HOLDING AN EXPLOSION at 20,000 fps - Smarter Every Day 156

[@Mike-vg6gd]

Destin: “Its like 9 o-clock” Destins neighbor: “Only 110 Decibels tonight, he’s being thoughtful”

[@germanstorms2785]

That is by far the most underrated comment on earth

[@jya4676]

Lol

[@GOD-LOK]

Deserves more than a million likes

[@noxious89123]

The neighbour was crazy chill X)

[@MattChaffe]

Best comment on this video 🤣

[@TheTinyWheels]

I just love the way he laughs after every shot like a maniac A happy man with a happy potato gun

[@stephanieswanson8655]

yep

[@crafty4722]

Yup

[@connorthesledneck1398]

Every time he laughs it makes me laugh just as hard

[@saltybildo4415]

Theyll do that to a person lol

[@FoeHammerTime]

Have you ever met a sad man with a potato cannon? I haven't.

[@siddhantchaudhary4946]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="51">0:51</a> *2 days later... Man killed by high velocity potato*

[@iampranavkarra]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😆🤣😂🤣😂😆🤣😂😆🤣😂🤣😂😆🤣😂😆😆🤣😂😆😆🤣😂😆🤣😂

[@Mr.Tom_69]

This made my day 😂🤣

[@eaglegaming71]

LMFAOOO

[@caribbeanfilms6817]

@@eaglegaming71 Ahhhh

[@darkshadow756]

We need to ban assault potato guns their dangerous 🤣🤣🤣

[@TheRealAdam1012]

I've been watching for awhile. I'm a auto technician and your videos are always refreshing to watch. Nothing but problem solving and learning. If you only knew how good of a mechanic you would be

[@janeksobieralski7334]

With this man's willingness to analyze flaws, consider different ideas and find better options, he could be almost anything! Just a 26yo recovered addict, but as soon as I saw the first clip ignited from the back, I knew it had to be optimal, as the potato will leave as soon as it is pushed with enough pressure, and trying to increase the burn rate will not change the fact that there is a K(constant ratio) forcing the potato out, and increased pressure will have almost no impact on that besides backburn

[@christopherwillson4269]

He's an aerospace engineer.

[@TheKingofRandom]

I appreciate the beauty of this experiment

[@tree661]

Why isn't smartereveryday collaborating with mark rober, grant Thompson, and the backyards scientist?

[@leonelc29]

Oh hi! Your random appearance is random.

[@WastedDad]

It is beautiful

[@joshbigornia4797]

Its cool how the science you tubers watch other cool science you tubers videos. Good Job, guys keep YouTubing!! :D

[@theCodyReeder]

Hi Grant! Looking forward to seeing you next week!

[@6Foot4Honda]

one of the coolest channels on youtube! it was nice meeting you at vidcon today man!

[@Nalopotato]

vroom vroom!

[@dairissaldaks4768]

OMG! It's 6Foot. Dayum dude. Cool seing that you are getting ''Smarter Every Day''

[@ramennoodles7221]

I wish i could get to see him, love your channel btw

[@kerrermanisNL]

Whaddup 6foot!

[@bronsonstephens5799]

#jealous

[@funy0n583]

everyone: HE'S GOT A BOMB GET DOWN SmarterEveryDay: HOLDING AN EXPLOSION at 20,000 fps

[@duhduu6658]

Hahaha this is underrated

[@ERIK-457]

In this case, what do you mean with fps? feet per second or frames per second? i am not used to use the imperial system

[@funy0n583]

@@ERIK-457 frames per second

[@doapin6240]

@@ERIK-457 it’s frames per second

[@ERIK-457]

@@doapin6240 Ok

[@jeffvader811]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="454">7:34</a> When you get too close to the mic.

[@sprisier7953]

Jeff Vader it sounds exactly like my friends eating their mics

[@mengekyosyaringanKamui]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂✨✨✨

[@dylanfields6337]

Rip head phone users

[@kylesimpson6729]

This may be the only video i have seen where the video looks as cool as the thumbnail if not cooler.

[@surabhikolte4697]

Yeah

[@susmanjig.223]

daily dose of internet doesn’t clickbait eather

[@a1d2n54]

Quite true

[@thebaronv7909]

Watch styropyro

[@bradkabatow9599]

Agreed.

[@kcwidman]

You laughing at the blast made me smile and feel all warm inside. Thanks for a great video Destin!

[@BuckytheRaptor]

YES

[@sunmoon2225]

It's so satisfying watching him laugh like an amazed kid

[@JunaidAli-cu1vx]

Exactly...he is like an excited little kid..which makes me all excited for science too :)

[@audacitytheeditor3225]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="100">1:40</a> The SOUND of him pushing the potato in, I LOST IT!!!

[@thefox7938]

There is now a non-0 chance of getting hit by a potato at orbital speeds,AT NIGHT

[@MikkoRantalainen]

There's actually zero change to get into orbital speeds with plastic potato gun.

[@sweepsweep5572]

@@MikkoRantalainen but that potato hitting u might do enough damage to finish your stay on earth lol

[@thetruecanadian9318]

thats a good neighbor. " you do what you want on your side, ill do what i want on my side" wish all neighbors could be like that.

