Can Explosions Deflect Bullets? 2 MILLION FPS - The Slow Mo Guys

[@theslowmoguys]

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!

[@thegoldengood4725]

😱

[@renztv1131]

Watching in ph

[@607]

Thanks for explaining! It is noticeable indeed. I wonder what happened!

[@RazyrDiarmait]

​@DontReadMyProfilePicture.57Too late.

[@Science-Vlog]

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.

[@ShaneDavisDFTBA]

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. 😂

[@Azaerel]

Glad to see I'm not the only one with that thought

[@mattorendorff8858]

First thing I noticed.

[@troybradford856]

.... but then they wouldn't have an excuse to redo the test all over again 😉

[@clairecelestin8437]

No amount of planning can overcome that natural Gav and Dan energy

[@connormccarter9581]

I was thinking the same thing.... A bit of paint on some plywood would have fixed this.

[@warspite1995]

In the quiet of my mind, you guys are now the spiritual successor of the mythbusters and I love you for it.

[@skie6282]

Just need a discovery channel logo

[@Soken50]

They're niche slow-mo myth busters

[@zsavage1820]

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..

[@penultimateh766]

Heck they have 14 million subs, they are way bigger than Mythbusters ever was. Why would they even bother attempting TV?

[@beaverc2884]

These guys and the Mythbusters would have been really good friends. 😊😊

[@ElectroBOOM]

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

[@KamikazeSOF2]

Pasties are even better, but yes, somehow mark the previous shots.

[@slyderace]

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.

[@bigbrainboiii]

i think the bullet would have deviated more if it was timed with the shockwave instead of the fireball

[@whatsappvideos9665]

bullet being cylindrical dosent help i think. explosive bursts probably need flat planes for effect.

[@luvmechanix]

Just observing the position of the hole influences its position

[@FastwesleyFG]

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

[@HolyDeviant1]

THe second they were like "and now we need more power" I was teleported back in time to watching Mythbusters

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

Colorado School of Mines?? I already know what's Mine and not Yours. 😳😵‍💫

[@jupitersailing6911]

Grant would be proud of these lads 😊

[@CrazyManuel94]

I would love a Cement Truck v.s. TNT part 2. at 1.000.000 fps

[@SpiralDragoon]

@@CrazyManuel94 Hell yes, that would be awesome

[@deltadeka492]

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

[@iamnoone6740]

This needs more votes!

[@Kurosaka]

YESSSS

[@connorjohnson4402]

Yea that would be pretty amazing plus it would give a good visualization of the shockwave

[@AH-lw2bj]

Plug for the algo

[@theanyktos]

+

[@slipperywhale2486]

I’m currently a student at Mines, and I’m glad you guys enjoy your time here!

[@driverjayne]

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 😂

[@crazyrocketguy4687]

ditto, glad this video randomly showed up in my recommends. I wonder when they filmed?

[@EternalSeneschal]

@@driverjayne At least the explosions would be quieter. :)

[@Unfortunate_Circumstances]

I applied last week, crossing my fingers

[@bilbofloggins7713]

​@@driverjaynewe don't talk about the Colorado school of mimes. But if you see a mime running. Run.

[@plateless_dale9865]

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.

[@Anon-greyman]

Factual statement my guy

[@MrSnekLuuk]

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.

[@grumpyoldguy4817]

That would make a great art print.

[@1982rrose]

​@@grumpyoldguy4817it would make a great print, so many of their images would, not sure why they don't sell them.

[@luctan881]

ok

[@DhruvaDevOnline]

@@grumpyoldguy4817 I was thinking the same !

[@TheOmegaRiddler]

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

[@flippert0]

Came for the bullet, stayed for the shock waves. Stunning!

[@Hjylps]

Might even say you where blown away? 😄

[@adam.s007]

came for the video, stayed for the video

[@Patchnote2.0]

When you see them standing at the Colorado School of Mines, you know it's going to be a top-tier video.

[@ColoSchoolofMines]

Facts

[@1kreature]

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.

