The Snapple Cap

By Joseph Deangelo and Nathaniel Bernich

On Snapple caps you find various sorts of useless information you could have gone your
whole life without knowing. This article (or whatever you would call it) is giving you the
same thing, except instead of just plain facts, were going to show you some big myths
weve heard (of which, like a Snapple cap, you could have gone your whole life without
knowing.)
THE BIGGEST MYTHS
(number one being the biggest)
1. Pencils use lead to write
Many people know this, but lets make this clear: PENCILS DO NOT USE LEAD, they use
graphite, which is made of carbon, a completely different element (for any chemists out
there, carbon and lead are 76 protons and 202 neutrons apart, using Lead-208. Thats a lot
of particles, and a big difference). Again, this myth is common and many people recognize it
as a myth, but what makes this the biggest myth is that these people say that pencil lead
got its name because lead was originally used in pencils, and then taken out once it was
found poisonous. The problem with this is that LEAD WAS NEVER USED IN PENCILS. The
term pencil lead actually got its name from being called lead when it was first
discovered (the miners thought they had found lead). So from now on, dont refer to the
material in pencils as lead (and dont call it that even more just to annoy us, if youre that
type of person).
2. There are three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas
There are actually four, the fourth being plasma, which is a super-heated gas. This is a
pretty big myth- and were assuming its because all the textbooks say there are only three
states not to complicate things (which is true, plasma is pretty complicated) Anyway, for all
those people who either have heard of plasma and just not known what it was or known
what it is and just not that is was a state of matter, keep in mind what plasma is. Youll
never need to know.
3. Christopher Columbus was the first European to sail to the Americas
This is a pretty big myth, so big to almost convince us that it should get a higher number.
Christopher Columbus was not the first European to cross the Atlantic- Leif Erikson was. He
was a Viking, a group that was located in northern Europe, in a region called Scandinavia,
where the countries Norway and Sweden are located. What makes this myth have a slightly
lower number is that Scandinavia's status as European country is questionable, though most
sources say it is European and not its own region (this is kind of similar to Saudi Arabia and
its surrounding Arab countries- are they African, Asian, or a separate continent altogether?)

4. Using X-mas instead of Christmas is meant as a negative thing by people who

are too busy for Christmas
This could be true; Im sure theres people out there who use x-mas because theyre too
busy to write Christmas. But not all people who use x-mas are these people. In fact, the X
in x-mas isnt even an X! Its actually the Greek letter chi (/). The reason that a chi
replaces Christ in Christmas is because chi is the first letter in the Greek word for Christ
(which is , or Christos in our alphabet). The use of an X instead of a chi was most
likely started because X looks a lot like chi (duh). Anyway, just keep in mind that x-mas isnt
always bad. And whenever you see x-mas, remember, its not x-mas, its chi-mas. (This
came up as a typo. Even the Internet believes in these myths!)
5. Albert Einstein failed math
No, Albert Einstein didnt fail math. Not only did he not fail, he actually excelled at it. He
started learning calculus when he was twelve, where the normal age to begin in Germany
was fifteen. This myth was most likely started because Einstein often needed help from
other mathematicians, but this was not because he needed a tutor but because he needed
them to double check his work and theories. He actually used his help to gain more
information than he already had; he already knew the subject, he just wanted to know
more. Another theory suggests that this myth started because on Einstein's last year at a
school the grades were switched, where 6 became the highest instead of the lowest, and
1 became the lowest instead of the highest. Thus, his grades would read 1, 1, 1, 1, and
then 6, so this would appear to be a sudden dip in his grades. But no, he actually got the
best possible grade every year; when he got the six it was the highest, and when he got the
ones they were also the highest at that time. Anyway, this theory may not be true, or the
other one, but one thing thats for sure is Einstein never failed math.
6. You only use 10% of your brainpower on any given day
This explanation is going to be pretty short because the answer is simple- THIS MYTH IS
FALSE, YOU ARE USING ALL OF YOUR BRAIN, ALL THE TIME. This myth most likely
developed because of the misinterpretation of neurological research, which suggests that
only 10% of your brains neurons are firing at once. This could have evolved into the myth
that is you only use 10% of your brain. This may not actually be the origin of the myth,
but this is definitely a myth.
7. Napoleon was short
Napoleon was actually average height; he wasnt short or tall. To be exact, he was 5 feet
and 6 inches tall. What made him seem short was most likely the tall guards he had, which
made him short by comparison. Another possibility is the English propaganda, which
portrayed him as incredibly small and weak. It could even be a combination of these two,
but anyway, Napoleon was not short, even by our standards.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks for not getting bored and reading this article! I hope you learned something you
never will need to know, and I also hope that youll no longer believe in these myths! And

make sure to look for our articles in the next issue of The Shamrock!
-N.B. and J.D., Snapple Cap writers