[@metanumia]

Agreed, very friendly neighbors! :)

[@Hexnilium]

Good fences make good neighbors. #libertarianism

[@xxashleythefoxx6765]

I bet his neighbors hate him LMAO

[@MorpheusOmikron]

His neighbors are getting a cut, I guarantee it. They have to deal with his insane bullshit. I wouldn't tolerate it if he didn't make it worth my while. *rubs hands together*

[@zachkristufek185]

@@MorpheusOmikron Good thing it doesnt matter what you think

[@BluSnake516]

Great Video! Like Dustin said, "There's multiple PhD dissertations in a potato gun." Built one for my high schooler to teach concept of stoichiometry and soon learned that I was also teaching pressure-volume-temperature lessons. We started with hair spray, but that didn't really teach the concepts, so we moved to propane as fuel. We built a "metering device" to deliver just the right amount of propane (4% in air, or 20% in pure oxygen) for our 4" x 48" PVC combustion chamber. We also added a brushless 12v computer fan to mix the propane/air mixture prior to ignition. To standardize our potato weights and shape, we cut them all 5" long and "cored" them into our 1-1/2" x 60" PVC barrel. Our original design used only one BBQ ignitor spark centered in the combustion chamber. Inclined at 45 degrees, our potatoes averaged 138 yards. Hypothesizing more sparks, means more burning wave fronts, faster pressure build up, and further distance, we increased the number to 2, 3, 4, 5 sparks evenly spaced w/in our 48" long combustion chamber. We averaged 157 yards w/ 2 spark points, 174 yards with 3 sparks, 180 yards with 4 sparks, and no further improvement with 5 sparks. Finally we purchased a rifled 1-1/2" x 60" PVC barrel online. That added nearly 100 yards to our distances!!! We averaged 266 yards with 4% propane/air, 4 spark points, and rifled barrel. Needless to say: Hearing protection is a must! Too scared to try 20% propane + pure oxygen in a PVC combustion chamber.

[@mitchellmaytorena1137]

pgootos You already did all the R and D. Now just find a manufacturer and market this product! You're going to be rich!

[@maniacal_engineer]

that is what a dad is supposed to be.

[@DouglasRadzanowskiJr]

Award for dad of the year goes to pgootos

[@ketzbook]

please share your results if you ever try the pure oxygen...I would be cautious about that too. I checked out your channel; you should share videos of your cannon.

[@sanjayproductions5690]

His name is destin

[@WickdPerfekT]

I need all my neighbors to be like that guy.

[@ankegernsk9545]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="360">6:00</a> like a red-hot thread, weird effect

[@oorahjoe]

There's a more efficient way that I found as a kid. Instead of loading the potato first, you just get an airtight seal in the muzzle, add your fuel to the chamber (carburetor choke cleaner or starting fluid) and then drive the potato down the barrel increasing the amount of oxegen in the chamber equaling a MUCH greater efficiency and stronger shot

[@mdexter3722]

TigerLand Paintball I was very surprised that he got that kind of thump out of his cannon doing it this way..? I just made some with my boys and we spray first then pressurize the chamber, like you said. Now on the hunt for the transparent piping...!

[@bradleyland]

The downside of this method is that you lose significant fuel atomization as the fuel condenses on the sides of the combustion chamber while you're loading. The effect of the compression you achieve by putting the potato in last is minimal compared to the loss of fuel atomization. Optimal combustion chamber to barrel volume is around 2:1 for most fuels, so if you cram the entire volume of the barrel into the combustion chamber, you've achieved a compression ratio of less than 1:1. Fuel atomization and air/fuel ratio play a much larger part in performance.

[@kingjames4886]

kinda safer to ram the potato down first tho...

[@guyward5137]

You know he’s going to test that theory. Lol

[@dustywelchcraneman6614]

@@kingjames4886 if was were worried about safety we would be playing with Lincoln logs lol

[@Criiies]

Wow, talk about clickbait -_-, didnt expect that from this channel. I just counted and theres actually only 19942 fps..

[@Moscato_Moscato]

And that estimates up to 20000 fps so your point is moot

[@zebigboss5121]

For real ?

[@Macfanize]

That's the joke, genius.

[@bobmat343]

+Deebo Molina Nothing goes over my head... I would catch it.

[@HeliosBeats]

I understood that reference

[@Fightre_Flighte]

I like how you simultaneously explained it was the ad portion, described what you were doing, and rushed (safely) to keep your audience around. No loss of flow. Just a little extra speed at the end

[@Cowabungas]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="73">1:13</a> so that's how they made the Skyrim level up noise

[@HeadsetHatGuy]

lmao

[@vickiesanders7519]

Destin, dude, your giddy laugh after every shot is So wholesome and beautiful. A man outside, a child inside, a scientist all around.

[@theCodyReeder]

My hand feels a phantom pain every time you fire the gun with your hand on the back. Brings back memories of when I tried using engine starter fluid and pure oxygen which blew off the end cap and injured my hand. But I am thinking that the flame front is compressing the gas but not igniting it so it would be better to add some stuff to the gun, like balls of copper wire, to break up the wave front and allow a more rapid combustion.

[@darkphilosopher9587]

Cody'sLab poets get this comment some more likes

[@sleestalk]

.. Jesus cody, engine starter fluid and pure oxygen?? youre lucky you still have a hand holy christ.