[@davidhilton8680]

Agreed... Get the dynamite out again...and blow up earlier... Cool as hell footage though.

[@Rrynarth]

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.

[@ForEverydayPeople]

​@@Rrynarthcan probably be solved in the same spot with a stiff board target.

[@antithedutchangeldragon6572]

And they need to use subsonic ammo, the shockwave from the 9mm will cut through the other

[@billant2]

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.

[@lawrancedoyle1543]

This is the essence of slo-mo. Way to go guys!

[@ross-carlson]

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.

[@Rad0905]

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

[@Roccondil]

And occasionally borrowing an even better piece of equipment from other KZbinrs...

[@chronovore7234]

Gavin also does a lot of slow mo for hollywood films.

[@etonawa]

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

[@C1Ansy]

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 KZbin stuff instead of a big TV show or something (not counting their TV-like slow-mo show they did for KZbin with a big production crew)

[@JaseAnimates]

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.

[@TimeBucks]

Super cool video.

[@buiphong7779]

i like it

[@supriyanto8401]

Thumbs up

[@musafirbillal]

Right

[@MdSameerali-dw6in]

👍❤

[@muhammadumair4208]

Good

[@doeszen]

I just graduated from Mines and I had no idea yall have been here. Makes me even more proud of it. Helluva Engineer

[@aliceharper4087]

bit late but big gz on graduation!

[@theCodyReeder]

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.

[@Orofino6]

I agree

[@Robo-xk4jm]

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?

[@Robo-xk4jm]

just realized this is codys lab lol love ur stuff man

[@mrln247]

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.

[@NoNameIAm]

*smiles in Elite Dangerous* :)

[@SirPembertonS.Crevalius]

A few slow-mo "Myths" with Adam Savege would be amazing! Incredible footage as always as well :D

[@csn583]

This one reminded me of the "would an explosion blow you back away from it" myth. (Which was busted!)

[@RandomDudeOne]

Adam and Jamie.

[@pvic6959]

they dont like each other :( @@RandomDudeOne

[@pvic6959]

I was just thinking id want to see adams thoughts on this video hha

[@mikek4288]

redo the jamie slapping adam video at 100k

[@TheNinjafication]

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

[@hytekrednekbama4400]

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!

[@GerinoMorn]

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

[@2ndamendment176]

Yeah seeing what a gun that isn't rifled would probably give a bigger difference

[@firstmkb]

Good points! Who has a musket, C4, and an insanely high speed camera?

[@bobbythemedic]

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!!!

[@tokimodo2636]

Surface Area

[@kodj06]

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!

[@isthevro2106]

Can connect with me if possible.

[@samschreiber1640]

wouldn't it be more noticeable if they used tracer bullets?

[@themashedavenger5461]

What? Why would that be cooler? What would the distance change?

[@AmateurArson]

Bro just tryna flex

[@kurokasteele4830]

@@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..

[@BBcaskin]

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.

[@josephcote6120]

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.

[@jo_bro666]

What

[@jackcommons]

This is the same thought I had. Moving the C4 closer to the bullet may have a noticeable impact.

[@josephcote6120]

@@jo_bro666 Physics, my friend.

[@ryanj610]

@@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.

[@ralanham76]

Yes and trigger the c4 before the bullet gets there

[@braddavis8848]

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!

[@GeorgeGeorgalis]

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...

[@SpammitySpam]

I'm curious if the energy imparted over a few milliseconds of exposure to the 3000m/s explosion is even significantly more than you'd see over 1000yds in a light breeze.

[@0xABADCAFE]

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.

[@drunkenmessiah]

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!

[@numbereightyseven]

That's exactly the relevant factor. You could possibly even estimate the amount of deflection.

[@Xirpzy]

Who would have thought that bullets are designed to go straight

[@sirabdude14]

also the gyroscopic inertia from the rifling

[@syntheticmode]

How far they've come....from popping bangers in the backyard to filming at the school of mines. Good on you guys!

