Can Explosions Deflect Bullets? 2 MILLION FPS - The Slow Mo Guys
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2023
- Firstly, headphone warning! Secondly, Can a ball of C4 alter the path of a 9mm bullet? Gav and Dan whip about an absolute selection of high speed cameras and try and find out.
Go to shadyrays.com and use code SLOWMO for 50% off 2 or more pairs of polarized sunglasses. Huge thanks to all the staff and students at the Colorado School of Mines for making this video possible.
Firefly Ember - freeflysystems.com/ember
Info on the Colorado School of Mines:
The Colorado School of Mines has been shaping the future of energy, mineral resources and space exploration for 150 years. Partnering with private industry and government, Mines is one of only a few institutions in the world with broad expertise in explosives education and research. Students here are gaining hands-on experience learning to find, develop, and process the world’s natural resources. Find out more here - www.mines.edu 
Развлечения
Had to do quite a lot of noise cancellation on our mics for this one. The audio track had a bunch of hiss and clicks on it as though no mics were plugged in even though all our mic audio was also there 🤔. So sorry for the slightly weird audio on this one!
😱
Watching in ph
Thanks for explaining! It is noticeable indeed. I wonder what happened!
@@DontReadMyProfilePicture.57Too late.
Such a creative concept to experiment, you are Amazing! i hope u try reducing the distance of bullet and explosive to almost touching that way as little as 20 gr can destroy the bullet, this was so far from the explosive high pressure zone. i mean 1 cm distance would do it probably.
I love how ridiculously complex the setup is, how precise everything has to be measured, and then the final target they’re using to measure success or failure is flapping around madly each time. 😂
Glad to see I'm not the only one with that thought
First thing I noticed.
.... but then they wouldn't have an excuse to redo the test all over again 😉
No amount of planning can overcome that natural Gav and Dan energy
I was thinking the same thing.... A bit of paint on some plywood would have fixed this.
In the quiet of my mind, you guys are now the spiritual successor of the mythbusters and I love you for it.
Just need a discovery channel logo
They're niche slow-mo myth busters
Mythbusters were armatures at best... or as we here in the professional world like to call them HACKS! ... Want an example? they did a quadrotor (drone) flying into a Ballistic Gelatin head at full speed.. as these hacks didn't seem to know is that when a quad is flying at full speed at a level altitude.. IT IS NOT STRAIGH AND LEVEL it's angle determines forward speed... they were half ass at their job.. and way over paid..
Heck they have 14 million subs, they are way bigger than Mythbusters ever was. Why would they even bother attempting TV?
These guys and the Mythbusters would have been really good friends. 😊😊
For the love of god! use a marker to mark your old bullet entries so you won't have to guess which one is the new one!! 😁 Nice explosions though! I bet the bullet is deflected a tiny bit, which may show better if target was like 1km away
Pasties are even better, but yes, somehow mark the previous shots.
imo, the biggest gripe is using PAPER target. Of course the blast is going to send the target flying and you won't get a consistent accuracy of hit markers. Next time, they should use a steel plate with a target painted on it.
i think the bullet would have deviated more if it was timed with the shockwave instead of the fireball
bullet being cylindrical dosent help i think. explosive bursts probably need flat planes for effect.
Just observing the position of the hole influences its position
PLEASE continue answering questions absolutely no one was asking, because this has to be one of your coolest and most interesting videos to date. So glad that 13 years later, you guys have still got awesome ideas for content, and have the resources to really take these experiments seriously.
Factual statement my guy
Super cool video.
i like it
Thumbs up
Right
👍❤
Good
Gavin starting off by saying its a very Mythbusters style of experiment at the exact moment i thought to myself "these two are the new mythbusters to me" is wild and i hope it continues forever
THe second they were like "and now we need more power" I was teleported back in time to watching Mythbusters
Colorado School of Mines?? I already know what's Mine and not Yours. 😳😵💫
Grant would be proud of these lads 😊
I would love a Cement Truck v.s. TNT part 2. at 1.000.000 fps
@@CrazyManuel94 Hell yes, that would be awesome
I think a revisit on this is in order. The shockwave happens so late vs the passing of the bullet. The flamefront and detonation is dead on the explosion's 6, but you can see the shockwave when the bullet has moved off to around 4 on the watchdial. Looks like you needed to set the detonation off even earlier.
Agreed...
Get the dynamite out again...and blow up earlier...
Cool as hell footage though.
To add to this.
The target needs to be further away. The shockwave was lifting the target paper and so putting the rounds "lower" on the target.