[@devenr6213]

a smaller tank would have more pressure, less kick, and more velocity, because the sides of a container tend to flex, and he has a lot of space for air in this container

[@TNUni167]

Could you please the link to the video?

[@robertsmith5323]

keep the back of that weapon clear

[@HalkerVeil]

So the big bang is probably our universe in Gods potato gun. And he's laughing at it in the slowmo footage he made. Suddenly everything makes sense.

[@Carlos-sr8km]

And Gods universe comes out of the potato gun we shot in slow mo footage.

[@theccc8318]

And whenever we make a potato gun like this and fire it, WE create an entire small Big bang, that makes all life...And that is why life will never end.

[@brefstank8398]

Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started. Wait... The Earth began to cool, The autotrophs began to drool, Neanderthals developed tools, We built a wall (we built the pyramids), Math, science, history, unraveling the mystery, That all started with the big bang (Bang)! "Since the dawn of man" is really not that long, As every galaxy was formed in less time than it takes to sing this song. A fraction of a second and the elements were made. The bipeds stood up straight, The dinosaurs all met their fate, They tried to leap but they were late And they all died (they froze their asses off) The oceans and Pangaea See ya wouldn't wanna be ya Set in motion by the same big bang! It all started with the big BANG! It's expanding ever outward but one day It will pause and start to go the other way. Collapsing ever inward, we won't be here, it won't be heard Our best and brightest figure that it'll make an even bigger bang! Australopithecus would really have been sick of us Debating how we're here, they're catching deer (we're catching viruses) Religion or astronomy (Encarta Deuteronomy) It all started with the big bang! Music and mythology, Einstein and astrology It all started with the big bang! It all started with the big... BANG!

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

"The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." Even as an atheist I have difficulties to deny that when looking at awesome slo-mo-footage of a potatoe gun.

[@jonahhillman6491]

+Bref Stank Awesome poem!

[@alexdelarge8772]

Destin, I love it when you lose it and just geek out! I totally get it!

[@TheGJRuppert]

Watching Destin giggle like a little kid makes me happy.

[@cubethesquid3919]

Two questions. 1. Is this legal. 2. How do I make one. Actually, forget question 1. I only care about making one.

[@lordofthegaurdians8364]

Cube the Squid 😄

[@randymc61]

jimbot70 I can't see how this, in any way could be considered a firearm. ATF doesn't even consider black powder rifles as firearms. anyone can buy them, including convicted felons. Some States might have some stupid laws, but the Feds should not care.

[@randymc61]

jimbot70 correct. btw, I didn't realise I had a typo in my post, until I came back to read yours.

[@RamesGamesLC]

I kinda assumed he'd have a video of him making one, but I guess I was wrong. Not that I want to make one, google is a thing. I just wanted to see his because it could be considered entertaining as well.

[@donaldoconnor7689]

I have built this although i had to use PVC pipe as opposed to the acrylic tubing in the video. totally legal as far as this goes cheap as well

[@jamiebrown4647]

my brain is just like "big explosion BOOM BOOM"

[@jamiebrown4647]

i dont science

[@frombatman2012]

U wut!?

[@dan428]

You should not be proud of your lack of curiosity

[@abduIla]

+Batman How dare you, you phony. IM BATMAN !!

[@chopinbloc]

Yeah, that is not a "big explosion". It's really cool and all, but no.

[@jankennetharan7190]

As a teacher, you really help me to teach my students in a very interesting way :) thank you!

[@user-ds9mx30j6a]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="54">0:54</a> The giddy/maniacal laugh and elation on his face is priceless.

[@tarrker]

"We can look directly into the science!" Awe yeah, son! :)

[@wizardmikey6773]

DON'T DO IT ITS GONNA HURT

[@stevengillespie6535]

So this is why my house keeps getting hit with potatoes at 9pm.

[@guyward5137]

That was fantastic I enjoy every second of the video and I got smarter. I can’t wait to tell my son about y’alls channel. Keep up the great work you are doing to educate your viewers. GW

[@ravvij9643]

That ignition from the center is freakin beautiful! And a bit hypnotic. I'd love to have a clip of just that on a black backdrop playing on a loop on my computers screen.

[@B0GlES]

Destin.. DESTIN... if you spray your combustible gas into the chamber first and seal it - then, push your potato down the barrel - you compress the gas and air - giving you a better bang :D

[@BlakieTT]

:O

[@Dragoslav_MD]

It could get much more dangerous, I guess...

[@ajinarul]

Pushing a tight potato down a sealed pipe,sure... -.-'

[@nargakon]

That's exactly how a 4 stroke engine works ;)

[@123Comrade]

It might pre-maturely explode due to the high pressure...

[@CdeCiencia]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="53">0:53</a> and <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="57">0:57</a> reminds me of Gollum hahaha

[@kristen0009]

martiii

[@danielharman4437]

Really? I would've thought it went better when ignited from the end

[@rec4472]

Martín para cuando vídeo??

[@ThePowerLover]

Too much Lord of Rings XD Turn back to make videos, without sensationalism now please.

[@-pyrosef-]

+Matias Quantum ya tu sabes

[@peterpaulyap7970]

The way he laughs after every explosions is gold.