[@pioneerAv]

And throwing Molotovs at Dan's Gran's house

[@mikimomo97]

The "I heard various explosions earlier" by his grandad has to be one of my all time favorite quotes lmao @@pioneerAv

[@GenericaQwerty]

​@@mikimomo97 I still wish they put that quote on some merch 😂

[@minecrafter0505]

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.

[@Kamzik123]

Could get misaligned due to the shockwaves.

[@VEVOJavier]

​@@Kamzik123sounds like a skill issue

[@thevoiceofcake]

@@Kamzik123as long as the camera is further away from the explosion than the bullet is you will still get a stable shot

[@davidjohnsonsr1st]

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.

[@GHar94]

I love these mythbuster style videos, would be great to see a funded series testing the unknown

[@simonl4523]

I love how you planned all this, and then decided to use a pegged up paper target as your process to measure trajectory deviation

[@mizlia]

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!

[@samsplaying]

I'd love to see the bullet closer to the explosion. Like maybe a few inches away rather that a foot

[@calaverascommunityaudit7222]

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 😊

[@aimfar7946]

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.

[@JanStrojil]

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 KZbin, consistently.

[@MarkxTube]

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!

[@LeCharles07]

It get even more complicated when you have to account for the gyroscopic stability of the bullet.

[@MarkxTube]

@@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.

[@Thanos_Morningstar]

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 KZbin video explaining explosive reactor armor on military vehicles. That'll get you a better starting point for round two.

[@12b_engineer]

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

[@Thanos_Morningstar]

Water Impulse charge is a cutting charge. I don't suspect it would have enough concussion force to deflect the bullet.

[@matthewbergeron3641]

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

[@shable1436]

It's dollar store physics 😂

[@Thanos_Morningstar]

@@shable1436 😂😂

[@InvntdXNEWROMAN]

I would love to see this revisited with sub sonic rounds.

[@dkmooninite]

Came here to say this. A sub bullet shouldn't "out-run" the shockwave.

[@williamhanson2476]

Was just about the comment the same. A sub sonic round may interact far more with the pressure waves.

[@johndeerdrew]

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.

[@brucewright5061]

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.

[@MarkTillotson]

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.

[@brucewright5061]

@@MarkTillotson The whole point of the experiment was to find out if they could deflect a bullet with an explosion.

[@sorenpaulson6072]

It was great meeting you guys when you were here at Mines!

[@bakedpotato8756]

It's cool how big the world is but at the same time how small it can be.

[@calebbissonnette5600]

Honestly, this is one of the greatest, KZbin videos I have ever watched. When you slowed the camera down for the explosion with the Sparks, it looked exactly like the universe and the stars. To see the first second of an explosion like that was incredible! As a scientist, I commend you both! 🙌

[@Seekabro]

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

[@Emma-eq8pm]

This is so cool! I had zero idea these guys came here!

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

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.

[@MrE_]

Yea that's pretty smart

[@Complete.cyclepath]

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.

[@TheThingInMySink]

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.

[@Shootles]

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?)

[@turokforever007]

Bow and arrow would be cool to see

[@getreal2977]

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.

[@joeldh7567]

Consistently the most wholesome guys on this forsaken platform

[@Raquya]

"Does he know"

[@PebelWasTaken]

Oh no honey....

[@Arn._.]

Pretty sure Gav said some questionable things not that long ago

[@The_RC_Guru]

@@Arn._.oh where can I find that?!

[@cvkline]

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!

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

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).

[@mizlia]

​@@Robert_McGarry_Poems​My 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.

[@cogoid]

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.

[@cvkline]

@@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.

[@suomynonAyletamitlU]

@@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.

[@BradGryphonn]

1:30 I am super-impressed at the simplicity of the camera and explosive trigger mechanism. How cool!

[@DafiM264]

But why it's simplicity?

[@jaredhamilton2846]

You guys are great, love what you do. Super smart dudes having some fun, sign me up.

[@Q1745]

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!

[@HirschfeldWillamette]

The dynamics of shockwaves are so unbelievably cool :)

[@benjaminshaw852]

I'd be curious to see a larger, subsonic round. Wonder if there'd be a notable difference in the explosion's effect

[@RokinDokin]

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.

