VO: It's plastic that stops your eggs sticking in the morning. Yes, that's right, Teflon is a plastic.
JONNY PHILLIPS:Teflon is the world's slipperiest material. It's incredibly heat resistant, relatively tough and although it was originally used to make machine parts for industry and the US military, today it's used for all sorts of things. Mmmm.
VO:On car wiper blades to stop the squeaks, on sofas and carpets to protect against spills, in engines to help with lubrication, on light bulbs to stop them exploding, on glasses for protection against scratches and you can even get Teflon nail polish.
JONNY PHILLIPS: But I think they're missing a trick. Teflon the world's slipperiest material, that's gotta be great for sledging.
RICHARD AMBROSE: So we're gonna put our theory to the test and race this sledge with steel runners against this one with Teflon ones.
VO: So the boys have come to an indoor ski slope in Milton Keynes which has real snow. Now the rules are pretty simple, all they have to do is get to bottom as fast as possible and it should be a pretty fair test as Richard and Jonny weigh about the same and the only difference in the sledges is that one has steel runners and the other has Teflon. First up it's Richard on the steel runners.
RICHARD AMBROSE: Hey Jonny, eat my snow.
VO: Richard does a very credible if slightly out of control 10 seconds.
JONNY PHILLIPS: Now it's my go with super Teflon runners so hopefully I'll be a bit quicker.
VO: Teflon works because it's carbon atoms are coated with an impenetrable of super slippery fluorine atoms, but will they make Jonny's sledge run faster?
JONNY PHILLIPS: Wow, how did I do? What was my time?
RICHARD AMBROSE: [laughing] 9.2
JONNY PHILLIPS: And yours?
RICHARD AMBROSE: 10.
JONNY PHILLIPS: Come on, I rest my case, you're on Teflon...
VO: So, Teflon is the clear winner but Richard's still not convinced. He wants a re-match and this time it's head to head. Now Richard and Jonny take their sledging very seriously, but when Jonny cuts up Richard forcing him to run wide and crash, he's none too happy. Steady on lads, remember it's science we're interested in.
RICHARD AMBROSE: [out of breath] Oh, Teflon, it's much faster than steel.
VO: So Jonny wins on both occasions and proves that the very same Teflon that's on your frying pan really is the slipperiest plastic around.
