document_title: Earned income tax credit

question_text: when did the earned income tax credit start

text: Earned income tax credit

text: Overview[edit]

text: Enacted in 1975, the initially modest EIC has been expanded by tax legislation on a number of occasions, including the widely publicized Tax Reform Act of 1986, and was further expanded in 1990, 1993, 2001, and 2009, regardless of whether the act in general raised taxes (1990, 1993), lowered taxes (2001), or eliminated other deductions and credits (1986).[9] Today, the EITC is one of the largest anti-poverty tools in the United States.[10] Most income measures, including the poverty rate, do not account for the credit.[11]

text: A qualifying child can be a person's daughter, son, stepchild, or any further descendant (such as grandchild, great grandchild, etc.) or a person's brother, sister, half sister, half brother, stepbrother, stepsister, or any further descendant (such as niece, nephew, great-nephew, great-great-niece, etc.). A qualifying child can also be in the process of being adopted provided he or she has been lawfully placed. Foster children also count provided either the child has been officially placed or is a member of one’s extended family. A younger single parent cannot claim EIC if he or she is also claimable as a qualifying child of their parent or another older relative, which can happen in some extended family situations. This restriction does not apply to a married couple who is claiming EIC with a child, even if one or both spouses are under the age of 19.

text: A person claiming EIC must be older than his or her qualifying child unless the “child” is classified as "permanently and totally disabled" for the tax year (physician states one year or more). A qualifying “child” can be up to and including age 18. A qualifying “child” who is a full-time student (one long semester or equivalent) can be up to and including age 23. And a person classified as "permanently and totally disabled" (one year or more) can be any age and count as one’s qualifying “child” provided the other requirements are met. Parents claim their own child(ren) if eligible unless they are waiving this year's credit to an extended family member who has higher adjusted gross income. There is no support test for EIC. There is a six-month plus one day shared residency test.[3][12]

text: In the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the EIC was temporarily expanded for two specific groups: married couples and families with three or more children; this expansion was extended through December 2012 by H.R. 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010. Effective for the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 filing seasons, the EIC supported these taxpayers by:

text:
Increasing benefits for larger families by creating a new category or “third tier” of the EIC for families with three or more children. In this tier, the credit phases in at 45 percent of income (up from 40 percent), effectively increasing the maximum credit for these families by almost $600.
Increasing marriage penalty relief by raising the income threshold at which the EIC begins to phase out for married couples to $5,000 above the amount for unmarried filers, thereby giving MFJ filers a longer plateau. The combined plateau and phase-out range for married filing jointly is still not double that for single filers, and thus there still is a marriage penalty, just less than there used to be.[4]

text: As of early 2012, 26 states have enacted state EITCs: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.[13] Some of these state EICs are refundable, and some are not. In addition, a few small local EICs have been enacted in San Francisco,[14] New York City,[15] and Montgomery County, Maryland.[16]

text: Earned income[edit]

text: Earned income is defined by the United States Internal Revenue Code as income received through personal effort,[17] with the following as the main sources:[12]

text:
Wages, salaries, tips, commissions, and other taxable employee pay.
Net earnings from self-employment.
Gross income received as a statutory employee.[18]
Disability payments through a private employer's disability plan received prior to minimum retirement age (62 in 2011).[19]
Nontaxable combat pay received by a member of the U.S. armed services which he or she elects to include for purposes of EIC calculation. This is an all-or-none election. For each tax year, the service member must elect to include either all of the combat pay or none of it.

text: Qualifying children[edit]

text: A person or couple claiming EIC with one or more qualifying children need to fill out and attach Schedule EIC to their 1040 or 1040A. This form asks for the child(ren)'s name, social security number, year of birth, whether an older "child" age 19 to 23 was classified as a student for the year (full-time status for at least one long semester or equivalent time period), whether an older "child" is classified as disabled during the year (doctor states one year or more), the child's relationship to claimant, and the number of months the child lived with the claimant in the United States.[20]

text: To claim a person as qualifying child, the following requirements of relationship, age, and shared residence must be met.[12][20][21]

text: Relationship[edit]

text: In the case of a married couple filing jointly, if one spouse is related to the child by any of the below relationships, both spouses are considered related to the child.

text: The claimant must be related to their qualifying child through blood, marriage, or law. The qualifying child can be:[3]

text:
a person's daughter, son, stepchild, or any further descendant (such as grandchild, great grandchild, etc.),
or a person's brother, sister, half sister, half brother, stepbrother, stepsister, or any further descendant (such as niece, nephew, great-nephew, great-great-niece, etc.),
or a foster child officially placed by an agency, court, or Indian tribal government. Authorized placement agencies include tax-exempt organizations licensed by states as well as organizations authorized by Indian tribal governments to place Native American children.
or an adopted child, including a child in the process of being adopted provided he or she has been lawfully placed.

text: A child might classify as the qualifying child of more than one adult family member, at least initially. For example, in an extended family situation, both a parent and an uncle may meet the initial standards of relationship, age, and residency to claim a particular child. In such a case, there is a further rule: If a single parent or both parents, whether married or not, can claim the child (residency and age) but choose to waive the child to a non-parent, such as a grandparent or uncle or aunt, this non-parent can claim the child only if they have a higher adjusted gross income (AGI) than any parent who has lived with the child for at least six months.

text: This still remains the parent's choice. Provided the parent has lived with the child for at least six months and one day, the parent can always choose to claim his or her child for purposes of the earned income credit. In a tiebreaker situation between two unmarried parents, the tiebreak goes to the parent who lived with the child for the longest. In a tiebreaker between two non-parents, the tiebreak goes to the person with the higher AGI. And in a tiebreaker between a parent and non-parent, the parent wins by definition. These tiebreaker situations only occur if more than one family member actually file tax returns in which they claim the same child. On the other hand, if the family can agree, per the above and following rules, they can engage in a limited amount of tax planning as to which family member claims the child.[12]

text: Age[edit]

text: A single parent younger than age 19 living in an extended family situation is potentially claimable as the qualifying "child" of an older relative. And a single parent under age 24 who is also a full-time college student (one long semester or equivalent) living in an extended family situation is also potentially claimable. If so, the younger single parent cannot claim EIC. This rule does not apply to a married couple who are claiming EIC with a child, even if one or both spouses are under the age of 19. (This rule also does not apply if the older relative is not required to file a tax return, and subsequently either does not file or only files to receive a full refund of taxes withheld.)

text: Generally, one sibling claiming another as their qualifying child must be older. In the case of a married couple filing a joint return, only one of the spouses must be older. An exception to the must-be-older-rule is the case of a qualifying child who is classified as "permanently and totally disabled" (physician states one year or more). Such a "child" can be any age and the age requirement is considered to be automatically met (of course the relationship and shared residency requirements must still be met).

text: The standard rule is that the qualifying "child" must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year. That is, the younger person can be 18 years and 364 days old on December 31 and the age requirement is met.

text: This age limit is extended for a qualifying "child" who is also a full-time student during some part of five calendar months. This young adult merely needs to be under age 24 at the end of the tax year for the age requirement to be met (relationship and residency requirements must still be met). That is, the young adult who is full-time for at least part of five different months can be 23 years and 364 days on December 31 and meet the age requirement to be someone else's qualifying "child." The standard Fall semester of a university, in which classes start in late August and continue through September, October, November, and early December, counts as part of five calendar months. And a similar conclusion applies to the standard Spring semester. However, the five months need not be consecutive and can be obtained with any combination of shorter periods. A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance. High school students who work in co-op jobs or who are in a vocational high school program are classified as full-time students. Schools include technical, trade, and mechanical schools.

