Broom Challenge: Is The Latest Social Media Craze Real?

Several internet users worldwide were posting images and videos of their broom standing on its brushes as part of a new viral social media trend called the “broom challenge.” Internet users were associating this phenomenon with an announcement allegedly made by NASA.

A viral Twitter post claimed Monday that NASA announced one could make a broom stand upright only on that day because of the earth’s gravitational pull.

However, there is no such announcement from NASA to substantiate the claim. Suffice it to say that earth’s gravitational pull on a certain day had no role to play in a broom standing on its own without any support and one can perform this trick on any day of a year. It is all about balance.

The trend started across the internet as people claimed they could perform the trick, attributing it to a “planetary alignment” or the vernal or spring equinox. They posted photos as evidence, Liveaboutdotcom reported in 2018.

The spring equinox, which happens every year in March, has nothing to do with a broom standing on its bristled end. Similarly, the planetary alignments too have negligible effects on earthy objects, the website reported, citing astronomers.

Bradley Schaefer, Professor of physics and astronomy in Louisiana State University, had also debunked the myth in 2012. "I can tell you very confidently that astronomically, the equinox has absolutely nothing to do with [it]," he said.

Turns out, one will just have to know the trick to master the balancing act. A broom will only stand given it has the suitable weight, dimensions, and center of gravity.