Cameras Faster Than a Speeding Bullet [Video]
Tough luck, Superman: Being faster than a speeding bullet isn’t such a big deal anymore. A couple of Youtubers who go by TheSlowMoGuys have slowed the progress of bullets to a crawl.
By Seth Wharton
This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Tough luck, Superman: Being faster than a speeding bullet isn’t such a big deal anymore. A couple of Youtubers who go by TheSlowMoGuys have slowed the progress of bullets to a crawl. To be specific, they posted a video showing high-speed footage of guns being fired under water.
Using a camera that shoots up to 27,000 frames per second, the pair fired both a revolver and a 9mm and captured each amazing centimeter of cavitation, which is when an object or force creates cavities or bubbles. In the videos, hot gas bloomed from the muzzles and pulsated as the bullets cut a tunnel through the water.
This was a departure for TheSlowMoGuys, whose videos tend toward slow motion destruction. They needed some help capturing bullets under water. Fellow Youtube slow motion and science enthusiast SmarterEveryDay lent them a periscope-like contraption that he made for filming his AK-47 being fired in the pool.
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