@@Rrynarthcan probably be solved in the same spot with a stiff board target.
And they need to use subsonic ammo, the shockwave from the 9mm will cut through the other
I think that the kinetic energy of the bullet is much greater than the gas ball and shock wave of the explosion. Several variables which might be worth investigating are a slower, larger bullet, and closer proximity to the explosion.
I am guessing that the gyro stabilizing effects of the spinning bullet make it very hard to push it off course. Whatever the reason, it is very cool to see in such slow detail. Awesome job!
Entire travel time down the rifling it is affected by steel. Explosion wavefront is quite dense, but it is still gas - and it would have to undo a lot of what steel did :D
Yeah seeing what a gun that isn't rifled would probably give a bigger difference
Good points! Who has a musket, C4, and an insanely high speed camera?
Additionally if the explosion isn't timed in front of the projectile, then it's less likely to deviate its trajectory.
You can't push on someone riding a bike from behind and expect them to go backwards.
If the explosion occurs before the projectile passes the central line, then it should definitely have 'more' of an effect upon trajectory than a moderate push upon the tail.
The deviations of the hypothesis is quite small, so more micro measurements would need to be accounted for, and also that damn target needs to be fixed in place without issue from the blast.....
It causes so much variability that it almost nullifies the accuracy of the results. Hehehe accuracy of results. Lol
Still love the video!!!
Surface Area
Came for the bullet, stayed for the shock waves. Stunning!
Might even say you where blown away? 😄
came for the video, stayed for the video
A few slow-mo "Myths" with Adam Savege would be amazing!
Incredible footage as always as well :D
This one reminded me of the "would an explosion blow you back away from it" myth. (Which was busted!)
Adam and Jamie.
they dont like each other :( @@RandomDudeOne
I was just thinking id want to see adams thoughts on this video hha
redo the jamie slapping adam video at 100k
You need to think of this like the timing of a car’s ignition system. For the most effective firing, you set the ignition to fire just before the piston is at the top of the cylinder. Therefore you need to look not only the explosion, but the shockwave. The bullet has already traveled quite a distance between the explosion and the shockwave.
I just graduated from Mines and I had no idea yall have been here.
Makes me even more proud of it.
Helluva Engineer
bit late but big gz on graduation!
I’m currently a student at Mines, and I’m glad you guys enjoy your time here!
Every time I drive past on my way to pick up beer loads at the coors plant, I always read it as "Colorado school of mimes," and now I will be imagining mimes with explosives 😂
ditto, glad this video randomly showed up in my recommends. I wonder when they filmed?
@@driverjayne At least the explosions would be quieter. :)
I applied last week, crossing my fingers
@@driverjaynewe don't talk about the Colorado school of mimes. But if you see a mime running. Run.
I would love to see this revisited with sub sonic rounds.
Came here to say this. A sub bullet shouldn't "out-run" the shockwave.
Was just about the comment the same. A sub sonic round may interact far more with the pressure waves.
Awesome video guys!
As a precision long range shooter I think your lack of bullet defection has more to do with the distance of the explosion to the target. It had very little distance/time to show you the deviation before it made impact with the target.
When shooting long range wind deflection of the bullet to the intended target is more important at the shooting location than it is closer to the target. Think, its has more time to deviate if there's wind at the gun than the close to target at say 1,000 yards.
Heck of a video, idea and effort! Very entertaining for sure!
I guess the explosion power is exponentially greater as you get nearer the detonation? If you can do it again, I'd like to see the bullet pass an inch by the explosive? Definitely speaks to the power of mass and velocity...
since you mentioned a storm coming in, an explosion going off in the middle of rain couple look super cool! Seeing all the rain droplets being displaced by the shockwave and stuff
This needs more votes!
YESSSS
Yea that would be pretty amazing plus it would give a good visualization of the shockwave
Plug for the algo
+
When you see them standing at the Colorado School of Mines, you know it's going to be a top-tier video.
Facts
I really think you should try to get the explosion ahead of the bullet, almost like a dome shield to try to divert it, so the bullet travels into the shockwave that is already there and moving.
I agree and believe the explosion needs to be directed, much larger, or pinpoint in timing/accuracy to properly deflect. The energy of the explosion dissipating so quickly combined with designing a bullet to travel through air with minimal resistance makes me think the shockwave has no chance unless that explosion is massive.
Watching how the Colorado Mines team has responded to socal media since Mythbusters is utterly fascinating.