[@infinitelmao]

yes

[@rodmullen64]

His joy at lighting off a neighbor startling explosion at 9pm is something I strive for

[@BrianMDPhD]

This is absolutely incredible! The slow mo sound is like something you'd hear in Resident Evil.

[@tylerscudder9358]

BrianMDPhD sure...

[@bowmin1]

That sound is probably added in afterwards. Can't slow mo sound unless you record it with a normal camera and distort it heavily. It's either artificial, or actually is recorded sound slowed down.

[@giin97]

Novus Gaming he credits where he got the slomo sound.

[@KruelxOEMxLBC]

the explosion sounds like the planet Saturn.

[@photosimonson]

There is no way to record sound at that speed that i know of.

[@PikaPetey]

this is excelent refference for future animations!! I want to animate an explosion now.

[@XxFreelancet]

You are gross

[@XXAcurseshadow3]

+Alec Johnson Traitor

[@commonsense6323]

Pika senpai

[@jaredsquirrels5242]

I wish you would at least make another channel for commenting dude, like you're puplar enough already, quit trying to freaking advertise your channel everywhere.

[@jaredsquirrels5242]

+Ludwig The Great popular*

[@jameskenney5623]

I don't know how I'm just barely seeing this video, but I've built so many of these in my life and have always sparked from the end. This was mainly because if the cap fails or the sparker fails, you just replace the cap, rather than the entire cannon, plus I didn't feel safe drilling holes in the chamber for fear of creating a weak point considering how much of a thump these create. Awesome video, thanks!

[@JETZcorp]

This video is GOLD if you're trying to explain to someone how a 2-stroke expansion chamber works. I don't imagine Destin is going to see this comment but I bet he would be absolutely fascinated by expansion chamber exhaust pipes and how they work. Once you understand it, it's completely mind blowing to know that there are big positive and negative pressure waves marching up and down the whole exhaust pipe 100 times a second, and that without them the engine would make scarcely half the power it does.

[@AvatarLandRazer]

your parents normally dont let you stay up this late? <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="55">0:55</a>

[@bertjesklotepino]

what kind of walls do you have? Paper walls? Havent ever seen a potato come through a brick wall.

[@bertjesklotepino]

***** i didnt hear anything, to be honest....as for sarcasm. I did read some. >;)

[@evanbennett3094]

Windows exist

[@moefag]

Evan Bennett what? Windows can break because of a potato? I'm glad I use Linux :D

[@iamlowtonez]

Well small towns we have things called sound curfew

[@domvasta]

You could plug the potato, spray the fuel, then push the potato down to the end to provide a higher partial pressure of oxygen in your combustion chamber.

[@TheEpicLinkFreeman]

this has been figured out centuries ago. hint: bullets and cannons

[@domvasta]

the ignition from the back of the chamber and the oxidizer balance was what I think he was referring to.

[@geraldhenrickson7472]

Maybe that is why he says there is enough information here for several PhD's [thesis}. He explains the physics a bit yet has left the actual data gathering to those PhD candidates. That is when the elimination of variable gets serious. This is a really fun video to watch...

[@spikester]

Attaching a small battery powered air pump (like from a portable sphygmomanometer) with a one way check valve is also a good way to pressurize the chamber with oxygen after stuffing the spud in. Much bigger bang. My old spud gun ran off 2AA batteries for both igniter and air pump.

[@TheMTrider16]

Engines do this with a 9:1 or greater compression ratio. The potato moving from the end of the barrel would be an insignificant change to the pressure in the chamber. Your thought is going the right direction, just not a significant enough change.

[@rollin18wheels]

Me: *sees thumbnail, starts laughing for 30 seconds before I click play* also me: why is KZbin just now making me aware of this video?

[@mikewatn2572]

I usually skip forward in videos. Almost did till realized it was you. Every ten seconds is something of interest.

[@Kram1032]

Ok so this probably is silly but what happens when you ignite: - "in the front" (so on the end of the chamber closest to the potato) - in multiple spots at the same time (back/center, back/front, front/center, back/front/center) - in an oxygen-enriched environment (for the extra danger) - after preheating the walls (to presumably make the combustion more efficient - this will take a lot of modification to work though) - if you add turbulences to mix the air (is there a small electric fan you could use in the chamber, which would survive the combustion? - this might act similarly to preheating, making combustion more efficient.)

[@qwerty123il]

+1 to answering those please! I think I can answer one, I found personally is the back is way more effective than the front, I haven't tried middle.

[@Kram1032]

I doubt front would be particularly effective. It'd probably have too little time to properly expand before starting to push out the potato or it might even have to rebound once, losing energy in the process, before it can move the potato at all. Still, for completeness' sake it would be interesting to see.

[@Cronuz2]

I would love to see different shapes of the chamber. Would ripples (like on a golf ball) on the inside make the mixture move differently?

[@Kram1032]

Different profiles or shapes in general would also be nice! Perhaps a sphere with a cone on one end , where the ignition is roughly at the sphere's center, would provide more oompf towards the potato end. It certainly would mean a lover surface area compared to the chamber volume which, I think, would mean a smaller region in which the gas would be cooled by the walls. And a golf-ball like skin might provide turbulence which, on one hand, would take a little bit of the energy out of the explosion but if, on the other hand, that means it's better mixed, the fuel might be burned more efficiently, overally giving a boost.

