claims. If we all do our own research, none of us will fall for another internet hoax. Because if you do in fact place a broom at the right angle or position the bristles, the broom can in fact stand up on its own like a tripod!

NASA did join in on the fun though, by chiming in too by showing how basic physics works every day and not just on February 10th.

Moral of the story: Don’t believe everything you see on the Internet and do your research!

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