Honestly, just that still frame of the first moment of the explosion with the bullet below it, the lighting of it, it's simply art. It's so beautiful.
That would make a great art print.
@@grumpyoldguy4817it would make a great print, so many of their images would, not sure why they don't sell them.
ok
@@grumpyoldguy4817 I was thinking the same !
I think at some point, Gavin just needs to go through the footage he has, take the best frames from all the videos they've done and get it put onto a canvas photo and do an art exhibition
I’m so glad you guys have just kept going. Never went too corporate, never became some crazy production. Still just 2 fun guys who slightly got some more money and equipment over time. Love it
And occasionally borrowing an even better piece of equipment from other RUclipsrs...
Gavin also does a lot of slow mo for hollywood films.
Maybe this sounds a little naive but I'm watching their sponsored segment most of the time just because they still have this chill vibe of regular guys doing stuff in their backyard and it feels fair
It's still just 2 fun guys, although they also occasionally have other people helping them (as you can see on this video for example). But yes, it's great they are doing their RUclips stuff instead of a big TV show or something (not counting their TV-like slow-mo show they did for RUclips with a big production crew)
It's their authenticity that keeps me tuning in after all these years. In an online landscape full of so many fake personas, it's nice that some still choose to just be themselves on camera.
Interesting video. I would also say that the tiny surface of the bullet, ignoring all stabilizing effects like rifling, inertia, etc., also allows not much energy transfer from the shock-wave to the bullet.
That's why active armor on tanks can effect an incoming RPG to some degree as the hollow charge is a bigger target then a bullet.
Even your floppy target ruined more precise results quite a bit, it was interesting to watch. A repeat with a solid target mounted stable would maybe bring a measurable result. But I am sure the result would be neglectable until the shot was supposed to be a precision shot on a very tiny target.
13:44 wow! 😳 The timing of that shot!!! You guys nailed it!! 😮 I’ve watched hundreds of your videos and this is the first I felt obligated to give a response. Don’t get me wrong I’ve felt like commenting before but this one prompted a response. Good one guys 😊
This is the essence of slo-mo. Way to go guys!
Also the essence of science - forming a hypothesis, testing that with as much control as possible, analyze the data and a theory is formed. Remember in science a theory is the highest level an idea/concept can reach as science never makes statements of fact, only for what the best current evidence demonstrates.
The bullet has a pretty tiny surface area for the shockwave to act on and is quite dense. I would've been more surprised if it had been significantly deflected. But who cares because awesome slowmo detonations are always epic.
Yea, the premise had me instantly thinking of that old Mythbusters episode where they tested if an explosion could 'push' a person in midair away from the point of detonation Hollywood style. The effect was so miniscule that they tried to 'replicate the results' by strapping a huge sail onto the dummy they were using and it still barely made a difference. That dummy was way, way less dense and carrying far less relative kinetic energy than a bullet in mid-flight. Based on those results I knew right from the start that the C4 never stood a chance against the bullet. Still a fun video!
That's exactly the relevant factor. You could possibly even estimate the amount of deflection.
Who would have thought that bullets are designed to go straight
also the gyroscopic inertia from the rifling
Years later and your content has been just as good and better every time.
Just discovered these Slow Mo videos yesterday and have been binge-watching. They are fascinating! So cool.
Thinking about it the bullet should actually have an easier time traveling through the super-heated plasma from the explosion because its density is probably less than air at that range. Kinda like how you could in theory fly a spacecraft through the outer parts of a big star like Betelgeuse.
I agree
what exactly is the theory of flying through the outer parts of a large star? as in the outer part of the visible atmosphere of a star that size isnt hot enough to melt a spacecraft? the near vacuum of space is less material & drag then the super hot gas and plasma emitting out so close to a star. isnt the sun's atmosphere technically also the solar wind after it leaves the main body of the star, meaning the star atmosphere technically doesnt end until it reaches interstellar space outside of it's solar system?
just realized this is codys lab lol love ur stuff man
I was wondering about that, even just the air pressure being lower inside the shockwave until things equalise. Such a fast explosion is going to have a very small time effect on the bullet.
Would be cool to see it done again but use a length of detcord along the flight path see if that changes things.
*smiles in Elite Dangerous* :)
The thing that I would adjust is the distance from the C4 to the bullets trajectory path. Assuming inverse square law, halving the distance would put 4 times the force on the bullet. For an object of small cross section, and the impulse time of the explosion, you'd need to really ramp up what you're hitting that bullet with.
What
This is the same thought I had. Moving the C4 closer to the bullet may have a noticeable impact.