[@MPflugga]

Also, what happens with less fuel in the chamber (3, 2 or even 1 "mississippi") ?

[@greg669]

that was the best video i have ever seen in my life

[@ThreeXcore]

really? it was good but best?

[@greg669]

the bestest

[@boblydecker5951]

The audio during the high speed playback of the ignition is AWESOME. Great sound design for a film project!!!

[@oranecole8302]

This channel is no good for me, now I'm addicted and need to get back to work, lol. Thanks for the great experiments you do, it's really a magical experience being able to see the outcomes of your ingenious mind. Continue inspiring the next generation to do the same! Cheers, Orane

[@Mayhapse]

I made one of these with a friend for a 6th grade science project in 1997. We told our parents we were making a potato gun and they were like "Aww, okay sweetie". Me and my buddy used our lunch money that we had saved up and ended up using two screws through a 3" chamber with a piezoelectric BBQ ignitor and cap mounted striker ignition on two different models and tested them with three different brands of hairspray at the same inclination to figure out what was the best combustion method and fuel and measured how far the projectiles traveled before impact. We both got suspended and could not compete because our presentation used the word "gun" lol. Btw, piezoelectric middle-mounted wood screws with aquanet hairspray worked best.

[@briantruckinglanders6375]

Mark Turkali : Should've used the word " LAUNCHER". Oh well.

[@icuppu2]

Mark, thank you and your friend for your experiment in the 6th grade, and for sharing your Aquanet hairspray fuel findings.

[@jerrypeppler1484]

Potato stimulant, potato encourager, for the politically correct: potato empowerment. Flying not Frying!

[@chanceebersole3215]

Use word marker. Like paint markers. Were did all common sense go. Should not matter. Just be smart about it.

[@Thebluesniper477925]

Edible Ammunition.... War has changed!

[@cnano98]

Solving world hunger and world tension in one fell swoop.

[@emiledwards620]

...Giving a while new meaning to using "eat this!" as a battle cry.

[@silentt8161]

Call of duty potato warfare confirmed

[@28mayhem]

But... but.... War never changes...

[@RaidenTenrai]

War...war never changes...

[@hennesschulze136]

I watched this Video so often and i always love the way he laughs and gets excited. Also in other Videos. He has passion for whatever he's doing

[@pablopun2905]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="505">8:25</a> This is why I love Alabama. "It's your property you can do anything you want."

[@surrealengineering7884]

SAME!

[@insanitysoldseparately6429]

Destin, dude, your giddy laugh after every shot is So wholesome and beautiful. A man outside, a child inside, a scientist all around.

[@pablopun2905]

1:47 at .50 playback speed... I laughed for entirely too long

[@s41k05]

Wish you were my science teacher T_T

[@gamesandotherify]

Look up for Tyler DeWitt on KZbin, he is an online Science (biology, physics ...) teacher He works at the MIT and his courses are really interesting if you love science, it's not boring at all

[@s41k05]

MIT? no wonder then xD, He's awesome!

[@acecandy4787]

Any recommendations about a math teacher?

[@thegoldennugget.comawesome4229]

Ace Candy,NOONE LIKE MATH!!

[@haydencox5707]

Saiko Path I built one for a science project in fifth grade

[@bmxerkrantz]

Built a potato gun with dual ignitors nearly 1/3 the way along the tube (slightly towards rear to have it reflect off back slightly ahead of exiting). Would love to see how that actually worked with this setup

[@dougedwards4618]

So I know that you probably hear this a lot, but your shear joy when you set off your potato gun make me laugh with you. Keep up the great work. and I am hoping someday soon my work can help support yours... Hats off and goggles on!!!

[@RobertShaverOfAustin]

When I was a kid I used to explode empty plastic bleach bottles by filling them with oxygen + acetylene from a torch. In order to get the perforce proportions of oxygen to acetylene I did the following. 1. Fill the bleach bottle full with water. 2. Fill a washtub with 4 inches of water. 3. Light the torch and adjust the flame for a perfect burn. 4. Press the torch tip to the pavement to extinguish the flame. 5. Invert the bleach bottle in the washtub so that it was still full of water. 6. Put the torch into the mouth of the bleach bottle so that the oxygen + acetylene mixture displaced the water in the bottle. 6. When the bottle is empty of water and full of the perfect combustion mix, cap the bottle. This left me with a one gallon plastic bottle exactly full of combustible gas. Not acetylene + air but acetylene + oxygen. So I'd love to see you do something similar with your transparent potato gun and show is the slo-mo of that combustion event. But I'm not sure you should be holding the gun when you light it off. I used thin plastic bottles so that they did not generate any dangerously sharp shrapnel. :) Even as a kid doing stupid things, I was careful about safety.

[@cornfarts]

hope he does this!!

[@industrialdonut7681]

Robert Shaver those torches have oxygen in them already you mean?

[@lorenzo42p]

I love how youtube still can't make a functional website. long comments cut off with no link to expand.

[@normund8348]

This is how slow-mo firing guns in movies should look like

[@HistoricaHungarica]

Underexposured?

[@normund8348]

HistoricaHungarica Actual guns fired and filmed by 20000 fps camera, not CGI

[@TheKiroshi]

+Normax Eight You'll be seeing a lot non-action then.