text: A person who is classified as "permanently and totally disabled" (physician states one year or more) can be any age and the age requirement is automatically met.[3] More fully, the definition of "permanently and totally disabled" is that a person has a mental or physical disability, cannot engage in substantial gainful activity, and a physician has determined that the condition has lasted or is expected to last one year or more (or that it can lead to death).[12]

text: Shared residence[edit]

text: The claimant must live with their qualifying child(ren) within the fifty states and/or District of Columbia of the United States for more than half the tax year (per instructions, six months and one day is listed as 7 months on Schedule EIC). U.S. military personnel stationed outside the United States on extended active duty are considered to live in the U.S. for purposes of the EIC. Extended active duty means the person is called to duty for an indefinite period or for a period of more than 90 days (which is still considered to be extended active even if the period ends up being less than 90 days).

text: Temporary absences, for either the claimant or the child, due to school, hospital stays, business trips, vacations, shorter periods of military service, or jail or detention, are ignored and instead count as time lived at home.[3] "Temporary" is perhaps unavoidably vague and generally hinges or whether the claimant and/or the child are expected to return, and the IRS does not provide any substantial guidance past this. If the child was born or died in the year and the claimant's home was the child's home, or potential home, for the entire time the child was alive during the year, this counts as living with the claimant, and per instructions, 12 months is entered on Schedule EIC.

text: Unlike the rules for claiming a dependent, there is no rule that a qualifying child not support herself or himself. A child who supports himself or herself can still qualify as a qualifying child for purposes of the EIC. There is an exception for older married "children." If an otherwise qualifying child is married, the claimant needs to be able to claim this child as a dependent (and the married couple must have low enough income so that they are not required to file a return and are either not filing or are filing only for the purpose of claiming a refund on withheld taxes).[12][20][22]

text: Other requirements[edit]

text: Investment income cannot be greater than $3,400 in 2016.

text: A claimant must be either a United States citizen or resident alien. In the case of married filing jointly where one spouse is and one isn't, the couple can elect to treat the nonresident spouse as resident and have their entire worldwide income subject to U.S. tax, and will then be eligible for EIC.

text: Filers both with and without qualifying children must have lived in the 50 states and/or District of Columbia of the United States for more than half the tax year (six months and one day). Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. territories do not count in this regard. However, a person on extended military duty is considered to have met this requirement for the period of the duty served[citation needed].

text: Filers who are not claiming a qualifying child must be between the ages of 25 and 64 inclusive. For a married couple without a qualifying child, only one spouse must be within this age range. For a single person with a qualify child, there is no age requirement per se other than the requirement that the single person not himself or herself be claimable as another relative's qualifying child (see Age section above). A married couple with at least one qualifying child is only occasionally classified as claimable by another relative, especially if the married couple has earned income and elects to claim EIC.

text: All filers and all children being claimed must have a valid social security number. This includes social security cards printed with "Valid for work only with INS authorization" or "Valid for work only with DHS authorization."[12]

text: Single, Head of Household, Qualifying Widow(er), and Married Filing Jointly are all equally valid filing statuses for EIC. In fact, depending on the income of both spouses, Married Filing Jointly can be advantageous in some circumstances because, in 2009, the phase-out for MFJ for begins at $21,450 whereas phase-out begins at $16,450 for the other filing statuses. A couple who is legally married can file MFJ even if they lived apart the entire year and even if they shared no revenues or expenses for the year, as long as both spouses agree. However, if both spouses do not agree, or if there are other circumstances such as domestic violence, a spouse who lived apart with children for the last six months of the year and who meets other requirements can file as Head of Household.[23][24] Or, for a couple that is split up but still legally married, they might consider visiting an accountant at separate times and perhaps even signing a joint return on separate visits. There is even an IRS form that can be used to request direct deposit into up to three separate accounts.[25] In addition, if a person obtains a divorce by December 31, that will carry, since it is marital status on the last day of the year that controls for tax purposes. In addition, if a person is "legally separated" according to state law by December 31, that will also carry.[26] The only disqualifying filing status for purposes of the EIC is married filing separately.[3][12]

text: EIC phases out by the greater of earned income or adjusted gross income.

text: A married couple in 2010, whose total income was just shy of $21,500, but who had more than $3,100 of investment income, would have received the maximum credit for their number of qualifying children, but because of the rule that for any claimant—whether single of married, with or without children—that investment income cannot be greater than $3,100, will instead receive zero EIC. This is an edge case, but there are income ranges and situations in which an increase of investment dollars can result in a loss of after-tax dollars. (Instead of $21,500, the phase-out for Single, Head of Household, and Qualifying Widow(er) begins at $16,450.)

text: In normal circumstances, EIC phases out relatively slowly, at 16% or 21% depending on the number of children.

text: Disallowances for reckless or fraudulent claims[edit]

text: A person or couple will be disallowed EIC for two years if they claim EIC when not eligible and the IRS determines the "error is due to reckless or intentional disregard of the EIC rules." A person or couple will be disallowed for ten years if they make a fraudulent claim. Form 8862 is required after this time period in order to be reinstated. However, this form is not required if EIC was reduced solely because of mathematical or clerical error.[27]

text: Example(s) for 2012 from IRS Pub. 596[edit]

text: Cynthia and Jerry Grey have two children ages 6 and 8. For tax year 2012, one spouse made $10,000 in wages and the other spouse made $15,000, plus the couple received $525 on interest from a savings account. Since they are into the phase-out range, their EIC will phase out by the greater of earned income or adjusted gross income. So, they will look up in the EIC table $25,525 for MFJ with two children, and this amount is $4,557. Since they are claiming children, the Greys will also need to attach Schedule EIC to their tax return which will ask for each child, the child's name, social security number, year of birth, relationship to couple, and months lived with couple in the United States during 2012. If the Greys use 1040A, they will enter $4,557 on line 38a. If they use form 1040, they will enter $4,557 on line 64a.[12]

text: Graph, 2006[edit]

text: Impact[edit]

text: Households' average taxes and income[edit]

text:
Average incomes and taxes
CBO Study 2009*[28]

Households
by income
Market
income1
Federal
Transfers 2
Income +
Transfers
Avg Federal
Tax rate %3
Federal
Taxes $4
% Federal
Taxes paid 5
#W6
% Net
Income7

0–20%
7,600
22,900
30,500
1.0
200
0.3
0.42
6.2

21–40%
30,100
14,800
45,000
6.8
2,900
3.8
0.90
11.1

41–60%
54,200
10,400
64,600
11.1
7,200
9.4
1.29
15.8

61–80%
86,400
7,100
93,500
15.1
14,100
18.3
1.70
21.6

80–100
218,800
6,000
224,800
23.2
51,900
67.9
1.97
47.2

Market Income = salaries etc. on Income tax form
Federal Transfers = all EITC, CTC, Medicaid, food stamps (SNAP) etc. received
Average tax rate includes all Social Security, Medicare, income, business income, excise, etc. taxes.
Net Federal taxes paid in dollars
Percent of all federal taxes paid
#W = Average number of workers per household in this quintile
% Net Income = percentage of all national income each quintile receives after taxes and transfers.