@@jo_bro666 Physics, my friend.
@@jo_bro666 What do more force; explosion on 300 square inches, or same explosion spread over 10,000 square inches? Then you have to factor in time of force applied. The close the bullet is to the explosive, it receives more force, and for a longer duration. Explosions lose energy very fast the further you move away from them.
Yes and trigger the c4 before the bullet gets there
sound design of the slowmo was awesome, i know you're apologizing for the noise cancellation but you've made it up plenty with your skills.
The footage is flipping beautiful. Super cool & thanks for sharing them.
How far they've come....from popping bangers in the backyard to filming at the school of mines. Good on you guys!
And throwing Molotovs at Dan's Gran's house
The "I heard various explosions earlier" by his grandad has to be one of my all time favorite quotes lmao @@pioneerAv
@@mikimomo97 I still wish they put that quote on some merch 😂
Every time I saw the explosion wiggling the target I was like “how would they know if it was the bullet being moved or the target just jumping” lol great video lads
"I've witnessed, events so tiny and so fast, that can hardly be said that occured at all"
- Dr. Manhattan
It would've made more sense to have the explosion go off well before the bullet arrived. The shockwave is the only aspect that could fesibly deflect the bullet, so having it go off after the bullet had passed, or right as it is already passing, means the shockwave has to chase the bullet, or will push on the bullet from behind, so it doesn't give enough force in an opposing direction to alter the course. If the shockwave was already forming while a bullet was entering it from the front, thats when you may get the results you want since that is an opposing force that could result in it being deflected. It's kind of like asking whether or not water could diflect a bullet, but instead of shooting a bullet into water, you instead tried to pour water onto a bullet from above
And anyhow, the shockwave, moving at Mach 1, won't catch the bullet, moving at Mach 1.1 (1250 ft/sec)
As a test engineer for a weapons company, it would probably be even cooler to redo this test with a range of at least 100m and a 7.62 or 12.5 machine gun. Why not take advantage of this greater distance to add explosions to the trajectory. :)
I love your experiences! It's great, thank you!
Can connect with me if possible.
wouldn't it be more noticeable if they used tracer bullets?
What? Why would that be cooler? What would the distance change?
Bro just tryna flex
@@themashedavenger5461
In theory, the projectile will have less energy and go marginally slower such a notable range, leading toward a few small factors helping the explosion have a larger effect on the projectile.
Also might be why he's suggesting a larger caliber, though those calibers also have more propellant to be faster, somewhat mitigating the first few factors in terms of testing if it would have a greater effect..
Regarding the exposure, if you can get access to identical cameras (I know, probably not gonna happen with the good ones) you can create a mirror setup to perfectly overlay their perspectives and have each record at different exposures, allowing you to capture HDR footage in slowmo, or fade between the shots to always get it best exposed.
Could get misaligned due to the shockwaves.
@@Kamzik123sounds like a skill issue
@@Kamzik123as long as the camera is further away from the explosion than the bullet is you will still get a stable shot
I'm glad to see more content from you guys showing up again. I love you content.
i LOVE the sound changes when it went ultra-slow black and white. Good job editor.
From my limited military experience, you'll have to set off the explosive before the bullet gets to the explosive location to get any effect on the bullet's direction. In my mind the way you were doing it was like the reaction from a two stage rocket. There's another RUclips video explaining explosive reactor armor on military vehicles. That'll get you a better starting point for round two.
I agree. I also belive they used the incorrect explosive. It should have been a pushing charge. In fact, now I think of it, perhaps a water impulse charge would have the best chance. Though I suppose it would leave a question as to the water or explosion pushing the round
Water Impulse charge is a cutting charge. I don't suspect it would have enough concussion force to deflect the bullet.
Yea exactly. It's like asking whether or not water can deflect a bullet, but instead of shooting the bullet into water where the bullet is experiencing the proper opposing resistance, you instead tried to pour water onto the bullet as it was traveling and barely got any water on it. The shockwave from the explosion needs to have started and is expanding toward the bullet for the bullet to experience the most resistance that could lead to a delflection. If all it's doing is going off right above the bullet, or right behind the bullet then it's really only going to chase the bullet and not apply that much force to it
It's dollar store physics 😂
@@shable1436 😂😂
Consistently the most wholesome guys on this forsaken platform
"Does he know"
Oh no honey....
Pretty sure Gav said some questionable things not that long ago
@@Arn._.oh where can I find that?!
