Arena

[Mark]

I watched this episode again the other day, and a question struck me. Is bamboo strong enough to contain and direct an explosion of gunpowder??? For the first time, I wondered why the thing didn't blow up in Kirk's hand. It SHOULD have exploded in all directions I would think. That's the reason guns were made out of metal.

Am I wrong???

[katefan]

It was a substance that looked like bamboo, so it can be easily argued the alien plant was strong enough to shoot it.

In any case, I found these articles online concerning Chinese bamboo guns:

http://books.google.com/books?id=hNcZJ3 ... &ct=result

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Gun_barrel

So there is some real world fact to back up Kirk's use of a gun barrel. Still not sure about the chemistry, though. I thought saltpeter, a primary component of black powder, was gotten from fermented urine and feces.

[Teaos]

The Bamboo should hold, its pretty strong, I would be more worried about the bindings.

[Sionnach Glic]

Given that it was found on an alien world, I'm pretty sure it's not bamboo.

[Mikey]

It would depend on the composition of the powder, too. Given the need to have diamonds, rather than run-of-the-mill rocks, I'd say that all involved knew that the makeshift powder didn't have the same capacity for expansive force as "typical" black powder.

[Graham Kennedy]

Hey, this sounds exactly like a job for the Mythbusters!

Anybody know how to contact them?

ETA : I found it, but you have to register first. Hmmm.

[Nickswitz]

So register, or is it costly?

[Graham Kennedy]

No, I'm just careful about who I give my details to

[Nickswitz]

Got it, It's good to be like that, I only give my info to people I trust, why do I give info to Microsoft then?

[Aaron]

I watched this episode again the other day, and a question struck me. Is bamboo strong enough to contain and direct an explosion of gunpowder??? For the first time, I wondered why the thing didn't blow up in Kirk's hand. It SHOULD have exploded in all directions I would think. That's the reason guns were made out of metal.

Am I wrong???

You don't have to use a metal gun barrel. The Mythbusters made a canon out of a bored out log. Explosions take the path of least resistance, ie: most of the energy will head out to open space, hence the need to tamp demo charges. It's just a question of the barrel material being able to handle the stress of what doesn't head out, I have no problem with Kirk's weapon though I suspect it was a one shot deal.

My apologies if the above makes no sense, seem to be having trouble getting my thoughts in order.

[Mikey]

Makes perfect sense. Keep those thoughts out of order as much as you can.

[Mark]

Yeah......we might just start to worry if we DO find them in order one day.

[Graham Kennedy]

Two minor things. Kirk reinforced the back end of his cannon by wrapping a vine-rope thing around it. And when he fired it, the front end split and splayed open all the way around, so it was definitely a one shot deal.

[Aaron]

Two minor things. Kirk reinforced the back end of his cannon by wrapping a vine-rope thing around it. And when he fired it, the front end split and splayed open all the way around, so it was definitely a one shot deal.

Little far up the barrel for that:




Look where's putting the touchhole, and in a later shot he uses it as a handguard. There's not much point in using it as a reinforcement if it's not over the part where the actual explosion is.

One-shot for sure though, in a later shot after he fires, it's blown in half.

[Graham Kennedy]

It's further forward than I thought, but look at the line around the barrel just below where he's scratching through it - that's where the gunpowder is, right? So the rope reinforcement is not that far ahead of it.