text: Welfare benefits[edit]

text: At a cost of $56 billion in 2013, the EITC is the third-largest social welfare program in the United States after Medicaid ($275 billion federal and $127 billion state expenditures) and food stamps ($78 billion).[29] Almost 27 million American households received more than $56 billion in payments through the EITC in 2010. These EITC dollars had a significant impact on the lives and communities of the nation's lowest-paid working people largely repaying any payroll taxes they may have paid. The Census Bureau, using an alternative calculation of poverty, found that EITC lifted 5.4 million above the poverty line in 2010.[30]

text: The stimulus effects of the EITC and other consumption-augmenting policies have been challenged by more recent and rigorous studies. Haskell (2006) finds that the unique spending patterns of lump-sum tax credit recipients and the increasingly global supply chain for consumer goods is counter-productive to producing high, localized multipliers. He places the local multiplier effect somewhere in the range of 1.07 to 1.15, more in line with typical economic returns. The lower multiplier is due to recipients emphasizing "big-ticket" durable-good purchases, which are typically produced elsewhere, versus locally produced products and services such as agricultural products or restaurant visits. However, Haskell points to a silver lining: there are perhaps more important benefits from recipients who use the credit for savings or investment in big-ticket purchases that promote social mobility, such as automobiles, school tuition, or health-care services.[31][32]

text: Due to its structure, the EITC is effective at targeting assistance to low-income families in the bottom two quintiles—0–40% of households. By contrast, only 30% of minimum wage workers live in families near or below the federal poverty line, as most are teenagers, young adults, students, or spouses supplementing their studies or family income.[33][34] Opponents of the minimum wage argue that it is a less efficient means to help the poor than adjusting the EITC.[35]

text: EITC follows a graphical benefit pattern of going up a hill, traveling along a plateau, and then going back down the hill more slowly than it went up. For example, a married couple with two qualifying children and yearly income of seven thousand dollars will[when?] receive EITC of $2,810 (going up the hill). At fifteen thousand dollars, this couple will receive EITC of $5,036 (plateau). And at twenty-five and thirty-five thousand dollars, this same couple with their two children will receive EITC of $4,285 and $2,179, respectively.[3]

text: A single person (such as a single parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, older sibling, etc.) goes up the hill at the same rate and will receive the same maximum EITC for two qualifying children of $5,036 at plateau. But the single person has a shorter plateau. And thus, a single person with two qualifying children and income of twenty-five and thirty-five thousand will receive EITC of $3,230 and $1,124 respectively (going down the hill).[3]

text: EITC phases out at 16% with one qualifying child and at 21% for two children and three or more children. Thus it is always preferable to have an extra fifty dollars of actual earned income (the table for EITC steps in increments of fifty dollars).[3]

text: The GRAPHICAL plateau range for Married Filing Jointly continues for five thousand dollars longer than does the plateau for the other filing statuses and thus MFJ can be advantageous for some income ranges. Single, Head of Household, and Qualifying Widow(er) are all equally valid and eligible filing statuses for claiming EITC. The only disqualifying status is Married Filing Separately. However, a couple can file as Married Filing Jointly even if they lived apart for the entire year if legally married and both agree.[3]

text: Impact on health[edit]

text: A 2013 systematic review of the effect of in-work tax credits on health outcomes in adults conducted through the Cochrane Collaboration found no evidence for an effect of the EITC on health outcomes (except for mixed evidence favoring a reduction of tobacco smoking) in adults.[36] However, the study concluded that further evidence is required to establish the effects of EITC on health outcomes with confidence.

text: Cost[edit]

text: The direct cost of the EITC to the U.S. federal government was about $56 billion in 2012. The IRS has estimated that between 21% and 25% of this cost ($11.6 to $13.6 billion) is due to EITC payments that were issued improperly to recipients who did not qualify for the EITC benefit that they received.[37] For the 2013 tax year the IRS paid an estimated $13.6 billion in bogus claims. In total the IRS has overpaid as much as $132.6 billion in EITC over the last ten years.[38]

text: The direct fiscal cost of the EITC may be partially offset by two factors: any new taxes (such as payroll taxes paid by employers) generated by new workers drawn by the EITC into the labor force; and taxes generated on additional spending done by families receiving earned income tax credit.

text: Some economists have noted that the EITC might conceivably cause reductions in entitlement spending that result from individuals being lifted out of poverty by their EITC benefit check. However, because the pre-tax income determines eligibility for most state and federal benefits, the EITC rarely changes a taxpayer's eligibility for state or federal aid benefits.

text: Uncollected tax credits[edit]

text: Millions of American families who are eligible for the EITC do not receive it, essentially leaving billions of dollars unclaimed. Research by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Internal Revenue Service indicates that between 15% and 25% of households who are entitled to the EITC do not claim their credit, or between 3.5 million and 7 million households(no reference cited).

text: Many nonprofit organizations around the United States, sometimes in partnership with government and with some public financing, have begun programs designed to increase EITC utilization by raising awareness of the credit and assisting with the filing of the relevant tax forms. One example is the Claim it! campaign in Minnesota that launched in 2006 to help Minnesotans claim the EITC.[39]

text: The state of California requires employers to notify every employee about the EITC every year, in writing, at the same time W-2 forms are distributed.[40]

text: Storefront tax prep, “RACs,” prep and account fees, third-party debt collection[edit]

text: RALs (Refund Anticipation Loans) are short term loans on the security of an expected tax refund, and RACs (Refund Anticipation Checks) are temporary accounts specifically to wait to receive tax refunds, which are then paid by a check or debit card from the bank less fees. The combination of Earned Income Credit, RALs, and RACs has created a major market for the storefront tax preparation industry. A 2002 Brookings Institution study of Cleveland taxpayers found that 47 percent of filers claiming EIC purchased RALs, as compared to 10 percent of those not claiming EIC. The tax preparation industry responded that at least one-half of RAL customers included in the IRS data actually received RACs instead.[41][42]

text: These financial products have been criticized on various grounds, including inflated prices for tax preparation, account fees, RAL interest rates, as well as the practice of third-party debt collection (this used to be called "cross-collection" which hinted at the practice, but tax prep companies now to seem more vaguely refer to the practice merely as "previous debt").[43][44] This practice occurs when one RAL- or RAC-issuing bank collects for another. That is, such lenders may take all or part of a client's current year tax refund for purposes of third-party debt collection, and it is unclear how broad are the types of debts for which the banks collect.[45] This contrasts with the more limited types of debt collected for by the IRS. This practice of one bank collecting debt for another may not be adequately disclosed to the tax preparation client; on the other hand, some clients may fail to disclose obligations that result a governmental seizure of their refunds.[46] With both RALs and RACs, the client grants the bank first rights to their tax refund, and both carry the same risk of third-party bank collection.

text: Advertisement phrases such as "Rapid Refund" have been deemed deceptive and illegal, since these financial products do not speed remittances beyond the routine automation of tax return processing, and do not make it clear that these are loan applications. Beginning with 2011 tax season, the IRS announced that they would no longer provide preparers and financial institutions with the “debt indicator” that assisted banks in determining whether RAL applications were approved.[47][48] Beginning with the 2013 tax season, major banks are no longer offering RALs but only RACs.[49][50]

text: However, a March 2013 article in CNN Money reported that tax prep companies are offering a hodgepodge of financial products similar to RALs. The article further states that, "The NCLC [National Consumer Law Center] also found that some shady tax preparers are even offering tax refund loans to lure taxpayers into their offices, but have no intention of lending them the money."[51]


document_title: Geiger–Marsden experiment

question_text: who discovered the atom is mostly empty space

root

text: Geiger–Marsden experiment

text: Summary[edit]

text: Contemporary theories of atomic structure[edit]

text: The popular theory of atomic structure at the time of Rutherford's experiment was the "plum pudding model". This model was devised by Lord Kelvin and further developed by J. J. Thomson. Thomson was the scientist who discovered the electron, and that it was a component of every atom. Thomson believed the atom was a sphere of positive charge throughout which the electrons were distributed, a bit like plums in a Christmas pudding. The existence of protons and neutrons was unknown at this time. They knew atoms were very tiny (Rutherford assumed they were in the order of 10−8 m in radius[1]). This model was based entirely on classical (Newtonian) physics; the current accepted model uses quantum mechanics.

