Re: [Phys-l] Final velocity of bullets

[Stefan Jeglinski <jeglin@4pi.com>]

> We were not working with the bullet fired in the air problem; 
> rather, we were working with the penny dropped off the Empire State 
> Building problem. It is still commonly stated that if a penny were 
> dropped from the Empire State Building and it were to land on a 
> person's head, it would kill the person.  Sometimes the myth even 
> states the penny will penetrate clear through the person.

> Of course the Myth Busters guys do just that.  The problem is they 
> are not very good experimentalists, but at least they try it.

In an early episode of the show, they did tackle the Empire State 
penny "myth". I haven't seen it in years, so my memory is hazy, but 
they experimentally determined the terminal velocity of a penny 
instead of relying on calculation (I remember being disappointed that 
they did not even try a calculation to see how close their result 
was). Then I believe they built a device to shoot pennies at that 
terminal velocity, and used it at essentially point blank range to 
shoot various items, such as a concrete slab and their favorite 
ballistic gel models, and once they realized it was mostly harmless, 
their own hands to see just what it would feel like. They of course 
found entertainment in the pain they caused themselves at the end, 
but it was pretty clear that the falling penny story was a myth.

I agree that their experimental skills are uneven, but I want to 
recall that particular study as being better than average. But 
perhaps I do not recall well.



Stefan Jeglinski