[@300andDeadStraight]

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.

[@methamphetamelon]

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.

[@daroccot]

inverse square law...

[@jennafreer9337]

I don’t think I’ve ever watched a slow mo guys video without learning something new, or feeling just happier in general after.

[@raydunakin]

This was fascinating, and yes, it felt very much like an episode of Mythbusters!

[@markradick9213]

Years later and your content has been just as good and better every time.

[@beltazzarsmalls1323]

fantastic video, as a graduate researcher who commonly uses high speed cameras for experiments, I love how technical you guys get while still keeping it fun and interesting, keep it up lads!!!

[@ThePineapple3112]

Loved you guys setting the scene! Always important to explain the set up and you guys do it well

[@abian54]

15:17 I would love to see a creeper explosion in slow motion!

[@atzincastellanos6778]

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.

[@disinclinedto-state9485]

One of the coolest you've done, and they're all great. I think we all want to see all those variations you listed at the end. Different guns, different ammo, solid target, different explosives, perhaps an explosive with shrapnel or shaped charge.... just to see those at 100,000fps... amazing!

[@loginvidea]

Gav really did great job with all the timing, I would compare that to the shot out of tank barrel back then. Amazing job, will watch again.

[@matthasaname]

As a long distance shooter, I have so many thoughts on this. This was, easily, one of my favorite experiments you've ever done! Well done. You have single handedly given the haters a pile of ammunition to use against people that blame their bad shots on the wind. "If C4 doesn't affect tragectory, how in the world would a gentle breeze!?" Oh boy, I can see them coming out of the woodwork already. Thanks guys.

[@realulli]

Well, you saw how much the wind affected the bullet - more than the C4. They mounted the gun in a jig that allowed them to basically shoot exactly the same way each shot, much more precisely repeatable than any human shooter. So, either the gun shoots inconsistently each time or the wind is actually affecting the bullet. So, the people blaming either gun or wind are probably right. No ammunition for the haters, on the contrary.

[@Frostbite08]

This was my exact thought. I think the reason there seems to be no deflection is how short the bullet's flight path is. If they could run this test reliably with a range over 100 yards or more, I bet the results would be different.

[@opus5770]

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

[@meh.7640]

i'd say the most important factor is the bullets distance from the center of the explosion. i'm sure you could also figure this out mathematically rather easily. you choose a rate of deflection that you would consider sufficient, take the bullets weight, shape and surface area, calculate the pressure per surface area that would do that and from there you can pretty much just tell how much explosive you need at what distance. and THEN you could get some awesome slomo footage of it =D

[@hacky97]

I was browsing the comments for someone that said this, really. Move the bullet closer to the explosion and there will be more changes on deflection.

[@meh.7640]

@@hacky97 yeah, i did the same and didn't find anyone saying this here either, so i posted it. seems obvious to me.

[@jacobcarter2262]

Such a cool idea! If you ever revisit this my recommendation would be to get a rifle with sub 1 MOA (less than 1” spread at 100 yds) and move the target to 100 yds away, keeping the explosive closer to the rifle. Since 100yds is the basis for how accurate a rifle is, you’d get a much better idea if the bullet was being pushed since you have a baseline performance to compare the test to

[@joe__]

would also vastly reduce the amount of insane variation with the target flapping all over the place 😂

[@Photosounder]

You'd need subsonic ammo because rifles typically produce much higher muzzle velocities like 2-3 times faster which would necessarily reduce how much you could hope to deviate the bullet (because it would spend proportionally less time in the explosion's thrust zone).

[@SquirrellyOtter]

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?

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

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.

[@malachimccoy4271]

These videos are FANTASTIC!

[@KingMuttley]

Lighting hitting a future video item will make it more powerful? Confirmed, Slow Mo Guys are doing Slow Motion creeper explosions

[@tomstravels520]

You called it

[@carvalhoguilherme]

You need to get Adam Savage and recreate the cement truck explosion that they missed the slow mo footage to be recorded.

