MythBusters Special 7: "Hollywood on Trial"
Air Date: May 5, 2005
Bullets will spark when ricocheting off other objects.
partly confirmed
After several tries and mistakes, they manage to make it work. With a photo of Adam and Jamie as target, Kari shot a bullet at it, while Grant shoots the paint balls and Tory watches them spark. Extremely improbable, but it can be done.
The aluminum paint used on actor Jack Haley while portraying the Tin Man in the 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz caused an adverse reaction that hospitalized him.
busted
Kari survived her aluminum paint session just like Jamie survived his gold paint session when testing the Goldfinger myth. The myth is true, but not as told. Actor Buddy Ebsen (better known later from The Beverly Hillbillies) was originally cast in the role of the Tin Man. Ebsen suffered a near-fatal allergic reaction and was hospitalized for two weeks after inhaling aluminum powder from an experimental aluminum makeup. After the aluminum makeup incident, Ebsen was replaced by actor Jack Haley and the makeup was replaced by an aluminum paint. Haley went on to complete his role as the Tin Man without suffering any serious health issues.
It is possible for a medium-to-large build man to bust through a wooden doorframe on his own power.
plausible
Using only his shoulder, Jamie was able to break through three of the four locks installed on the doorframe the Build Team constructed that met the American Building Code standards. The only reason the fourth lock did not break was because the Build Team used stronger screws to anchor it into the frame than what came with the actual lock. Adam attempted to break the fourth lock but slipped on a mat in front of the door and fell on his back instead. Still, considering that Jamie got so far by simply shoulder-ramming, a determined individual could easily break through.
It is possible to be thrown through a glass window and walk away without a scratch just like in Hollywood movies.
partly busted
While it is possible to fly through an 1/8th inch glass pane with little or no injuries, ¼ inch glass is thick enough to inflict significant lacerations on a body, should one be thrown through it. In Hollywood, a breakaway faux-glass substance called sugar glass is used in stunts requiring an actor to be thrown through a window. Sugar glass does not fracture into sharp fragments like real glass does and does not injure stunt performers.
It is possible to ignite a pool of gasoline using only a cigarette.
partly plausible
A cigarette has the potential to light a pool of gasoline but just doesn’t have enough sustained heat. Gas ignites between 500 °F and 540 °F, the cigarette at its hottest was between 450 °F and 500 °F but only when it was actually being smoked. An ignition is very improbable.
Do bullets also really go “Pa-choing-choing-choinnnnggggg” when ricochetting?
July 5, 2007 at 10:54 PMre: do bullets go pa-choing. I thought that the noise was more of a peeeowwwwn but i may be wrong but i think this is one that should be tackled.
August 4, 2007 at 5:07 AMBullets make a zzzing noise even when they don’t hit anything, just from flying through the air. If a bullet hits a rock or something it will make a ricocheting noise that trails off in a random direction and almost always makes everyone flinch.
August 6, 2007 at 1:35 AMIt is impossible to light gasoline with a cigarette. Its a good party trick and people will freak out when you sit down with a glass of gas and a lit cigarette, but it just doesn’t light.
an anti climactic hisss is produced
August 21, 2007 at 12:33 PMgasoline itself doesnt have a low flashpoint, but the Vapor/fumes from gasoline Can and Will ignite from an open heat source such as a cigarette, hence the no smoking signs at gas stations.
December 28, 2007 at 11:21 PMWhen I was a young child I once ran through a sliding glass door at a tavern with out a scratch or bump on me
March 5, 2008 at 4:59 AMTo test if someone can be thrown through glass with out getting hurt, your dummy should have been waring clothes. Maby the clothes would provide some protection agenst the sharp glass.
May 2, 2008 at 9:05 PMTo test if someone can be thrown through glass with out getting hurt, your dummy should have been waring clothes. Maby the clothes would provide some protection.
May 2, 2008 at 9:06 PMNo rick cramer, the gasoline vapour will only be lit by a naked flame - the only reason for the no smoking sign is to stop people from lighting their cigarettes and hence providing the naked flame.
May 12, 2008 at 4:54 AMAnd a PS to the above - gasoline is actually quite hard to light without matches! An angle grinder and a stream of hot metal sparks wont, a glowing (no flame) coal or wood ember straight out of the fire wont, a red hot metal bar wont - but a ‘roll your own’ cigarette will reasonably easily!! This is because the paper flares (ie naked flame) where the tobacco is not packed uniformly tightly as in ‘taylor mades’
May 13, 2008 at 4:23 AMGasoline CAN indeed be lit with a store bought lit cigarette. I was in Auto/diesel shop in college and we had a truck up on a lift and there was a pool of gas down around the lift cylinder in front. Well our instructor threw his lit cigarette on the floor into it and “POOF” it lit right up. Took 2 fire extinguishers to put it out.
June 23, 2008 at 9:34 PMTo Lewis Cross, gas fumes WILL ignite from the sparks of an angle grinder. Do you have any actual shop experience? Think about it for a second. a single spark ignites gas (and fumes) in lawnmowers and cars.
June 23, 2008 at 9:45 PMThe “sparking bullet” problem is a real problem in fire-prone areas, with dry brush. But it is only a problem with steel-cased bullets. I believe they only used lead bullets for the test. If they had used steel-cased bullets, they would have seen sparks for sure. So steel-cased bullets are banned during fire season in outdoor ranges here in Ventura County, CA, for this very reason.
July 3, 2008 at 6:45 PMDoes the calibre of the bullet determine the pitch at which the ricochetting bullet makes the choing-choing-ping-choingggg noise?? If a 22 calibre bullet ricochetted at say, 2.5kHz, would a 9mm bullet ricochet at 1.5 - 2kHz?
August 17, 2008 at 8:59 PMSmooey:
November 26, 2008 at 1:26 AMThe sound of a ricochetting bullet is due to some amount of end over end spinning, so the pitch is from the rate of spin. I would imagine that a long heavy bullet would spin slower than a short fat lightweight one after identical impacts.
Doppler effect also plays a huge role.