A bullet shatters upon hitting a pendulum system that seems very fragile. The secret is illuminated under the light of classical physics laws.
The pendulum was created to demonstrate the laws of conservation of momentum and energy.
The Newton’s pendulum is a device invented in the 17th century by French scientist Edme Mariotte to demonstrate the laws of conservation of momentum and energy through swinging balls attached to a frame.
In a video posted on the channel The Slowmo Guys, researchers used a Phantom TMX 7510 high-speed camera to capture footage of a 9mm bullet being shot straight into a pendulum system placed on a table.
Many might assume that the fragile balls would not withstand the impact of the bullet and would shatter, or at least be sent flying in all directions. However, the reality proved to be the opposite.
The truth shows that the bullet is the one that shatters immediately after the collision.
Instead of the balls, the bullet is the one that shatters upon impact. Moreover, the pendulum system with the balls remains completely still for a moment.
The explanation for this phenomenon is that when the bullet strikes, it simultaneously generates a reaction force of equal magnitude, but in the opposite direction, causing the bullet to shatter instantly (according to Newton’s Third Law).
Meanwhile, the ball that remains still is due to its momentum being transferred to the other balls. Readers can watch this intriguing experiment more clearly in the video below.
*Note: The video creators emphasize that this experiment is very dangerous, and viewers should not attempt it at home.
The video was shot at 100,000 FPS, which is about 4,000 times faster than the human eye can perceive, capturing the real motion of the bullet.