tag: p

text: Thomson's model was not universally accepted even before Rutherford's experiments. Thomson himself was never able to develop a complete and stable model of his concept. A Japanese scientist named Hantaro Nagaoka rejected Thomson's model on the grounds that opposing charges cannot penetrate each other.[2] He proposed instead that electrons orbit the positive charge like the rings around Saturn.[3]

text: Implications of the plum pudding model[edit]

text: An alpha particle is a sub-microscopic, positively charged particle of matter. According to Thomson's model, if an alpha particle were to collide with an atom, it would just fly straight through, its path being deflected by at most a fraction of a degree. At the atomic scale, the concept of "solid matter" is meaningless, so the alpha particle would not bounce off the atom like a marble; it would be affected only by the atom's electric fields, and Thomson's model predicted that the electric fields in an atom are just too weak to affect a passing alpha particle much (alpha particles tend to move very fast). Both the negative and positive charges within the Thomson atom are spread out over the atom's entire volume. According to Coulomb's Law, the less concentrated a sphere of electric charge is, the weaker its electric field at its surface will be.[4][5]

text: As a worked example, consider an alpha particle passing tangentially to a Thomson gold atom, where it will experience the electric field at its strongest and thus experience the maximum deflection θ. Since the electrons are very light compared to the alpha particle, their influence can be neglected[6] and the atom can be seen as a heavy sphere of positive charge.

text: Using classical physics, the alpha particle's lateral change in momentum Δp can be approximated using the impulse of force relationship and the Coulomb force expression:

text: The above calculation is but an approximation of what happens when an alpha particle comes near a Thomson atom, but it is clear that the deflection at most will be in the order of a small fraction of a degree. If the alpha particle were to pass through a gold foil some 400 atoms thick and experience maximal deflection in the same direction (unlikely), it would still be a small deflection.

text: The outcome of the experiments[edit]

text: At Rutherford's behest, Geiger and Marsden performed a series of experiments where they pointed a beam of alpha particles at a thin foil of metal and measured the scattering pattern by using a fluorescent screen. They spotted alpha particles bouncing off the metal foil in all directions, some right back at the source. This should have been impossible according to Thomson's model; the alpha particles should have all gone straight through. Obviously, those particles had encountered an electrostatic force far greater than Thomson's model suggested they would, which in turn implied that the atom's positive charge was concentrated in a much tinier volume than Thomson imagined.[7]

text: When Geiger and Marsden shot alpha particles at their metal foils, they noticed only a tiny fraction of the alpha particles were deflected by more than 90°. Most just flew straight through the foil. This suggested that those tiny spheres of intense positive charge were separated by vast gulfs of empty space.[7] Most particles passed through the empty space and experienced negligible deviation, while a handful struck the nuclei of the atoms and bounced right back.

text: Rutherford thus rejected Thomson's model of the atom, and instead proposed a model where the atom consisted of mostly empty space, with all its positive charge concentrated in its center in a very tiny volume, surrounded by a cloud of electrons.

text: Timeline[edit]

text: Background[edit]

text: Ernest Rutherford was a physics professor at the University of Manchester. He had already received numerous honors for his studies of radiation. He had discovered the existence of alpha rays, beta rays, and gamma rays, and had proved that these were the consequence of the disintegration of atoms. In 1906, he received a visit from a German physicist named Hans Geiger, and was so impressed that he asked Geiger to stay and help him with his research.[8] Ernest Marsden was a physics undergraduate student studying under Geiger.

text: Alpha particles are tiny, positively charged particles that are spontaneously emitted by certain substances such as uranium and radium. Rutherford himself had discovered them in 1899. In 1908 he was trying to precisely measure their charge-to-mass ratio. To do this, he first needed to know just how many alpha particles his sample of radium was giving off (after which he would measure their total charge and divide one by the other). Alpha particles are too tiny to be seen even with a microscope, but Rutherford knew that alpha particles ionize air molecules, and if the air is within an electric field, the ions will produce an electric current. On this principle, Rutherford and Geiger designed a simple counting device which consisted of two electrodes in a glass tube. Every alpha particle that passed through the tube would create a pulse of electricity that could be counted. It was an early version of the Geiger counter.[8]

text: The counter that Geiger and Rutherford built proved unreliable because the alpha particles were being too strongly deflected by their collisions with the molecules of air within the detection chamber. The highly variable trajectories of the alpha particles meant that they did not all generate the same number of ions as they passed through the gas, thus producing erratic readings. This puzzled Rutherford because he had thought that alpha particles were just too heavy to be deflected so strongly. Rutherford asked Geiger to investigate just how much matter could scatter alpha rays.[9]

text: The experiments they designed involved bombarding a metal foil with alpha particles to observe how the foil scattered them in relation to their thickness and material. They used a fluorescent screen to measure the trajectories of the particles. Each impact of an alpha particle on the screen produced a tiny flash of light. Geiger worked in a darkened lab for hours on end, counting these tiny scintillations using a microscope.[5] Rutherford lacked the endurance for this work, which is why he left it to his younger colleagues.[10] For the metal foil, they tested a variety of metals, but they preferred gold because they could make the foil very thin, as gold is very malleable.[11] As a source of alpha particles, Rutherford's substance of choice was radium, a substance several million times more radioactive than uranium.

text: The 1908 experiment[edit]

text: A 1908 paper by Geiger, On the Scattering of α-Particles by Matter,[12] describes the following experiment. He constructed a long glass tube, nearly two meters in length. At one end of the tube was a quantity of "radium emanation" (R) that served as a source of alpha particles. The opposite end of the tube was covered with a phosphorescent screen (Z). In the middle of the tube was a 0.9 mm-wide slit. The alpha particles from R passed through the slit and created a glowing patch of light on the screen. A microscope (M) was used to count the scintillations on the screen and measure their spread. Geiger pumped all the air out of the tube so that the alpha particles would be unobstructed, and they left a neat and tight image on the screen that corresponded to the shape of the slit. Geiger then allowed some air in the tube, and the glowing patch became more diffuse. Geiger then pumped out the air and placed some gold foil over the slit at AA. This too caused the patch of light on the screen to become more spread out. This experiment demonstrated that both air and solid matter could markedly scatter alpha particles. The apparatus, however, could only observe small angles of deflection. Rutherford wanted to know if the alpha particles were being scattered by even larger angles—perhaps larger than 90°.

text: The 1909 experiment[edit]

text: In a 1909 paper, On a Diffuse Reflection of the α-Particles,[13] Geiger and Marsden described the experiment by which they proved that alpha particles can indeed be scattered by more than 90°. In their experiment, they prepared a small conical glass tube (AB) containing "radium emanation" (radon), "radium A" (actual radium), and "radium C" (bismuth-214); its open end sealed with mica. This was their alpha particle emitter. They then set up a lead plate (P), behind which they placed a fluorescent screen (S). The tube was held on the opposite side of plate, such that the alpha particles it emitted could not directly strike the screen. They noticed a few scintillations on the screen, because some alpha particles got around the plate by bouncing off air molecules. They then placed a metal foil (R) to the side of the lead plate. They pointed the tube at the foil to see if the alpha particles would bounce off it and strike the screen on the other side of the plate, and observed an increase in the number of scintillations on the screen. Counting the scintillations, they observed that metals with higher atomic mass, such as gold, reflected more alpha particles than lighter ones such as aluminium.

text: Geiger and Marsden then wanted to estimate the total number of alpha particles that were being reflected. The previous setup was unsuitable for doing this because the tube contained several radioactive substances (radium plus its decay products) and thus the alpha particles emitted had varying ranges, and because it was difficult for them to ascertain at what rate the tube was emitting alpha particles. This time, they placed a small quantity of radium C (bismuth-214) on the lead plate, which bounced off a platinum reflector (R) and onto the screen. They found that only a tiny fraction of the alpha particles that struck the reflector bounced onto the screen (in this case, 1 in 8000).[13]

text: The 1910 experiment[edit]

text: A 1910 paper[14] by Geiger, The Scattering of the α-Particles by Matter, describes an experiment by which he sought to measure how the most probable angle through which an a-particle is deflected varies with the material it passes through, the thickness of said material, and the velocity of the alpha particles. He constructed an airtight glass tube from which the air was pumped out. At one end was a bulb (B) containing "radium emanation" (radon-222). By means of mercury, the radon in B was pumped up the narrow glass pipe whose end at A was plugged with mica. At the other end of the tube was a fluorescent zinc sulfide screen (S). The microscope which he used to count the scintillations on the screen was affixed to a vertical millimeter scale with a vernier, which allowed Geiger to precisely measure where the flashes of light appeared on the screen and thus calculate the particles' angles of deflection. The alpha particles emitted from A was narrowed to a beam by a small circular hole at D. Geiger placed a metal foil in the path of the rays at D and E to observe how the zone of flashes changed. He could also vary the velocity of the alpha particles by placing extra sheets of mica or aluminium at A.

