Mythbusters take on the Gorn Cannon

[ahkyahnan]

A simple wad (a patch of cloth between the charge and the projectiles) would do it, like in a muzzle-loading shotgun.

Just tore a little more material off his trousers or whatever maybe. Like he did for the fuse.

Which raises a new question. Isn't it interesting that Starfleet uniforms are made of flammable material?

Mark

 

[Ronald Held]

Maybe only on that planet?????

 

[Captain Robert April]

So, who watched it?

 

[Kaziarl]

I did, and was somewhat disappointed that it didn't work. I personally figured that the first black powder was mixed by hand, and that bamboo is fairly resilient, that it could have worked, but alas I was wrong.

In other news, the earwax candle was disgusting.

 

[Christopher]

^Yes, the first black powder was mixed by hand, but it probably didn't work very well. The Chinese probably experimented for centuries to refine it into something really potent.

 

[Search4]

I watched it (thanks BBSers). First time seeing the show and it is enjoyable. They found real-world problems. I'd give them a pass on the bamboo (alien bamboo might be stronger after all - hey, prove it isn't), but not on the powder working.

Unless Kirk watched the show as a youth, and learned the right formula. Hmmm.

 

[Kaziarl]

I watched it (thanks BBSers). First time seeing the show and it is enjoyable. They found real-world problems. I'd give them a pass on the bamboo (alien bamboo might be stronger after all - hey, prove it isn't), but not on the powder working.

Unless Kirk watched the show as a youth, and learned the right formula. Hmmm.

For all we know that could be part of basic starfleet survival training. And the reason I originally thought the bamboo would work was that I thought that's what the Chinese used in their early fireworks and cannons. (like the ones in Mulan where she used it to start an avalanche)

 

[flightmech73]

Maybe they could remaster the remaster and give the Gorn the cannon like they said. Kirk might be injured but nothing Bones couldn't fix and the outcome of the show would be the same with the Gorn losing and it would be scientifically accurate.

 

[Christopher]

For all we know that could be part of basic starfleet survival training.

Except that in most situations, you'd never find "charcoal deposits" just lying around, because it's not a mineral, it's a manufactured product, the result of burning wood in a particular way.

And the reason I originally thought the bamboo would work was that I thought that's what the Chinese used in their early fireworks and cannons. (like the ones in Mulan where she used it to start an avalanche)

Bit of advice: don't trust Disney movies as historical sources. In the Middle Ages, when cannons were invented, the Chinese had far more advanced metallurgy than the West did. The earliest "fire-lances," essentially short-range pyrotechnic dart or pellet guns, used bamboo barrels, but proto-cannons used bronze or cast-iron barrels from the start.

 

[Roger Wilco]

The barrel wasn't really the problem imo, but the blasting chamber - I mean, the Mythbusters successfully made a duct tape-cannon before; I'd think bamboo is tougher than that. I think it's plausible to make a bamboo cannon with enough dedication.

But I was surprised that gunpowder is so difficult to produce by hand even when you have a good idea how it works to begin with, I didn't expect that.

 

[Ronald Held]

It may be getting the even exploding at once is very difficult to do by hand?

 

[Roger Wilco]

No, the problem is that the mixture has to be a very exact ratio I think.

 

[Christopher]

^Yes, that's right. The ratio is key.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Along with alien bamboo, the various chemical components might've also been more potent, giving Kirk more of a margin for error in his mixing.

Also, the Metrons could've been rigging the game all along, to see how each of them would respond when they had their opponent at their mercy. Y'know those godlike beings, always doin' their tests of humanity's worthiness...

 

[drychlick]

i miss it does any 1 know when it be on agan

 

[Forbin]

They usually rerun the last episode before the new episode, so check next Monday at 8PM (eastern).

 

[Ronald Held]

I would think the ratio(on this Earth) is not as critical as even/simultaneous burning.

 

[Kaziarl]

I would think the ratio(on this Earth) is not as critical as even/simultaneous burning.

Perhaps not, but I think the ratio helps achieve that. Although I'm not a chemist, so I could be wrong on that.

 

[drychlick]

thank you for the information!

 

[Captain Robert April]

A little something that was pointed out on the Mythbusters message board, that just might get this one a revisit; specifically, they made the cannon backwards.

Here's their version...

Here's a few pics of Kirk's bazooka...

The explosive force being clear up at the forward end of the cannon, instead of the rear, changes things significantly, or at least has the potential to.