Flutterby™! : Supersonic ping pong gun 2013-01-23 09:31:26.168275-08

Supersonic ping pong gun

2013-01-23 09:31:26.168275-08 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

The Ping Pong gun or Ping Pong bazooka has been a popular and compelling tool for physics education. However, the design necessarily means the ball emerges at subsonic speed. The design has been modified to include a pressure chamber and a convergent-divergent nozzle, similar to the design of some supersonic wind tunnels. This modification results in supersonic speeds. The current design has achieved a launch speed of 406 m/sec, about Mach 1.23.

[ related topics: Aviation Space & Astronomy Graphic Design Guns Education Model Building ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2013-01-24 01:08:33.586999-08 by: topspin

Since a world class player hits at about 70mph and that gun shoots at about 900mph, I see some practice potential here...... for a trauma surgeon.

Here is a piece of a video of a cannon which shoots about 400mph and, at the end, the results when it hit the professor (even through a few layers of cloth.)

#Comment Re: made: 2013-01-24 09:41:42.37288-08 by: Dan Lyke

Wow. Guy has presentation skills and dedication to the craft of teaching!

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