Apparently, Mythbusters is going to film a segment to test the incredible case of the spinning bullet on ice. Many people are discussing if this is possible or not. After watching it repeatedly and reading the arguments, I believe it.
Some people say that this is impossible. How can a 9mm bullet stop on the ice like that, losing all its forward momentum and still keep spinning? I don’t know the what the physics are, but the video is pretty clear, and I don’t see any way of faking that, which is probably why Mythbusters is going to put it to the test. Like one of the commenters in the Discovery forums said:
either they did many many hours planning and editing and Photoshop work, or they have access to very powerful special effects editing software with good knowledge on how to use it, and still spent hours working on it. Or they just found an interesting seemingly imposable thing that bullets do in ice and filmed it. If they got paid to put all the work into making this a fake then that would be another story, but since it has nothing to do with any viral add they didn’t get paid, putting in the work it would have taken to fake it would be a little nuts…
That’s why other people are saying that this is possible and would fall be one of the many crazy things that a bullet can do. You know, magic bullets. Like the one that killed Kennedy.
In any case, I’m glad the guys at Mythbusters are on the case. We will know the truth soon enough. [YouTube via Mythbusters Discovery Forums]
Wilson Cheng
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8:05 AMThis looks fake. The bullet is not on the same spot as the shot is hit. The black bullet dot suddenly appear after the camera shake.
Martin
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8:41 AMI totally, agree, FAKE!!!!!. i thought it looked od that the hit is in a different place to where the camera focused in on.
the other problem is, that when mythbusters have done other myths involving guns, the bullets always deform or disintegrate, a bullet cannot hit something and not have any deformation, also where were the barrel scrapes on the bullet?
people who believe this video must be idiots because its pretty easy to disprove when you just think about it.
Maz
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 8:29 AMFAKE! Just watch the point of entry.. Watch the video closely repeatedly and you see a black dot fly out from the point of impact and then suddenly the bullet spins.
Why would it fly back 3 or so feet and suddenly spin on the spot? Fake…
lem_is_cool
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 9:00 AMIt could of bounced into the air after hitting the ice and then landed in that spot. I don’t know squat about bullets or physics so I’m probably wrong.
Cazna
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 9:05 AMI agree, the point at which they show the projectile spinning is significantly closer to the camera than the point of impact. If you look at distinctive reference points of ice before and after the camera shake it is quite obvious.
Also the friction required to neutralize the forward momentum of the projectile would be more than sufficient to neutralize the spinning momentum of the projectile. In addition a projectile traveling at that speed would not be likely to survive a deceleration in such a small distance/time and maintain its form so well.
The fact that Mythbusters are investigating this doesn’t fill me with much confidence. Their application of scientific method is extremely poor.
Lamboman007
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 10:13 AMThey’ll probably end up exploding the bullets, just because they can.
Jimez
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 10:19 AMI’ll say fake.
I don’t see the gun really move. It’s like a bullet just fell out of it. And where’s the shell that pops out the side?
Jatallica
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 11:03 AMNe editing software required.
Magnets, need I say more.
Chris M
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 11:15 AMThe inside track of any pistol, rifle, whatever, that fires a bullet, has a spiral groove. This is used to put significant spin on the bullet before it leaves the barrel of the gun. The reason for this is that if you put spin on the bullet, it’ll fly straighter and be a lot more accurate. Why do you think NFL players put spin on the football when they are passing it to their receivers? It flies straighter and they are more accurate. Now I’m not saying that this video is real or hasn’t been tampered with, but just saying that that is why the bullet is spinning. I could see how this would work in theory.
Danny
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 11:26 AMFAKE
The camera shake is quite clearly covering a cut.
Also as mentioned the bullet is way off where it should be by a few feet as the camera closes in to it you can see the actual bullet hole directly above it. The groove it is in is there from the start and the cut and camera move happens to allow placement of a perfect UNFIRED bullet.
My money is on some kind of spinning magnet placed under the ice.
Plus aren’t bullets supposed to red hot when they get fired out of a gun? Where is the melted ice AND how can he pick it up so quickly??
Arran
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 1:38 PMBullets are hot but not red-hot, you’re thinking of tracers which are designed to be hot. I’d believe this is possible but I look forward to mythbusters testing it. The forward inertia and the rotational inertia can be considered quite seperately…the only think I’m a little suspect with here is the lack of deformation. The bullet not resting at the point of impact just means it bounced, which is plausable. They sounded like they knew they’d have to look for it and it could have bounced anywhere.
Todd Drexel
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 1:56 PMThis is definitely a fake, it would be cool if it was real, but it isn’t. The only way something like this could happen with a bullet, would be with a tracer bullet which gets heat up when fired. Which would melt the ice.
Furiosu Mark
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 2:46 PMThis might be real, it bounces off the ice and spins on a different place
Steve M.
Friday, October 15, 2010 at 7:54 PMBetween saying he “[can't] see any way of faking that” and mistaking a iPhone skin for an actual aluminium cover, I’m starting to wonder about Jesus Diaz’s credibility as a tech writer.
adrenochrome
Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 2:20 AMThis longer version is much more convincing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foZlciP6gUQ
especially at 3:12 where you can see clearly what happens (and there are no problems with physics here):
The bullets hit the ice while spinning very fast. They are also very hot. They make a crater and rebound a few feet away, still spinning. The few bullets that rebound vertically keep their orientation due to their spin, land on the ice a second time at slow speed, and keep spinning.
That’s what I see on the video, and that makes perfect sense to me.
chad
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 4:30 AMyeah i think this is legit. When an ice skater skates across ice they actually skate on a thin film of water. The pressure of the blade melts the ice and the water is what produces the near frictionless surface (same as a car on ice). My guess is the bullet hits the ice, the pressure melts the ice to water so there’s no deformity, the heat from the bullet and the violent collision produces a small steam explosion that pops the bullet out of the crater. The spin from the rifling in the pistol barrel stays in tact and the geometry of the bullet makes it stand on end while spinning.
jacob
Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 9:36 AMi dont know whether or not its fake
however, an ac magnet could produce a result like this.