text: From the measurements he took, Geiger came to the following conclusions:

text:
the most probable angle of deflection increases with the thickness of the material
the most probable angle of deflection is proportional to the atomic mass of the substance
the most probable angle of deflection decreases with the velocity of the alpha particles
the probability that a particle will be deflected by more than 90° is vanishingly small

tag: ul

text: Rutherford mathematically models the scattering pattern[edit]

text: Considering the results of the above experiments, Rutherford published a landmark paper in 1911 titled "The Scattering of α and β Particles by Matter and the Structure of the Atom" wherein he proposed that the atom contains at its center a volume of electric charge that is very small and intense (in fact, Rutherford treats it as a point charge in his calculations).[1] For the purpose of his mathematical calculations he assumed this central charge was positive, but he admitted he could not prove this and that he had to wait for other experiments to develop his theory.

text: Rutherford developed a mathematical equation that modeled how the foil should scatter the alpha particles if all the positive charge and most of the atomic mass was concentrated in a single point at the center of an atom.

text:
s
=

X
n
t

csc

4

ϕ
2

16

r

2

⋅
(

2

Q

n

Q

α

m

v

2

)

2

{\displaystyle s={\frac {Xnt\csc ^{4}{\tfrac {\phi }{2}}}{16r^{2}}}\cdot ({\frac {2Q_{n}Q_{\alpha }}{mv^{2}}})^{2}}

text: From the scattering data, Rutherford estimated the central charge Qn to be about +100 units (see Rutherford model)

text: The 1913 experiment[edit]

text: In a 1913 paper, The Laws of Deflexion of α Particles through Large Angles,[15] Geiger and Marsden describe a series of experiments by which they sought to experimentally verify the above equation that Rutherford developed. Rutherford's equation predicted that the number of scintillations per minute s that will be observed at a given angle Φ should be proportional to:

text:
csc4Φ/2
thickness of foil t
magnitude of central charge Qn
1/(mv2)2

tag: ol

text: Their 1913 paper describes four experiments by which they proved each of these four relationships.

text: To test how the scattering varied with the angle of deflection (i.e. if s ∝ csc4Φ/2) Geiger and Marsden built an apparatus that consisted of a hollow metal cylinder mounted on a turntable. Inside the cylinder was a metal foil (F) and a radiation source containing radon (R), mounted on a detached column (T) which allowed the cylinder to rotate independently. The column was also a tube by which air was pumped out of the cylinder. A microscope (M) with its objective lens covered by a fluorescent zinc sulfide screen (S) penetrated the wall of the cylinder and pointed at the metal foil. By turning the table, the microscope could be moved a full circle around the foil, allowing Geiger to observe and count alpha particles deflected by up to 150°. Correcting for experimental error, Geiger and Marsden found that the number of alpha particles that are deflected by a given angle Φ is indeed proportional to csc4Φ/2.[15]

text: Geiger and Marsden then tested how the scattering varied with the thickness of the foil (i.e. if s ∝ t). They constructed a disc (S) with six holes drilled in it. The holes were covered with metal foil (F) of varying thickness, or none for control. This disc was then sealed in a brass ring (A) between two glass plates (B and C). The disc could be rotated by means of a rod (P) to bring each window in front of the alpha particle source (R). On the rear glass pane was a zinc sulfide screen (Z). Geiger and Marsden found that the number of scintillations that appeared on the zinc sulfide screen was indeed proportional to the thickness as long as said thickness was small.[15]

text: Geiger and Marsden reused the above apparatus to measure how the scattering pattern varied with the square of the nuclear charge (i.e. if s ∝ Qn2). Geiger and Marsden didn't know what the positive charge of the nucleus of their metals were (they had only just discovered the nucleus existed at all), but they assumed it was proportional to the atomic weight, so they tested whether the scattering was proportional to the atomic weight squared. Geiger and Marsden covered the holes of the disc with foils of gold, tin, silver, copper, and aluminum. They measured each foil's stopping power by equating it to an equivalent thickness of air. They counted the number of scintillations per minute that each foil produced on the screen. They divided the number of scintillations per minute by the respective foil's air equivalent, then divided again by the square root of the atomic weight (Geiger and Marsden knew that for foils of equal stopping power, the number of atoms per unit area is proportional to the square root of the atomic weight). Thus, for each metal, Geiger and Marsden obtained the number of scintillations that a fixed number of atoms produce. For each metal, they then divided this number by the square of the atomic weight, and found that the ratios were more or less the same. Thus they proved that s ∝ Qn2.[15]

text: Finally, Geiger and Marsden tested how the scattering varied with the velocity of the alpha particles (i.e. if s ∝ 1/v4). Using the same apparatus again, they slowed the alpha particles by placing extra sheets of mica in front of the alpha particle source. They found that, within the range of experimental error, that the number of scinitillations was indeed proportional to 1/v4.[15]

text: Rutherford determines the nucleus is positively charged[edit]

text: In his 1911 paper (see above), Rutherford assumed that the central charge of the atom was positive, but a negative charge would have fitted his scattering model just as well.[16] In a 1913 paper,[17] Rutherford declared that the "nucleus" (as he now called it) was indeed positively charged, based on the result of experiments exploring the scattering of alpha particles in various gases.

text: In 1917, Rutherford and his assistant William Kay began exploring the passage of alpha particles through gases such as hydrogen and nitrogen. In an experiment where they shot a beam of alpha particles through hydrogen, the alpha particles knocked the hydrogen nuclei forwards in the direction of the beam, not backwards. In an experiment where they shot alpha particles through nitrogen, he discovered that the alpha particles knocked hydrogen nuclei (i.e. protons) out of the nitrogen nuclei.[16]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: When Geiger reported to Rutherford that he had spotted alpha particles being strongly deflected, Rutherford was astounded. In a lecture Rutherford delivered at Cambridge University, he said:

text: It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you. On consideration, I realized that this scattering backward must be the result of a single collision, and when I made calculations I saw that it was impossible to get anything of that order of magnitude unless you took a system in which the greater part of the mass of the atom was concentrated in a minute nucleus. It was then that I had the idea of an atom with a minute massive centre, carrying a charge.

text: Accolades soon flooded in. Hantaro Nagaoka, who had once proposed a Saturnian model of the atom, wrote to Rutherford from Tokyo in 1911: "Congratulations on the simpleness of the apparatus you employ and the brilliant results you obtained". The conclusions of these experiments revealed how all matter on Earth is structured and thus affected every scientific and engineering discipline, making it one of the most pivotal scientific discoveries of all time. The astronomer Arthur Eddington called Rutherford's discovery the most important scientific achievement since Democritus proposed the atom ages earlier.[10]

text: Like most scientific models, Rutherford's atomic model was neither perfect nor complete. According to classical Newtonian physics, it was in fact impossible. Accelerating charged particles radiate electromagnetic waves, so an electron orbiting an atomic nucleus in theory would spiral into the nucleus as it loses energy. To fix this problem, scientists had to incorporate quantum mechanics into Rutherford's model.