I love your videos! I've seen so many and I'm mesmerized everytime! I got a pair of shady rays about a month ago and I love them!
What the heck! This is so cool! I’m a second year Engineering Physics student Mines! I had zero idea you guys came to my school! Also, you would be correct in that Mines has a lot of explosives. We have an Explosives Engineering minor and a Pyrotechnics Club. I was part of the club for a little while as a freshman. This is so cool! Glad you liked our eccentric, nerdy and slightly unhinged school.
Also fun fact about Mines: if you minor in Explosives Engineering and combine that minor with certain majors (such as chemistry, mechanical, or chemical engineering) you get put on the government watch list! Also you are not allowed to take explosives classes together with anything regarding nuclear engineering here! 😂
It's always incredible to see some of the perfect timing they are able to get.
I love these mythbuster style videos, would be great to see a funded series testing the unknown
If you do revisit this again:
- Please make a target that cannot be moved by the shockwave, or fall down and be placed back in a slightly different position. Maybe a stack of cinder blocks with a target painted or pasted onto it
- Please mark your bullet holes so you can look back at each attempt and know which is which
- Please try to time it so that the shockwave itself hits the bullet when the bullet passes directly below (in the closest shot in this video the detonation began when the bullet was directly below, but by the time the shockwave caught up the bullet was some distance away)
- If trying new variables, either a larger or closer explosion could be interesting to see. And I agree that different bullet speeds would also be interesting
Thanks for such an interesting and fun video! The footage was again amazing, as always. Love your content
Really loved the more experimental way of coming forward with this subject 🙏
I have to say, I do love how i can never predict what the next video is going to be from you guys. Always feels like a pleasant surprise reading the video title.
Yes! It could be timing a bullet through a C4 explosion or Dan getting kicked in the balls while in a water balloon, one never knows. This is one of the best channels on RUclips, consistently.
15:17 I would love to see a creeper explosion in slow motion!
I’ve been watching you guys since the water balloon burst. It’s so fun to keep up with you! This was a great experiment!
I would love to see you do this again. Except this time use a sheet of 3/4" plywood as a target to minimize deformation due to the explosives.
I'd be curious to see a larger, subsonic round. Wonder if there'd be a notable difference in the explosion's effect
It was great meeting you guys when you were here at Mines!
It's cool how big the world is but at the same time how small it can be.
I like seeing the bullet spin with the light of the explosion above. That and the mad flappy target instead of some plywood
Loved this one! Definitely do that again with some more variables twiddled!
Pressure on the bullet must be related to the surface area. So you could calculate how much it gets deflected according to the weight. Probably more noticeable by distance. Another interesting effect might also play a role. As the explosion creates a high density area you might even get an additional lensing effect as the bullet moves into and out of the high pressure area. For this the explosion would need to be earlier and the bullet closer. Great footage!
It get even more complicated when you have to account for the gyroscopic stability of the bullet.
@@LeCharles07 Gyroscopic stability should only effect spin or wobble thus keeping direction and reducing aerodynamic fluctuations. A side force would only move the bullet, not change its relative direction. A lensing effect might give it a bounce or dive depending on the angle but probably not effect is as much due to its spin.
To be honest, I think revisiting with a shape charge would probably be the most effective method. Because instead of just an explosion going in all directions, you have a channeled release of energy.
Working out the timings and aim to use a shape charge to shoot down an in-flight bullet would make a pretty fun video on its own. And yeah, shape charges are different enough from a simple "blunt" explosive that maybe it could produce different results. The timing would have to be even more precise because if the bullet passes through anything but the very initial point of the molten copper jet it wouldn't really be any different from flying through the shock wave from a blunt explosive like this video. Although I think it could be done with the right hardware and software, just have the bullet hit two different break wires a few feet apart, use that to quickly calculate its velocity and adjust the timing of the shape charge to match. Also the rig that holds the gun will probably have to be mechanically attached to the rig that holds/aims the shape charge though, have to remove every variable you can to get a shot like that.
I am glad you pulled up target so we could see where bullets actually hit, because the whole time, I was thinking if the target wasnt flapping around we could get a better idea of where bullets truly struck.
Loved the footage of bullets going past explosions.
Them figuring out the timing of the bullet and the detonation of the C4 reminded me of the bullet fired vs bullet dropped episode of mythbusters. Of course, also reminds me of the can magnets deflect bullets episode. I wonder if the amount of force is just so small and the bullet going so fast that any change in the trajectory is basically wiped out by the natural scatter of the shots.
