Mythbusters Misfire

MythBusters apologized.... if anyone cares:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/12...ll-mishap/

Pretty much assumed that they would do that. It would be a colossal PR failure if they didn't.

A meteor is far more probable than a cannonball.

"people are used to hearing explosions, since it's near where the mythbusters test most of their stuff"

i dunno, if i lived near the mythbuster's little playground, i'd think it's them before a meteor.

My question is, if it was able to pierce a concrete wall, a house 700 yards away, bounce across multiple streets and off a roof, et cetera, why did they think a barrel of water was going to stop it?

My question is, if it was able to pierce a concrete wall, a house 700 yards away, bounce across multiple streets and off a roof, et cetera, why did they think a barrel of water was going to stop it?

I think you underestimate the power of water barrels. The point of the water barrels isn't to stop the cannon ball in its tracks, but to remove so much momentum from the cannon ball that it only rolls down the path and not soars into the horizon.

My question is, if it was able to pierce a concrete wall, a house 700 yards away, bounce across multiple streets and off a roof, et cetera, why did they think a barrel of water was going to stop it?

Hydrodynamics is a wonderful thing.
Also, it's much easier to transport big hollow containers and fill them with water wherever you are exploding stuff than making huge blocks of concrete and going around with those.

My question is, if it was able to pierce a concrete wall, a house 700 yards away, bounce across multiple streets and off a roof, et cetera, why did they think a barrel of water was going to stop it?

There's your problem. It's not just one, it's many barrels of water.

They also use many barrels of sand for highway crash barriers.

I wonder how far the cannonball could have gone unobstructed.

I presume the pressure of water at the point of contact takes into account the presence of all of the water in the container, whereas for a concrete wall (or anything solid), the only active material would be whatever's in that spot. Or maybe it has something to do with how fluids propagate energy.

There's your problem. It's not just one, it's many barrels of water.

Suddenly it makes sense. I thought it was just a single barrel or something, by the wording...lol.

also skipped off the side of a hill, so i guess the hill acted like a ramp and launched it to the crazy distance xD

They took precautions and, in science, sometimes the precautions just aren't enough. Good thing no one was hurt. Still though- skipped off a hill, into town, smacking a house, skipped the road, through a mini van into another house. The range of the projectile is insane o_O Just think about wtp they were shooting it out of.

also skipped off the side of a hill, so i guess the hill acted like a ramp and launched it to the crazy distance xD

They took precautions and, in science, sometimes the precautions just aren't enough. Good thing no one was hurt. Still though- skipped off a hill, into town, smacking a house, skipped the road, through a mini van into another house. The range of the projectile is insane o_O Just think about wtp they were shooting it out of.

IIRC it was...THROUGH a house, bounce on road, hit roof of another house, stopped inside a van.

Not that this isn't a serious issue and someone could have been hurt. But I think the media/people are coming down on Mythbusters too hard. Sure people could have been injured, but that happens on the road everyday, some idiot makes a dumb move and someone gets hurt. Accidents happen and just report it and move on, no need to ban them from the bomb range.

Accidents happen and just report it and move on, no need to ban them from the bomb range.

Maybe update how far downrange they look for target problems with the cannon. The range is north of town; if it had fired north it coulda gone a couple miles without hitting much of anything.

Just think about wtp they were shooting it out of.

A homemade compressed air cannon, I think. They've been using it forever.

A homemade compressed air cannon, I think. They've been using it forever.

Wasn't it the modern steel cannon though?