[@TheKiroshi]

+Normax Eight You'll be seeing a lot non-action then.

[@L8dyAriel]

I'd love to see how Eli Roth or Tarantino would present this idea..

[@steveo1413]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="317">5:17</a> it's like watching the 1st nuclear test footage... Destin: I am become death, the destroyer of potatoes.. Hahahaha

[@appa609]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="455">7:35</a> That's how my buddy lost his eyebrows

[@scott4398]

The sound makes it about 20,000 times cooler, scientifically speaking.

[@scott4398]

George Corkery I had a feeling.

[@bjjjccec]

+George Corkery how do you know?

[@botisonny]

+James Lee High speed phantom cameras don't record sound. And there's credit given for the slowmotion sound designer at the end :P

[@ashellinthepit]

Hi there, I'm the sound designer. The reason we have to do the sound artificially is because while you can slow down visuals thousands of times, you cannot slow down sound the same way. Every time you halve the speed, you drop the frequency content by an octave. It doesn't take very many halvings until you have dropped the sound out of the human audible spectrum.

[@WRRocket9999]

+ashellinthepit I am really curious about how you do this process, do you use any of the actual recorded sound? Or is it completely artificially generated/from other sources? If you know of any references on this subject that you think are good I would be really interested to read them.

[@dstrbd223]

If you'll put the potato at muzzle end then spray your fuel and then push the potato down the barrel, you'll get compression and should in turn get a better burn and more power.

[@DMGDrifts]

that might be to much pressure for the tube

[@jgr144]

Robert Hathaway awesome thanks

[@nicholasc.5944]

yea that makes sense

[@lopezjose168]

i found out this works really good

[@industrialdonut7681]

DaneWolfOnTheBattlefield How would *that* be too much pressure when it can literally handle the pressure of the propellant burning like that

[@owensparks5013]

'I think my original hypothesis might be wrong...' This is what science is all about. Kudos.

[@taohawaii]

2 things. 1) Chamfer the end of the barrel slightly so that it compresses the potato as you load it (use the barrel to cut the potato. 2) Use less fuel. If you hit a slightly rich stoichiometry your deflagration rate will increase. When you load the potato, just insert it into the end. Then add fuel. After capping, push the potato down which will compress the gas and air mixture making the deflagration rate even faster. Ignite it quickly as the pressure will have a tendency to escape. This of course, assumes you have a well sealed combustion chamber. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes.

[@larrog8413]

Using MAPP gas (opposed to propane or hairspray), and having multiple ignition points, helps as well.

[@mateofernandez3139]

I'm guessing there will be a bigger louder and more effective explosion?

[@larrog8413]

Mateo Fernandez Faster explosion. The faster the gas burns, the more efficient it is, and the more power goes to launching the projectile.

[@mateofernandez3139]

Larro G oh ok because its faster its more efficient and powerful?

[@PhilJonesIII]

'Deflagration'.....not seen that word in a while :)

[@unexistingpromise]

Good idea to super impose the smarter every day just above the launcher, I'm sick of those freebooters getting views from good creatures like you. I am in full support of you doing this more in the future.

[@unexistingpromise]

and keep up the good work, love your content and have been a long time subscriber

[@richardpeterson6479]

100% agree. Freebooters are lame. Destin rocks. The watermark doesn't detract from the beauty or the learning. It's sad he has to do it, but I totally get it. If it came from someone else besides Destin, I might think it was lame, gratuitous marketing. But frankly Destin has taught me to see it a whole new way, and if anyone has the humility and good judgment to make wise choices about things like that, it's him.

[@stacyjordan632]

The pure joy on dustins face at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="77">1:17</a> just made my day.

[@sidkemp4672]

A great start. You could use this footage or new similar footage to determine the best way to fire your potato gun. The key is measurement. The velocity of the projectile at the moment of departure from the muzzle determines the distance and force of the shot. If you do all this again and focus on the potato accelerating through the barrel and time-stamp initial motion and departure from the barrel, you can determine length of time in the barrel. To be even more precise, mark the duration between the potato 1 foot from the end of the barrel and the potato exiting. From what I could tell, the center ignition got the potato moving sooner, but much more slowly.

[@SocialRegressive]

I read an interesting article a while back about the efficiency of homogeneous mixtures versus heterogeneous mixtures in diesel cylinders. The author initially guessed that a homogeneous mixture of fuel and air would provide a better burn for increased power and efficiency. In his research, he discovered that he was quite wrong, and that the extended burn generated by the heterogeneous mixture provided considerably more power over the length of the cylinder stroke. Watching the two burns in this video reminds me of the results he was getting. The pressure in the rear-ignition firing seems very linear. I'd be curious to see what the difference in velocities is.

[@Gromitz101]

What mixtures did he use, two different types of fuel, or different grades of gasoline?

[@SocialRegressive]

Gromitz101 They were the same fuels; just diesel from a local gas station. If I recall correctly, one was evenly mixed in the chamber as a fine mist, and the other was more coarsely injected.

[@steffankaizer]

exactly. i already knew all this because i am such a smart cookie but it would be super great to do moore research on it. he is using a too rich mixture. it is also a fast burning airosol. the peak pressure should be when the potato is in the middle of the barrel or rather the wave and pressure should be tuned to have the greatest sustained pressure when the projectile is at the end of acceleration. it may also be usefull to mix water in the fuel to slow the combustion down like some people do with cars. something like spiritus with water should work great. i wish i had access to pvc and a high speed camera and i wasnt so lazy then i would be shooting all day and night.

