Projectile Collisions

High-Speed Projectile Collisions with Currency
Christian Estes, Dylan Selinger, Daniel Beyer

November 1 - November 8, 2005

Introduction

The goal of our experiment was to examine high-speed projectile collisions at normal and abnormally low temperatures. Our hypothesis was that materials would become more brittle under low temperatures and break. To examine this, we placed a pellet gun in a rack and fired it downward into a quarter held by a clamp. The images were captured in a dark room using a two second shutter speed and a sound trigger to trigger a flash unit at the instant of collision. The images resulting from collisions at normal temperatures were very interesting. We found that there was a difference in the collision between a quarter and a penny as they are made of different materials. In both collisions the pellet shattered creating a radial deflection, however the collision with the quarter caused a spark, and the collision with the penny did not. We had trouble working with the cooled coins because they were difficult to handle and place into the clamp, however we did capture a few collisions. The cooled coins behaved largely in the same manner as coins at normal temperatures and did not become brittle enough to crack, but merely dented.

Method & Setup

Photo Journal

Photo Gallery

Discussion & Conclusion