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"Mythbusters" cannonball experiment goes awry

I love this show, but I guess it was only a matter of time before something went askew. Glad no one was hurt. The video of how far the ball traveled is amazing...as is the shot of the cannonball hole in someone's house:

TMZ.com (with video): 'Mythbusters' Experiment Goes Wrong Cannonball RIPS Through Homes

Sgt. JD Nelson from the Alameda County Sheriff's Department tells ABC, hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage were trying to figure out how effective a cannon is at firing non-cannonball objects ... but first, they had to test the cannonball itself.

The cannonball was supposed to land harmlessly in a nearby hill -- but something went wrong ... and the ball, traveling at about 1000 ft/s, went over the hill bordering Camp Parks Military Firing Reservation, and into the neighboring town of Dublin, crashing through two separate houses before finally coming to rest ... inside someone's minivan.

created by oldhometown on Dec 07, 2011 at 01:14:29 pm     Entertainment     Comments: 21

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Comments ... #

Fantastic news that nobody was hurt. Obviously, this so easily could have been a very tragic incident.

And now, I'm sure these people are going to be getting some SERIOUS upgrades to their homes, thanks to the network's PR department! Again, considering there were no injuries here, that's pretty good silver lining in my book. Plus, they have a great story to tell now!

posted by Johio83 on Dec 07, 2011 at 02:11:42 pm     #  

Maybe they need some better "experts" advising them of what they can do safely on the show.

posted by Linecrosser on Dec 07, 2011 at 02:16:42 pm     #  

I LOVE this show. I hope the insurance company doesn't come down on them so hard that they cancel it.

posted by holland on Dec 07, 2011 at 03:22:52 pm     #   1 person liked this

Really, Linecrosser? One accident and they don't know what they're doing? After all the stunts they have successfully executed, I would say they seem to know what they are doing. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

posted by MoreThanRhetoric on Dec 07, 2011 at 05:57:23 pm     #  

Great show. They make math and science look cool. We need more of that!

posted by viola on Dec 07, 2011 at 06:33:58 pm     #   2 people liked this

Well sometimes these calculations are tough. Darn decimal point must have just been moved a little to far to the left. Oops.

posted by AmericanPie on Dec 07, 2011 at 06:36:07 pm     #  

They definitely do a lot to help raise interest in science and such. They rarely have major accidents so this is very rare. Luckily no one was hurt and the damages should be covered. Also shows that they may need to re-evaluate the use of that bombing range for their experiments...or that the range needs upgrades for safety.

posted by JustaSooner on Dec 07, 2011 at 11:27:21 pm     #   1 person liked this

The should punish them by making them shaves.

posted by hockeyfan on Dec 07, 2011 at 11:58:50 pm     #  

What they should do next, is experiment with mustard gas, biological agents and delivery systems, and even a little napalm. How 'way cool' would that be? Maybe next, prove that small suitcase nukes are only a myth. I can see why kids are interested in this sort of stuff, after sitting in school all day through classes like self esteem awareness, conflict resolution or alternative proclivities(how to) workshops. Since these idiots missed the target by 700 feet, maybe math(warhead trajectories)and science(nitroglycerin and cordite)really are important to know?

posted by Wulf on Dec 08, 2011 at 12:13:32 am     #  

i'm cynical enough to think that this "mistake" was planned.

posted by JohnnyMac on Dec 08, 2011 at 12:28:25 am     #  

Can you say, "oops"?
They need more episodes centered around Kari Byron. /drools

posted by JeepMaker on Dec 08, 2011 at 11:09:05 am     #   1 person liked this

I used to love this show when you could actually learn something. Now it's 55 minutes of dicking around and then blowing something up.

posted by micah on Dec 08, 2011 at 06:48:12 pm     #   2 people liked this

Bound to happen eventually - they've had some close calls before but usually the close calls involved cast members - not the general public.

posted by TartyTinkbeiner on Dec 09, 2011 at 12:06:11 pm     #  

Hyneman and Savage were not at the bomb range that day. They have personally walked the neighbords affected and apologised in person to the families and their neighbors. The bomb range is closed. There's talk that it may not reopen. There's plenty of room in closeby Nevada for blowing things up.

That cannon ball actually took several bounces and kept crashing through walls. How on earth did they get that much explosive force? I hope they actually use this as a science learning lesson. I'd like to know what went wrong and how.

posted by holland on Dec 09, 2011 at 01:40:28 pm     #  

That's a risk you run when you build a house by a bomb range. I've talked to my friends that live in the area (not in the exact location were the cannon ball hit)and the houses came after the bomb range.

posted by lfrost2125 on Dec 09, 2011 at 01:49:44 pm     #  

It wasn't "explosive" force, it was inertia, that's a heavy solid steel/iron ball going through aluminum/vinyl siding and 1/2" plywood and plaster board. Compare it to a bullet (which it is), how many layers of plywood and plastic do you think a bullet would go through?

posted by Linecrosser on Dec 09, 2011 at 02:24:20 pm     #  

in·er·tia/iˈnərSHə/
Noun:

1.A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged: "bureaucratic inertia".
2.A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is...

Linecrosser, We might be talking asbout the same thing. My thinking is that it took a lot of explosive power to ovecome the cannon ball's inertia and propel it with such force that it did the things it did. So I want to know what they heck they used to get that much energy.

Sometimes it takes a lot of force to get my inert husband out of his Lazy Boy. ;)

posted by holland on Dec 09, 2011 at 02:54:08 pm     #  

Its in the 2nd definition you stated once in motion stays in motion its inertia after being fired is motion. Yes it took explosive power to propel the canon ball but once in motion its inertia sent it though those houses.

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l1b.cfm

Inertia and Mass

Newton's first law of motion states that "An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Objects tend to "keep on doing what they're doing." In fact, it is the natural tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion. This tendency to resist changes in their state of motion is described as inertia.

Inertia: the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion.

Newton's conception of inertia stood in direct opposition to more popular conceptions about motion. The dominant thought prior to Newton's day was that it was the natural tendency of objects to come to a rest position. Moving objects, so it was believed, would eventually stop moving; a force was necessary to keep an object moving. But if left to itself, a moving object would eventually come to rest and an object at rest would stay at rest; thus, the idea that dominated people's thinking for nearly 2000 years prior to Newton was that it was the natural tendency of all objects to assume a rest position.


Galileo and the Concept of Inertia

Galileo, a premier scientist in the seventeenth century, developed the concept of inertia. Galileo reasoned that moving objects eventually stop because of a force called friction. In experiments using a pair of inclined planes facing each other, Galileo observed that a ball would roll down one plane and up the opposite plane to approximately the same height. If smoother planes were used, the ball would roll up the opposite plane even closer to the original height. Galileo reasoned that any difference between initial and final heights was due to the presence of friction. Galileo postulated that if friction could be entirely eliminated, then the ball would reach exactly the same height.

Galileo further observed that regardless of the angle at which the planes were oriented, the final height was almost always equal to the initial height. If the slope of the opposite incline were reduced, then the ball would roll a further distance in order to reach that original height.

posted by Linecrosser on Dec 09, 2011 at 02:58:44 pm     #  

They will not show the incident on the show.

http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/09/9327215-mythbusters-wont-air-cannonball-accident-on-the-show

posted by lfrost2125 on Dec 09, 2011 at 03:09:14 pm     #  

Well, thank you linecrosser. I learned something today.

posted by holland on Dec 09, 2011 at 03:11:19 pm     #  

Actually it was kinetic energy operating under the law of inertia that sent the cannon ball through the house. :)

posted by dbw8906 on Dec 09, 2011 at 04:25:06 pm     #  

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