[@coopermosshart]

Shouldn't they be pretty much the same, so long as you had total combustion?

[@SocialRegressive]

Cooper Hart Curiously, no. I suppose the final product (a new volume of gas) would be the same, but the reduced rate of burn noticeably increased the acceleration of the piston through its entire stroke.

[@manassarpatwar]

hey destin... there is a channel, called real engineering... he wants to collab with you... so you might want to consider a collab...

[@rawrqler5246]

Yasssssss

[@rawrqler5246]

🌚🌚🌚🌚🌚

[@RYSEproductions]

Looks like a pretty cool channel :)

[@Kole1389]

Well, if he wants a collab, it's not that hard to send an email is it?

[@Lessinath]

He might not have Destin's email.

[@wickerman7245]

I am 33 and i want to be Destin when i grow up. Destin, you are inspiration to me every day. Thank you

[@Name-ps9fx]

This potato gun is your own personal giggle tube. Which sounds wrong, and yet oh so right at the same time!

[@pabloarroyo1023]

u should have added a muzzle break and explained how it works in slow motion

[@josephevans1798]

thats genius

[@StrelitziaLiveries]

Yeah drill holes at the end of the barrel

[@directioner826]

Your probably gonna need a pretty big muzzle brake

[@MxMattyB]

You only need a big one if you want it to actually counteract recoil, I could imagine a simple one along with voiceover along the lines of "The muzzle brake we made is undersized, as you can see the launcher moving back from the recoil, keep in mind that a larger one would reduce that" while watching a side view and then a top down view showing the muzzle brake jets with a "this is how it works" and maybe a bit about vector arithmetic

[@AmericanMusketeers]

it just blows the air back towards you so it like tries to sling the gun forward

[@HelloIamClay]

I love your neighbor.

[@MorganHunter92]

"it's your property you can do anything you want over here you ain't gunna bother me" -the dream neighbor.

[@Stoicgame]

Me the entire video: "Please tell me you informed your neighbors so they don't call the cops" The end of the video: "Oh, thank goodness."

[@TheBeccabus]

I thought that should be his Bible verse at the end for this one!

[@DallyBearNK]

I must say that firing a potato cannon at watermelons is a pretty strange thing; however, with all of Destin video's, I think that neighbor gave up caring what he does a long time ago! :P

[@sandilezikode7418]

I want to be as passionate about one as Destin is with his science stuff.. the joy in him is amazing whenever he's doing these things. Motivated.

[@mattilaiho7979]

It's a really nice experiment to show off the burning/explosion mechanics in a barrel. The lingering burning gases just brought an addition on my mind; I bet this would be a really good way to show off bore evacuators and how they exactly work! They're a really interesting and a simple-seeming piece of technology you find on newer cannons, whose purpose is to push the rest of the burning gases out of the barrel before the breech opens back up.

[@Truth974]

more like smarter every month

[@MrErit23]

Savage.

[@JohanBrodd]

It takes time to make these videos. Ofcourse he won't be able to do one per day.

[@Elicio]

triggered

[@audiogek]

Savage.....and funny!

[@darrentibbils9271]

Schooled.

[@adamzeno6014]

Destin’s excitement is literally the best thing ever

[@pyore2614]

Destin is a fine example of a human who hasn't ruined his brain with stress, trauma, or drugs.

[@snorttroll4379]

what kind of stress, trauma or drugs does cause problems and how does one avoid it?

[@toesovernose]

That was an excellent way to maintain the attention of your audience with visual stimuli whilst plugging Audible for their sponsorship. Well done...keep it up!

[@ALEXLAB]

Awesome!

[@alexromo889]

Tuff how this got 6 likes

[@heanlygaming5408]

that psalm by the end. its refreshing to see someone who loves science and at the same time is conscious of his religion

[@killerdalek]

It's nicer to see people who don't have a religion!

[@heanlygaming5408]

its certainly isnt new to see mentally handicapped people

[@killerdalek]

Heanly Hyral So just to be clear, which one of us are you saying is mentally ill?

[@heanlygaming5408]

trolling while parading as someone religious is quite the facade. someone who's dense and is parading as someone smart is quite amusing

[@energy_waves]

+Heanly Hyral True. He's rude on purpose. No honor in that.

[@v10squirrel]

I’m always intrigued with how long it take the recoil to kick back after the projectile leaves.

[@philippe5518]

That was awesome. It was very interesting to see the different ignitions. It would be good to try this again but to measure muzzle velocity for the different ignition points. Another thought occurred to me, if all the fuel is not ignited could it be because you put too much fuel in the chamber?

[@davidborngraver7709]

[O

[@davidborngraver7709]

I want a silencer for my house

[@keltar2007]

you should make a video on the glass droplets that are stronger than steel.

[@younganexx5530]

He did

[@Tensen01]

Prince Rupert Drops, he did one, search for it.

[@MoisesPadilla]

Sarcasm is strong with this one

[@Aperson-sv2hc]

Make one without a tail? That might be interesting!