[@theslowmoguys]

I still feel for Jeremy.

[@carvalhoguilherme]

@slowmoguys Got it now, Jeremy Wong! Still a legend in my book!

[@PotatoGamingGD]

Anyone could do this if they have enough money and skill, but something about Gav and Dan just make it so much better

[@ponyote]

Watching how the Colorado Mines team has responded to socal media since Mythbusters is utterly fascinating.

[@ThatPsdude]

15:15 Lighting making an object more powerful? Super charged Creeper perhaps?... 🤔 lol

[@yummychip3480]

Super cool video. Love to see your creative and unique moments captured in slow motion. potential video idea: swords colliding and seeing the live impact area on the metal and see how the shock travels from the blade into the hilt and into the person holding it.

[@jonathancarroll8202]

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.

[@D3kKromb0x]

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.

[@apoxuponme9575]

It's called the scientific method and Gavin is great at visually representing it

[@knaughta.masso-kist5944]

Great video, I must say that I was surprised by the results. Also the scenery in background of the last shot is gorgeous.

[@scungeworm]

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)

[@ralanham76]

Exactly

[@matthewbergeron3641]

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

[@ErikC_FPV]

Excited to have finally seen Ember at 2:18! Really looking forward to seeing what you guys film with it in the future. Fantastic video 🤘🏼

[@PokecraftGD]

ERA, explosive reactive armor. It explodes the projectile before it can actually damage the tank it’s mounted on, so kind of similar to this.

[@Jesus__Loves__Us__All]

I'm so glad you guys are back together and staying busy with the Slow Mo Guys channel! It really brings me joy to see things that we would have maybe never seen otherwise! You guys are the best!

[@icyjon923]

Were they not together for a bit?

[@renslo689]

during covid@@icyjon923

[@stone5against1]

​@@icyjon923they probably meant post-covid.. But yeah even then, they've been back together for a while now

[@Jesus__Loves__Us__All]

It was just Gav for a while, and I got the feeling that he missed his buddy in those videos, and the videos were far and few in between also. I've been watching on and off since the first big red balloon video in the backyard!

[@jkj420]

Fantastic video! I didn't even notice any audio issues. Thanks for doing these, guys!

[@shawnbailey6084]

Can’t get enough of this channel! You guys are great!

[@matthewbergeron3641]

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

[@alans172]

And anyhow, the shockwave, moving at Mach 1, won't catch the bullet, moving at Mach 1.1 (1250 ft/sec)

[@DieIndruk]

The mass of the bullet while travelling at such a velocity is much more than the force of the explosion being exerted upon it. Simply put, the explosion either has to 'push harder' (C4 pushes pretty hard, but there are better force-mulitplying options out there) or the bullet needs to get smaller. Still very cool and a fair experiment for a revisit! Thanks for the awesome entertainment always Guys!

[@JanStrojil]

It would be interesting to do the calculation of the force needed in such a short time to deflect a bullet with such a small cross-sectional area. Anyone good enough in physics to calculate that?

[@solandri69]

@@JanStrojil I don't think the problem is the size of the bullet. It's the short time of "contact" between the explosion and the ballet, and as OP said that air has a density 1/10,000 that of lead. So deflecting the bullet with a shock wave is like trying to deflect a thrown brick by brushing it with a feather. Wind can deflect bullets simply because of the (relatively) huge amount of time it acts upon the bullet. Incidentally, cross sectional area goes as the square of size, while mass goes as the cube. So smaller bullets (with smaller cross sectional area) would actually be easier to deflect. So good call by them to use a slow, small bullet.

[@Croesquared]

Mass ~= momentum ~= force. I don't know what you're talking about.

[@Mulakulu]

You could have moved the bullet closer to the explosion by either lowering the explosives or hiding the pistol and wire-paper and still aiming at the sandbags. This will put the bullet in a much more energetic part of the explosion, although I see this might be dangerous for safety reasons

[@kashgarinn]

One thing that might be affecting the result is whether the bullet is rotating, and by how much. A rotation often stabilizes the trajectory by a lot.