document_title: Smokey and the Bandit

question_text: name of dog in smokey and the bandit

question_tokens: name of dog in smokey and the bandit

text: Smokey and the Bandit

text: Plot[edit]

text: Wealthy Texan Big Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick) and his son Little Enos (Paul Williams) seek a truck driver willing to bootleg Coors beer to Georgia for their refreshment. At the time, Coors was regarded as one of the finest beers in the United States,[3] but it could not be legally sold east of the Mississippi River. Truck drivers who had taken the bet previously had been caught and arrested by "Smokey" (CB slang for highway patrol officers, referring to the Smokey Bear–type hats worn in some states).

text: The Burdettes find legendary trucker Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) competing in a truck rodeo at Lakewood Fairgrounds in Atlanta; they offer him $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors beer from Texarkana, Texas back to Atlanta in 28 hours; Big Enos has sponsored a driver running in the Southern Classic stockcar race and "when he wins I want to celebrate in style." Bandit accepts the bet and recruits his partner Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to drive the truck, while Bandit drives the "blocker", a black Pontiac Trans Am bought on an advance from the Burdettes, to divert attention away from the truck and its illegal cargo.

text: The trip to Texas is mostly uneventful except for at least one pursuing Arkansas State Trooper whom Bandit evades with ease. They reach Texarkana an hour ahead of schedule, load their truck with the beer and head back toward Atlanta. Immediately upon starting the second leg of the run, Bandit picks up runaway bride Carrie (Sally Field), whom he eventually nicknames "Frog" because she is "kinda cute like a frog" and "always hoppin' around". But in so doing, Bandit makes himself a target of Texas Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), a career lawman whose handsome but slow-witted son Junior (Mike Henry) was to have been Carrie's bridegroom. Ignoring his own jurisdiction, Sheriff Justice, with Junior in tow, chases Bandit all the way to Georgia, even as various mishaps cause his cruiser to disintegrate around them.

text: The remainder of the film is one lengthy high-speed chase, as Bandit's antics attract more and more attention from local and state police across Dixie while Snowman barrels on toward Atlanta with the contraband beer. Bandit and Snowman are helped along the way via CB radio by many colorful characters, including an undertaker with his hearse driver and their funeral procession, an elderly lady, a drive-in waitress and all her customers, a convoy of trucks, and even a madam who runs a brothel out of her RV. Neither Sheriff Justice nor any other police officers have any knowledge of Snowman's illegal manifest.

text: The chase intensifies as Bandit and Snowman get closer to Atlanta; moments after crossing back into Georgia, Bandit comes to the rescue when Snowman is pulled over by a Georgia State Patrol motorcycle patrolman, and state and local police step up their pursuit with more cruisers, larger roadblocks, and even a police helicopter to track Bandit's movements. Discouraged by the unexpected mounting attention, and with just four miles left to go, Bandit is about to give up, but Snowman refuses to listen and takes the lead, smashing through the police roadblock at the entrance to the fairgrounds. They arrive back at Lakewood Speedway (while the Southern Classic race is being run) with only 10 minutes to spare, but instead of taking the payoff, Frog and Bandit accept a double-or-nothing offer from Little Enos — a challenge to run up to Boston and bring back clam chowder in 18 hours. They quickly escape in one of Big Enos' Cadillac convertibles, passing Sheriff Justice's badly damaged police car by the side of the road. Bandit first directs Sheriff Justice to Big and Little Enos, but then in a gesture of respect, reveals his true location and invites Justice to give chase, leaving Junior behind.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Burt Reynolds as Bo Darville ("Bandit")
Sally Field as Carrie ("Frog")
Jerry Reed as Cledus Snow ("Snowman")
Jackie Gleason as Sheriff Buford T. Justice ("Smokey")
Mike Henry as Junior Justice
Pat McCormick as Big Enos Burdette
Paul Williams as Little Enos Burdette
Macon McCalman as Mr. B
Susan McIver as Hot Pants
George Reynolds as Sheriff George Branford
Laura Lizer Sommers as Little Beaver
Michael Mann as Branford's Deputy
Lamar Jackson as Sugar Bear
Ronnie Gay as Georgia Trooper
Quinnon Sheffield as Alabama Trooper
Alfie Wise as Alabama Patrolman
Pat Hustis as Tow Truck Driver
Ingeborg Kjeldsen as Foxy Lady
Ben Jones as Trucker #1
Joe Klecko as Trucker #2
Hank Worden as Trucker #3

text: Production[edit]

text: Director Hal Needham originally planned the film as a low-budget B movie with a production cost of $1 million,[2] with Jerry Reed as the Bandit. It was not until Needham's friend Burt Reynolds read the script, and said he would star, that the film was aimed at a more mainstream release; Reed would now portray Bandit's friend Snowman (Reed would eventually play the Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit Part 3). At that time Reynolds was the top box office star in the world. In the original script Carrie was called Kate while Big Enos and Little Enos were called Kyle and Dickey. Bandit's car was a second generation Ford Mustang and the prize for completing the run was a new truck rather than $80,000.[4]

text: Burt Reynolds revealed in his autobiography that Needham had written the first draft script on legal pads. Upon showing it to his friend, Reynolds told Needham that it was the worst script he had ever read but that he would still make the movie. Most of the dialogue was improvised on set.[5]

text: Universal Studios bankrolled Smokey and the Bandit for $5.3 million, figuring it was a good risk.[2] Just two days before production was to begin, Universal sent a "hatchet man" to Atlanta to inform Needham that the budget was being trimmed by $1 million. With Reynolds' salary at $1 million, Needham was left with only $3.3 million to make the film. Needham and assistant director David Hamburger spent 30 hours revising the shooting schedule.[2]

text: "Buford T. Justice" was the name of a real Florida Highway Patrolman known to Reynolds' father, who was once Police Chief of Riviera Beach, Florida. His father was also the inspiration for the word "sumbitch" used in the film, a variation of the phrase "son-of-a-bitch" that, according to Reynolds, he uttered quite often.

text: Jackie Gleason was given free rein to ad-lib dialogue and make suggestions. It was his idea to have Junior alongside him throughout. In particular, the scene where Sheriff Justice unknowingly encounters the Bandit in the "choke and puke" (a roadside diner) wasn't in the original story, but rather was Gleason's idea.

text: Before Gleason was cast in the film, Richard Boone was originally considered for the role of Buford T. Justice.[5]

text: Sally Field only accepted the part after her agent advised her that she needed a big movie role on her resume. Reynolds actively pushed for her casting after Universal initially resisted, claiming Field was not attractive enough. Field enjoyed making the film, but remembers that virtually the entire project was improvised.

text: Reportedly, Needham had great difficulty getting any studios or producers to take his project seriously, as in the film industry, he was better known as a stuntman. He managed to obtain studio attention after his friend Reynolds agreed to portray the Bandit in the film.

text: The movie was primarily filmed in Georgia in the cities of McDonough, Jonesboro and Lithonia. The scenes set in Texarkana were filmed in Jonesboro and the surrounding area, and many of the chase scenes were filmed in the surrounding areas on Highway 54 between Fayetteville and Jonesboro for a majority of the driving scenes, Mundy's Mill Road, Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia State Route 400, I-85 (Pleasant Hill exit), and in McDonough. However, the scene where they drive through the Shell gas station was filmed in Ojai, California on the corner of Ojai and El Paseo. Much of the surrounding scene comes from that immediate vicinity. The scene featuring the racetrack was filmed at Lakewood Speedway at the old Lakewood Fairgrounds on the south side of Atlanta. The roller coaster seen in the movie was the Greyhound. It had not been used for some time and was repainted for the film. It was destroyed in Smokey and the Bandit II and a flashback scene in Part 3.[6]

text: The film's theme song, "East Bound and Down", was written virtually overnight by Jerry Reed. He gave Needham a preview of the song, and when initially he got no reaction from the director, offered to rewrite the song. Needham, however, liked the song so much he assured Jerry not to change a word. It became one of Reed's biggest hits and his signature number.[7]

text: The area around Helen, Georgia was also used for some locations. The scene where Buford T. Justice's car has the door knocked off by a passing semi truck was shot on Georgia State Route 75, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Helen. The tow truck driver was a local garage owner, Berlin Wike.