[@BCGgaming1]

+Robert Rowland glad someone knew what they are talking about

[@TruAnRksT]

Hey do you know where those spuds are coming down? LOL

[@shrunkensewers]

Imagine if that potato landed in someone's hands and they started saying, "Ah hot potato, hot, hot, hot potato!"

[@Marshall1174]

Also, note that the explanation given about pressure equalization pulling a vacuum to draw new air into the chamber after projectile exit roughly depicts the continuous operation function occurring within a 2-stroke engine!

[@jlco]

I love the sound design for this, something about it is just so calming...

[@SunnyZ]

So dope! I never really liked the combustion spud cannons, always liked my pneumatic ones, so much more reliable, and I got a good work out using my bike pump to pressurise em. Awesome footage! And TOP POINTS for telling your neighbour about your 'science experiments' (lets face it, you just wanted to have some fun shooting spuds!) who didn't care about your shenanigans at all xD I wish my neighbours were that cool.

[@clintbandura9018]

pneumatic is always the way to go. buy a compressor, lol

[@warryen]

Those slow motion shots gave me the chills. They were absolutely beautiful.

[@kabadisha]

This would be fun to do with a perfect Hydrogen + Oxygen mix from electrolysis. Would be fun to compare footage and range achieved from complete combustion Vs incomplete

[@viktorsjogren]

Hey Destin. Make a lightsaber. I believe in youuuuuuuuuuu

[@directioner826]

We haven't discovered a lethal plasma yet, light sabers are plasma swords

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

+Piggiebits Official We have plenty of lethal plasmas, just not a way to produce a seemingly infinite amount of it, nor contain it in a psuedo-solid blade, nor a way to keep the hilt cool while emmitting two feet of extremely hot plasma. Soooo

[@denzelfarmer5393]

Also the small challenge of power two feet of lethal plasma in something the size of a flashlight.

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

Denzel Farmer Plasma isn't particularly dense, so you could just use compressed xenon or something. And once you figure out how to contain it in a particular area, you wouldn't need much of it. Batteries would run out pretty quick, though.

[@Real_MisterSir]

well plasma is very reactive to magnetism, so maybe controlling it with electromagnets? still the issue with intense heat and power usage

[@SkylerKehren]

One of my proudest achievements is convincing a college professor to let us build spudguns. He didn't find out that the campus PD consider them illegal until we were done, and let us sneak them out of the lab.

[@centralems40736]

Skyler Kehren “why no officer this is not a potato launcher. Potato launchers are illegal, this is a yam launcher.. perfectly legal.” I’ve used this excuse before with a laugh from the officer and him just telling me not to shoot it on property.

[@anon2497]

Why oh why can't I give a video extra thumbs ups?! Serriusly, 2 entire hands up Destin, that's both thumbs, all 8 fingers, and the fleshy bits they rest on! This was AWESOME!

[@naoromi9883]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="454">7:34</a> sounds like something out of ear rape.

[@naoromi9883]

BUWA

[@giin97]

R.O.B Nin look up pulsejets. He created a single pulse pulsejet, with a constant fuel supply the sound is constant and AWESOME.

[@williskapezz]

this was how I burned my eyebrows off a few years ago.... Hahaha ohhh the tatercannon

[@EatingWaffles]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="333">5:33</a> whoa for some reason that reminds me of a warp drive

[@jacobtomlinson3261]

wafflepiepancake play to many video games

[@EatingWaffles]

Jacob Tomlinson maybe, but a lot (if not all) sci-fi shows feature a similar type of warp-drivey effect

[@giin97]

wafflepiepancake yeah, slow mo swirl of flames looks just like a warp core powering up right before the potato fires. Little to no movement, then suddenly speeds up.

[@Malack2002]

Ryan Gunn

[@RichardCInman]

I made a potato cannon for my friend in Decatur and it was the best birthday gift he had ever received.

[@1kreature]

If you track the projectile in the barrel you see it slows down as the expansion stops and exits the barrel at less than it's peak velocity. For the given setup of gas mix, ignition point, chamber size and pressure the barrel is too long!

[@matthewvincent8971]

I think there is something you're missing. When combustion begins in the middle of the chamber, the expanding gas has momentum in both directions. The wave pushing backward does work (compresses) on the unburnt gases first. The energy is not wasted, but it has to reflect off the back and come forward again producing a late wave which does not contribute to the work on the potato. You might think that the burning gases in the middle as a unit would propel itself toward the front from the energy released toward the back but this is not the case. Therefore only the gases expanding forward contribute to pushing the potato out of the barrel.

[@darianbrown5098]

Matthew Vincent hmm. But wouldn’t the fact that twice the gas gets burned in the same amount of time contribute enough extra hot gasses to raise the pressure enough to help propel the potato? I don’t really know anything about this, but it appears to be what I observed.

[@joelkemp8281]

Aren't you merely effectively halving the size of the combustion chamber in that case as the equilibrium of the explosion would counter equal out a percentage of the force which is why the explosion occurred almost symmetrically?

[@daffidavit]

But suppose the wave pushing backward "does work"? Look where he is holding his hand. Suppose the piece of plastic didn't hold and blasted off backward. Where would his hand be now? Sorry, it's just the product liability law books I've read for fun.

[@imthatguy9053]

this is the most satisfying video ive watched