[@SerratedPVP]

They mentioned something like this around 15:15 Didn't quite say it outright like you did tho :)

[@michaelbaughman8524]

Just discovered these Slow Mo videos yesterday and have been binge-watching. They are fascinating! So cool.

[@gadget6623]

Given the pressure wave is dispersing with spherical propagation, shortening the distance from the charge to the bullet path would have had a massive difference on the forces on it. I'd have gone that way first.

[@EnderMalcolm]

Would be interesting to see you guys experiment more with Tracer Bullets. That might have also helped you see the bullet on your dark shots. Perhaps you could do a video of Dragons Breath?

[@taaffmaster]

Always good to see a new slo mo video! Happy Sunday everybody!

[@MJSherwood]

I like seeing the bullet spin with the light of the explosion above. That and the mad flappy target instead of some plywood

[@Ryan_honest]

I always feel like these vids aren't long enough. Job well done guys!

[@thesquisheee]

I think you results would been more consistent if your target was solid. You can see in some of the slowmo that the flimsy target moved before the bullet hit which would alter it's initial impact point. And the way the target moves would vary with each shot as the shockwaves move faster than the bullet. Definitely worth revisiting I think.

[@bryangoodwin6579]

I would love to see you do this again in a few years on a larger scale. Having the bullet go farther to possibly see if it deviates further down range would be interesting. Also, see if you can get your hands on some ERA(Explosive Reactive Armor) for a video down the line. I would love to see some experiments done with it.

[@jeremyrixon150]

This is a good idea! Use a better target that isn't affected by the explosion and first measure the accuracy without the explosion and then add the explosion. With the target far enough away, even small deflections would be clear.

[@Sotanaht01]

They need the bullet to pass closer to the beginning of the shockwave at the center. That would have meant moving the gun up or the C4 down in this experiment. The force of the shockwave is inversely proportional (to the third power) to its distance from center at the moment the bullet passes through, so for the greatest effect the bullet would be exactly at the point of the explosion. Since that's not possible then it needs to be as close as is possible.

[@Upliftyourbrothers]

It should be done at a 100 yard range, the rifle positioned further back on a solid mount, and the target 100m down range. That would tell you with a usable amount of precision. This flapping paper target at 5m isn't it.

[@bryangoodwin6579]

@@Sotanaht01 I like that logic.

[@KeeganAWhite]

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.

[@harrygreen6935]

The footage is flipping beautiful. Super cool & thanks for sharing them.

[@jeromeschwartz3699]

At this moment, this is my favorite Slow-Mo Guys video. I 100% thought the bullet wouldn’t even hit the target. I would have bet that the C4 would have a significant impact on the bullets. Nice video!

[@LiborTinka]

Explosives are very high energy at the point of explosion but that quickly diminishes with distance (inverse square law) - unless it's something like shaped charge. Bullets, on the other hand, are small, heavy and moving fast so they have high momentum, way higher than the shockwave at distance. Maybe if they exploded C4 right next to the flying bullet it might have an effect.

[@jeromeschwartz3699]

@@LiborTinka I agree with you and Gav. It would be cool if they had way more time to play around with the variables. I’m sure with enough iterations, they could achieve more deflection!

[@LiborTinka]

@@jeromeschwartz3699Yes. There is already a video of bullets colliding mid-air air (from SmarterEveryDay) so hitting a bullet with directed charge or close-up explosion would be cool, too :)

[@LiborTinka]

@@jeromeschwartz3699Yes. There is already a video of bullets colliding mid-air air (from SmarterEveryDay) so hitting a bullet with directed charge or close-up explosion would be cool, too :)

[@jeromeschwartz3699]

@@LiborTinka I saw that Smarter Every Day video! I was pretty impressed with the way he solved the, how do you safely load the second gun after you’ve loaded the first gun, dilemma!

[@joelhall9845]

The dudes are always great but what a creative idea. Amazing video👏

[@skythe83]

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.