text: The film features the custom clothing and costuming of Niver Western Wear of Fort Worth, Texas.[8] Niver provided much of the western attire worn in the film, as well as the custom-made sheriff's uniforms (waist size 64 inches) that Jackie Gleason wore throughout the film.

text: Reynolds and Sally Field began dating during the filming of Smokey and the Bandit.

text: While made to take advantage of the ongoing 1970s CB radio fad, the film added to the craze.[9]

text: Though the film Moonrunners (1975) is the precursor to the television series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-1985), from the same creator and with many identical settings and concepts, the popularity of Smokey and the Bandit and similar films helped get the Dukes series on air. Three actors from the main cast of The Dukes of Hazzard appear in small uncredited roles in Smokey and the Bandit: Ben Jones, John Schneider and Sonny Shroyer (who played a police officer in both). In return, Reynolds portrayed the Dukes character Boss Hogg (originally portrayed by Sorrell Booke) in the film adaptation The Dukes of Hazzard (2005). Reynolds is also referenced by name in several early episodes of the series.

text: Vehicles[edit]

text: Needham saw an advertisement for the soon-to-be-released 1977 Pontiac Trans Am and knew right away that would be the Bandit's car, or, as Needham referred to it, a character in the movie. He contacted Pontiac and an agreement was made that four 1977 Trans Ams and two Pontiac LeMans 4-door sedans would be provided for the movie.[10] The Trans Ams were actually 1976-model cars with 1977 front ends. (From 1970 to 1976, both the Firebird/Trans Am and Chevrolet Camaro had two round headlights, and in 1977, the Firebird/Trans Am was changed to four square headlights, while the Camaro remained unchanged.) The decals were also changed to 1977-style units, as evidenced by the engine size callouts on the hood scoop being in liters rather than cubic inches, as had been the case in 1976. The hood scoop on these cars says "6.6 LITRE", which in 1977 would have denoted an Oldsmobile 403-equipped car or a non W-72, 180 hp version of the 400 Pontiac engine. All four of the cars were badly damaged during production,[11] one of which was all but destroyed during the jump over the dismantled bridge. The Trans Am used for the dismantled bridge jump was equipped with a booster rocket, the same type that was used by Evel Knievel during his failed Snake River Canyon jump. Needham served as the driver for the stunt (standing in for Reynolds) while Lada St. Edmund was in the same car (standing in for Sally Field during the jump). By the movie's ending, the final surviving Trans Am and LeMans were both barely running and the other cars had become parts donors to keep them running. The Burdettes' car is a 1974 Cadillac Eldorado convertible painted in a "Candy Red" color scheme, and is seen briefly at the beginning of the movie and as Bandit, Snowman, Fred, and Frog make their escape in the final scene.

text: The film also made use of three Kenworth W900A short-frame semi trucks, which Jerry Reed can be seen driving, each equipped with 38-inch sleepers. Two units were 1974 models as evidenced by standard silver Kenworth emblems on the truck grille, and one unit was a 1973 model as evidenced by the gold-painted Kenworth emblem on the truck's grille signifying Kenworth's 50 years in business. The paint code for each truck was coffee brown with gold trims, and the 48-foot (15 m) mural trailer used was manufactured by Hobbs Trailers in Texas with a non-operational Thermo King Refrigeration unit. This is obvious, because there is no fuel tank on the underside of the trailer to power the refrigeration unit, and the unit is never heard running.[12]

text: Legal status of Coors beer[edit]

text: In 1977, Coors was unavailable for sale east of Oklahoma. A 1974 Time magazine article explains why Coors was so coveted that one would be willing to pay the Bandit such a high price to transport it. Coors Banquet Beer had a brief renaissance as certain people sought it out for its lack of stabilizers and preservatives. The article says that future Vice President Gerald Ford hid it in his luggage after a trip to Colorado in order to take it back to Washington. President Dwight D. Eisenhower had a steady supply airlifted to Washington by the Air Force. The article also mentions Frederick Amon, who smuggled it from Colorado to North Carolina and sold it for four times the retail price.[13] The lack of additives and preservatives meant that Coors had the potential for spoiling in a week if it were not kept cold throughout its transportation and in storage at its destination. This explains the 28-hour deadline.[14]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Smokey And The Bandit: Music from the Motion Picture

Soundtrack album by Various artists

Released
1977 (1977)

Genre
Truck-driving country
country rock
country
bluegrass
rock

Length
41:11

Label
MCA Records

Producer
Sonny Burke

Singles from Smokey And The Bandit: Music from the Motion Picture

"East Bound and Down"
Released: August 1, 1977

tag: table

text: The theme music, "East Bound and Down", was sung and co-written by Reed (credited under his birth name, Jerry Hubbard) and Dick Feller. It became Reed's signature song and is found on multiple albums, including Country Legends and his live album Jerry Reed: Live Still. In 1991 it was arranged for orchestra by Crafton Beck and recorded by Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for their album Down on the Farm. Several other groups, such as US rock band Tonic, have also covered it. Reed also penned and performed the song for the opening credits, entitled "The Legend", which tells of some of The Bandit's escapades prior to the events of the film, and the ballad "The Bandit", which features in several versions in the movie and on the soundtrack. Reed's hit not withstanding, Bill Justis is the first name on the credits for the soundtrack as he composed and arranged original music throughout the film. Musicians such as Beegie Adair and George Tidwell played on the soundtrack as part of long careers in music. Legendary five-string banjo player Bobby Thompson is also heard prominently towards the end of "East Bound and Down." The soundtrack album was released in 1977 on vinyl, cassette and 8-track through MCA Records.[15]

text: Track listing[edit]

text:
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length

1.
"The Legend"
Jerry R. Hubbard
2:09

2.
"Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["bandit"] – Burt Reynolds, Voice ["snowman"] – Jerry Reed)

0:28

3.
"West Bound And Down"
Jerry R. Hubbard, Dick Feller
2:45

4.
"Foxy Lady"
Bill Justis
2:51

5.
"Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["bandit"] – Burt Reynolds, Voice ["smokey"] – Jackie Gleason, Voice ["snowman"] – Jerry Reed)

0:56

6.
"Orange Blossom Special"
Ervin T. Rouse
2:40

7.
"The Bandit"
Dick Feller
3:00

8.
"March Of The Rednecks"
Bill Justis
2:22

9.
"If You Leave Me Tonight I'll Cry"
Gerald Sanford, Hal Mooney
2:47

10.
"East Bound and Down (Incidental CB Dialogue Included)" (Voice ["bandit"] – Burt Reynolds, Voice ["snowman"] – Jerry Reed)
Jerry R. Hubbard, Dick Feller
4:42

11.
"The Bandit"
Dick Feller
2:48

12.
"And The Fight Played On!"
Bill Justis
2:22

13.
"Ma Cousin Plays Steel"
Bill Justis
3:11

14.
"Hot Pants Fuzz Parade"
Bill Justis
4:48

15.
"Incidental CB Dialogue" (Voice ["bandit"] – Burt Reynolds, Voice ["snowman"] – Jerry Reed)