Love this Mythbusters energy. The nerd in me is absolutely champing at the bit to see different variables tested. This is such a cool idea, and it'd be neat to see more experiments!
I'd love to see the bullet closer to the explosion. Like maybe a few inches away rather that a foot
Going into this, I was curious how you were going to nail the timing given the speeds involved. The idea to use the bullet as part of the trigger is that kind of clever simplicity that I love and always seem to not think of.
Yea that's pretty smart
Thank the Lord there's a lot of people in this earth much much smarter than myself. Sometimes I'm clever. But these two are smart.
It's a very interesting method and it makes a lot of sense seeing as similar systems have been used for actual military applications. Some HEAT warheads such as the British Swingfire ATGM uses a similar system to set off the main charge, although it works in reverse. As the front of the missile impacts a target, it deforms hitting another conductive layer underneath it which then completes a circuit. HEAT warheads like this are very time sensitive in the sense that if the missile doesn't go off at the exact right time, the copper jet won't have enough time to form properly which means it won't penetrate.
Just to answer the basic question: Yes, it can. This is the concept behind Explosive Reactive Armor (roughly). It’s slightly different because ERA is meant to deflect incoming copper penetrators from High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) shells which have a secondary charge which fire a bunch of copper spalling at extreme temperatures from the shell. Essentially, it’s a shell with a shotgun inside, except the shotgun is armor penetrating, super heated copper.
I think to achieve this effect, you’d need a directed explosive in a roughly 45~135 degree arc facing the incoming bullet dead on so that the center of the shockwave directly opposes the force of the bullet. As you tested it, I think you are just seeing why rifling is so, so, so important for accuracy. That gyroscopic motion prevents significant lateral movement. If you have it directly oppose the bullet, the gyroscopic spin of the bullet shouldn’t be a factor I don’t think. Either way though, it’s always fun to see explosions and bullets!
If you wanted an idea of something new to do though, if you can get ERA and some type of HEAT shell/rocket, it would be absolutely fascinating to see how the ERA works and what it does to the copper.
The shimadzu at 11:13 created what looks like a chemical compound structure of spherical atoms into a molecule that's a 3d diamond shaped (regular octohedron) as it forms, such an amazing capture, very nice footage.
I love how you planned all this, and then decided to use a pegged up paper target as your process to measure trajectory deviation
hearing that there’s going to be more content at the school of mines makes me so happy :) these types of videos are the most interesting and entertaining to me
This is so cool! I had zero idea these guys came here!
Pretty sure you could sell that frame. The bullet hanging below the birth of an explosion is just wonderful.
A couple of things to consider for the revisit:
1. Get some walls up to shield the experiment from the wind.
2. Glue the target to a piece of plywood or some other hard surface to prevent the target from rippling in the shockwave.
3. Build a gun that has no, or very few, moving parts. And make it electronically fired. This should really boost the precision of the shots.
4. Develop an electronic firing system that runs both the firing of the gun and the C4. With this you should be able to very precisely adjust the timings of the gunshot and the explosion.
5. Build an explosive holding device that lets you adjust the C4's elevation and distance from the bullet's trajectory. This should let you keep constant the distance between bullet and explosion. Also, not having the C4 hanging freely will prevent inaccuracy from swaying.
I know this is probably way more effort than it's worth, but just in case...
Also, have you considered doing a collaboration with the guys from SmarterEveryDay? They have done some interesting stuff with bullets and precise timing, and probably have a lot of valuable experience they could share.
The live reaction commentary to the footage will always be my favorite part of your videos! It's just so genuine and delightful to hear the excitement, analysis, thought process, etc. when working through getting a shot.
Really love seeing a topic that is right in Dan's wheelhouse, a knowledgeable Dan is an excited Dan. Would love to see it with something heavier and slower (maybe a shotgun slug?)
Bow and arrow would be cool to see
This has already been done; during World War One they used "creeping barrages" of artillery to obscure enemy vision as well as blow away incoming enemy fire ahead of advancing troops.
RUclips has taught me that rifling and C4 improve absolutely everything.
You need to get Adam Savage and recreate the cement truck explosion that they missed the slow mo footage to be recorded.
I still feel for Jeremy.
@slowmoguys Got it now, Jeremy Wong! Still a legend in my book!
To deflect the bullet, I think you will need to have the explosion closer to the bullet. As it is set up, the force is somewhat spent by the time it gets to the bullet. Great stuff as always, guys. Pleased to see Dan in this video as well as Gav.
density of bullet 10,000 times that of the explosion gasses, you'd need to be much closer to the explosive (a cm or two) to have a reasonable effect I think when unconfined.
