Conclusion

    Our goal in this project was to use the high speed imaging techniques we have learned over the last quarter in order to capture images of the collision between a pellet and a CD.  Initially we planned to fire at the CD directly, but after some experimentation we decided to fire from the side in order to get the best images.  This is mainly due to the nature of a CD and how it reacts to such a collision.

    We held this CD in place over a pellet trap, firing upon it with a high speed pellet rifle from above.  We used a piezoelectric sound trigger attached to a delay unit in order to set off a flash to illuminate our subject.  We used a Minolta Dimage Z1 throughout our experiment, with only minor changes to our overall setup.  For our flash used a Vivitar 283, which we used a paper clip to short the thyristor in order to get the smallest flash duration possible.  For safety reasons we kept the camera behind a protective plastic shield to prevent damage from flying debris.  

    We started off shooting unaltered CDs, but after some experimentation we decided to drill holes in the CD so that it would shatter more thoroughly.  We took several pictures of unaltered CDs before this switch was made.  

    Throughout the project we encounter various challenges such as finding the right amount of delay for the flash, aiming the rifle at such a small target, and making the CDs shatter completely enough to result in a good picture.  We were successful however in getting some good images of our CDs shattering, as you can see in our photo gallery.