1:05

16.
"The Bandit (Reprise)"
Dick Feller
2:17

Total length:
41:11

text: Reception[edit]

text: Smokey and the Bandit was a smash hit at the box office. With an original budget of $5.3 million (cut to $4.3 million two days before initial production),[2] the film grossed $126,737,428 in North America,[16] making it the second-highest-grossing movie of 1977. The worldwide gross is estimated at over $300 million.[2]

text: Film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film a good rating (3 stars out of a possible 4) and characterized it as "About as subtle as The Three Stooges, but a classic compared to the sequels and countless rip-offs which followed."[17]

text: Gene Siskel, in his review in the Chicago Tribune, gave the film two stars and complained that the film failed to tell the audience when the clock started on the beer run, thus removing suspense throughout the film concerning how long remained to them. He also claimed that Bandit is never made aware of Frog's leaving Junior at the altar, which is why the Bandit continually asks why a Texas sheriff is chasing him. However, this is inaccurate: within seconds of Bandit picking her up, Frog tells him "there is a wedding in search of a bride", and goes on to explain her ill-advised romance with Junior, as Bandit holds up the CB mic for Snowman to hear.

text: The film's editors, Walter Hannemann and Angelo Ross, were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. It currently holds an 81% "Fresh" rating on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 27 reviews.[18]

text: Burt Reynolds rated the film as the one he most enjoyed and had the most fun making in his career.[19]

text: Legendary film maker Alfred Hitchcock stated that the movie was one of his favorites.[20]

text: Upon meeting Burt Reynolds, Billy Bob Thornton told him that the picture was not considered as such in the south, and was considered more of a documentary.[21]

text: Smokey and the Bandit was released in the United Kingdom on August 28, 1977 and was a sizeable success there, garnering positive reviews.[22]

text: American Film Institute Lists

text:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – Nominated
AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated
AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:

Bandit (Bo Darville) – Nominated Hero

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: Trans Am[edit]

text: After the debut of the film the Trans Am became wildly popular with sales almost doubling in two years of the film's release, to the delight of General Motors; in fact, it outsold its Camaro counterpart for the first time ever.[23] Reynolds was given the 1977 vehicle used during promotion of the film as a gift, though the car itself never actually appeared in the film. Because of the popularity of the movie and the sales success of the Trans Am, then President of Pontiac Alex Mair promised to supply Reynolds with a Trans Am each year. Owing to his financial difficulties, in 2014 Reynolds put his vast collection of artwork and memorabilia up for auction, including the Trans Am. High estimates for the car were up to $80,000, but that was dwarfed by the actual sale price of $450,000. Also up for auction was a go-kart replica of the car, which sold for nearly $14,000.[24] In 2016, Trans Am Depot, a Florida-based automobile customization company, announced that it would build 77 Trans Ams that would be modeled after the car that Reynolds drove in the 1977 original, despite Pontiac having been discontinued by GM in 2009. These new models were built off the Camaro platform (the very same one that the real Firebird and Trans Am used), came with Pontiac arrowhead, flaming bird and Bandit logos, as well as instrument panels, center consoles and hood scoops emulating their 1977 counterparts, and were signed by Reynolds. Some differences included the use of a supercharged 454-cid (7.4-liter) Chevrolet-sourced engine that put out 840 HP, and four round headlights, which appeared on the 1967-69 Firebirds/Trans Ams only; the actual 1977-81 models had square headlights.[25]

text: Diablo sandwich[edit]

text: The diablo sandwich ordered by Sheriff Justice in the Arkansas barbecue restaurant scene has entered popular culture as a minor reference to the film. While no authoritative source identifies the composition of the sandwich, there are several possibilities. A segment of the CMT program Reel Eats used a sloppy joe-style recipe consisting of seasoned ground beef, corn and sour cream.[26] Another proposal, based more closely on images from the film and the shooting location of the scene (at an Old Hickory House restaurant in Georgia), is pulled pork and hot sauce on a hamburger bun.[27]

text: The Bandit Run[edit]

text: First run in 2007 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie, The Bandit Run was the brainchild of Dave Hall, owner of Restore A Muscle Car. A group of Trans Am owners and fans of the movie take part in an annual road trip from Texarkana to Jonesboro, Georgia, recreating the route taken by the characters in the film.

text: The Bandit Run quickly caught on and has become a fixture, most recently celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie with a special screening of the film attended by Burt Reynolds and a recreation of the jump undertaken by Bandit and Frog across a river.[28]

text: Mobil 1 commercial[edit]

text: In 2014, petroleum company Mobil 1 produced television commercials, featuring NASCAR star Tony Stewart, closely based on the film. Called Smoke is the Bandit playing on Stewart's nickname, the commercials featured him as the Bandit opposite Darrell Waltrip who played Snowman and Jeff Hammond as Buford T. Justice. The story replaced the Coors beer with Mobil 1 products. The adverts poked fun at the film and even featured a Pontiac Trans Am and a cover version of the song East Bound and Down. The commercials were produced after Stewart mentioned that the movie was one of his favorites.[29]

text: Television censorship and alternative versions[edit]

text: When Smokey and the Bandit first aired on American network television in the early 1980s, censors were faced with the challenge of toning down the raw language of the original film. For this purpose, they overdubbed dialogue deemed offensive, which was (and remains, to an extent) common practice. The most noted change made for network broadcast was the replacing of Buford's often-spoken phrase "sumbitch" (a contraction of "son of a bitch"; usually in reference to the Bandit) with the phrase "scum bum". This phrase achieved a level of popularity with children, and the 2007 Hot Wheels release of the 1970s Firebird Trans Am has "scum bum" emblazoned on its tail. The TV prints of the first two Bandit films are still shown regularly on television, although a few TV stations aired the unedited version in recent years as some of the phraseology (i.e. "(son of a) bitch", "ass", etc.) became more acceptable on TV.

text: The original actors mostly redubbed their own lines for the television version, except for Gleason. Actor Henry Corden, who voiced Fred Flintstone after original performer Alan Reed died, was used to replace a considerable amount of Sheriff Justice's dialogue. This is fitting, as Fred Flintstone was a parody of/homage to Gleason's character Ralph Kramden and The Flintstones was a parody of/homage to The Honeymooners.

text: In the UK, the heavily dubbed version was shown for a number of years, particularly by the BBC. However, in more recent years, the original version has been shown (on ITV, a commercial channel), usually with the stronger language edited out, often quite awkwardly and noticeably.

text: The theatrical release itself had a few lines deleted, including a creative edit in which Sheriff Justice tells a state trooper to "fuck off." His expletive is obscured when a passing big rig sounds its horn. At the time, using the 'F' word would immediately require an R rating which the producers were looking to avoid. This clever self-censorship allowed the film to avoid this rating and reach a much larger audience.

text: In 2006, a DVD re-release was issued of Smokey and the Bandit featuring a digitally-remastered audio track with 5.1 Dolby-compatible surround sound. It should be noted however that many of the film's original sounds were replaced. For instance, the diesel engine start and run up sequence in the opening sequence of the film was completely dubbed over with a totally new sound. A few other examples of "sound effect replacement" occur when Bandit takes off after managing to get a reluctant Cledus involved in the bet, and after he comes to a screeching halt on a roadway moments before picking up Carrie. Some of the original sound effects (such as Cledus' dog Fred's barking) and music (such as the final chase to the Southern Classic) were removed and not replaced. (Note: earlier DVD releases and the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of the film have the original soundtrack intact.)[30]

text: Major portions of the audio 'background' have been modified with different engine sounds or tire squeals from the original film. The updated version of the film features sounds inaccurate for what would be produced by the Trans Am or the numerous other Pontiac vehicles in the film. The original film had correct sounds that were usually recorded live as the action took place.

text: Some TV versions also feature a longer version of the scene where Cledus wades into the pond after Fred.[31]

text: Spinoff[edit]

text: This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2013)

text: A series of television movies aired in 1994. The car featured was a Dodge Stealth.

text: Reboot[edit]

text: In late 2017, Universal Pictures acquired Edgar Wright to direct a reimagining/reboot of the first film, due to the summer of 2019 release.