@@MarkTillotson The whole point of the experiment was to find out if they could deflect a bullet with an explosion.
I really expected you guys to have the bullet under the explosion faster and move it forward faster. I thought you guys were the best. This experiment didn't even test the real possibilities
Awesome experiment. You could have hung a stationary bullet like a pendulum behind the explosive, around the same distance as the traveling one, to see how strongly it is pushed by the shockwave.
I wouldn't have even thought to wonder if an explosion shock wave could affect the path of a bullet in flight. Wow, thanks for doing this experiment, guys!
It would be interesting to see the results from even more delay. Possibly have the bullet travel into the leading edge of the shockwave... (like 7o'clockish).
@@Robert_McGarry_PoemsMy thought too! If the bullet is earlier would it spend more time having to travel through turbulent air, and would that affect its path? Such a cool experiment.
Of course the explosion always pushes the bullet away. It is just that the effect is inversely proportional to the distance from the explosion. With the arrangement used in this demonstration, the effect was simply too small to see it clearly.
If the distance were reduced, and everything else were kept the same, the deflection would have been more clearly visible.
@@cogoid The other thing that occurred to me is that those shock waves are pressure waves, and pressure is force per unit area. The cross-section of the bullet that took those shock waves, powerful as they were, was a tiny area, so the total force imparted by the shock was probably very very slight compared to the energy the bullet had due to its mass and speed. With that hindsight, I am now no longer surprised that they didn't measure much of an effect, although I admit that wasn't the outcome I imagined before watching the whole video.
@@cvkline Specifically we are talking about difference in air pressure between one side of the bullet and the other. While there is some macroscopic air movement that provides an impulse, the explosion is basically releasing a large amount of energy that will relatively slowly diffuse outwards--with the exception of the shockwave, which travels at the speed of sound... and the light, which travels at the speed of light, but also doesn't matter here.. Once the pressure shockwave passes by the bullet, though, the pressure difference from one side of the bullet to the other is probably fairly minimal, multiplied by a small surface area and a short period of time interacting. Given more time or more surface area or more pressure, there would be a bigger effect, I'm sure.
This is an insane result, especially when you recall that the 9mm was the **second slowest** bullet from the Bullet Race video during the Super Slow Show.
Can you imagine how much force it would take to knock the Barrett 50 cal off course with this same setup?
There is more too it than just applying force, though I do in general agree the more high speed and heavy round will generally be harder to deflect there are other consideration that may throw in some surprises.
It might well be a more powerfully spun up bullet is effected more by the really high explosion derived windspeed over its own rotation from the Magnus effect than directly by the moving air and shock wave directly for instance. In which case you might find a faster and higher momentum bullet will actually be more affected than this 9mm entirely because it is also spinning faster. Would love to see them test it some more, though if I'm honest I don't think any sanely sized single explosion will actually meaningfully change a bullets trajectory - too much inertia and travelling through the explosion too fast.
My personal random thoughts:
Hitting on the front quarter of the bullet with the actual shockwave would do the most to deviate the bullet. It would cause a dramatic adjustment of the density of the travel medium at weird angles, so both the air resistance and the spin would be working to destabilize the bullet. I also expect that the blast of plasma did considerably less than the actual shockwave, which cannot by definition travel faster than air. So plasma at 3kfps would be making a small shockwave as it traveled, but the main wave was clearly visible travelling at ~1050FPS. Many of those shots where the plasma engulfed the bullet would not have had any interaction between the 9mm travelling supersonically and the main shockwave. I also think a spitzer type bullet, as compared to the round nose you were using, would have a greater sensitivity to random pressure waves, but I may be mistaken. If you get the chance, I would love to see an explosive lens or shaped charge used to put a dramatic overpressure or jet of metal vapor onto the side of a bullet in flight - but I imagine that might be a little much even for you all.
Edit: Maybe a collaboration with Brandon Herrera might get you the shaped charges...
There’s probably more to understand about the universe in our backyards than in space. Well done!
4:00 - I was actually concerned this would happen when that was first shown. For future tests like this, I'd suggest starting with .22 short, then .22 LR, and maybe .22 magnum, and move up from there. Maybe also get the bullet traveling much closer to the point of detonation so it's hit with (presumably) an even stronger burst of force.
inverse square law...
Dan hit it right on the money. As an explosives expert, I have no idea what will happen. I know there are some monstrous forces that will be at work here and I am very excited to see how they play with each other. I feel like I need to experiment with this one on my own.
Great video! Would love to see a second version with a traget that doesn't move
Was awesome meeting you (Gav) at the Austin airport heading to Denver (assuming it was for this video). Keep up the mind blowing videos guys!
So what we’ve learned is that adding C4 to my shooting fundamentals will increase my accuracy, Thanks for helping me with that! The IDPA guys won’t be quite as enthusiastic about this solution I’m afraid. 😂
Actually, I’m rather surprised that the trajectory of the bullet apparently wasn’t affected very much. 🤔
Wish I knew you were in CO, I would have loved to meet you guys!
Well with the inverse square law, surely you only need to put the explosion closer to the bullet. Each time you half the distance to the explosion, you multiply the force applied to the bullet by 4.
I was thinking the same the whole time. If it has no effect, why not just put it closer? But maybe timing would have become too difficult.
This experiment deserved an solid target, not just a piece of paper
That was so cool. That frame where the bullet is directly under the infant explosion is beautiful. I would hang that on my wall.
When you go again, you should try a smoothbore musket. Perhaps a musket ball will be more susceptible to explosive influence as it won’t have the rifling and aerodynamics stabilizing it like a bullet would. Establishing an accurate baseline with a target might not be super feasible, but the footage would be badass if it worked.
Also, if the explosives detonated before the projectile became perpendicular to it and the ground, the projectile would be receiving force pushing it back and down, rather than forwards and down. Perhaps this could help destabilize the projectile?
Anyways, thanks for making videos! Keep up the great work as always. See you in the next one!
The dynamics of shockwaves are so unbelievably cool :)
1:30 I am super-impressed at the simplicity of the camera and explosive trigger mechanism. How cool!
But why it's simplicity?
guys... This is the basic concept of ERA (Explosive Reactive Armour) which sees pretty widespread use on tanks. The concept is that it detects incoming projectile, detonates before they impact or after they have set off whatever shaped charge they use, and saps energy from or deflects the projectile or shaped charges stream.
The dudes are always great but what a creative idea. Amazing video👏
Lighting hitting a future video item will make it more powerful? Confirmed, Slow Mo Guys are doing Slow Motion creeper explosions
15:15 Lighting making an object more powerful? Super charged Creeper perhaps?... 🤔 lol
2:41 Wow, a whole 250 frames? That's incredible!
So I guess after that you need a new shimadzu?
16:12 Exactly. There's a huge difference between "slightly affected" and "not affected". The former means with enough power you might meaningfully deflect a bullet, and the latter.. Might warp our understanding of how these forces interact. I might be saying something completely stupid here, but it could have the same impact of learning that the shockwave was a ripple in spacetime rather than simply air density. Physicists would probably laugh at me for saying this, but this could be the kind of level of discovery we get if we learn more about it.
13:35 might be my favorite shot in all of Slow Mo guys. Make it a poster.
If you ever revisit this, try getting a grouping for the bullet rather than a single test shot. Make sure you circle the group with a marker too. That way you can easily tell when a bullet is out of the average grouping
And the target was way too close. No way to tell if the explosion had any affect on the bullet or not.
And get a more solid target, like at least a thick piece of plastic that is secured down.
@@billnunya9324 I mean, obviously the bullet is gonna be off a little bit, but its not like its gonna hit 45 degrees below point of aim because a bomb went off next to it
@@billnunya9324 You have to take windage into account though. A more solid target is probably needed to avoid it going all over the place, but getting too far away would allow more external influence, especially on a little 9mm.
I'd be curious to see this done with the explosion directly ahead of the bullet. Thinking of the bullet's trajectory like an orbit, if your aim is to reduce the velocity I think it'd be more effective to impart a force on the retrograde vector (rather than the radial in) ie. instead of trying to use the explosion to push the bullet down, push it straight backwards to hopefully maximise how much you can slow it down (and thus impact where it hits the target)
Exactly
Yea exactly. It's like asking whether or not water can deflect a bullet, but instead of shooting the bullet into water where the bullet is experiencing the proper opposing resistance, you instead tried to pour water onto the bullet as it was traveling and barely got any water on it. The shockwave from the explosion needs to have started and is expanding toward the bullet for the bullet to experience the most resistance that could lead to a delflection. If all it's doing is going off right above the bullet, or right behind the bullet then it's really only going to chase the bullet and not apply that much force to it
OMG the SOUND on 08:30 is so AWESOME
Another awesome presentation. Thanks for putting out the video.