Can bass knock a bullet out of the air?

[Elta]

Surely it can, but do we currently have the technology capable of producing such a bass wave?

 

[Cutlass]

No. If you mean a sound wave, the tech, not to mention the sheer power, to produce a compression of the air with the solidity to stop a bullet is I don't think anywhere on the horizon.

 

[AngryZealot]

The swimming kind could.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Angry sea bass with laser beams attached to their heads? I doubt it.

 

[taper]

A standard 9mm bullet has a muzzle energy of ~570 Joules, or Watt/seconds and a velocity of 390m/s. To stop this in 20m you'll need .05sec. 570 Joules in .05sec is 11.4kW. A 9mm bullet has a frontal area of 63.61mm^2, so you'll need a sound intensity of 179.2MW/m^2. This is staggeringly huge.

 

[general_kill]

A standard 9mm bullet has a muzzle energy of ~570 Joules, or Watt/seconds and a velocity of 390m/s. To stop this in 20m you'll need .05sec. 570 Joules in .05sec is 11.4kW. A 9mm bullet has a frontal area of 63.61mm^2, so you'll need a sound intensity of 179.2MW/m^2. This is staggeringly huge.

I lost you at A.

 

[Bugfatty300]

Anyone see the Mythbusters where they tried to effect the trajectory of a bullet with magnets? They actually got some results once enough industrial strength magnets were in play. Very interesting.

 

[Elta]

A standard 9mm bullet has a muzzle energy of ~570 Joules, or Watt/seconds and a velocity of 390m/s. To stop this in 20m you'll need .05sec. 570 Joules in .05sec is 11.4kW. A 9mm bullet has a frontal area of 63.61mm^2, so you'll need a sound intensity of 179.2MW/m^2. This is staggeringly huge.

That is so over my head

How much stronger is 179.2MW/m^2. compared to the force of massive concert speakers?

 

[Elta]

Anyone see the Mythbusters where they tried to effect the trajectory of a bullet with magnets? They actually got some results once enough industrial strength magnets were in play. Very interesting.

Hopefully we can trick them into thinking this is a myth and see what comes of it

 

[Cutlass]

I lost you at A.

A bullet is a little thing moving very fast. A sound wave is a big thing that's very dispersed. So one hell of a lot of power would be needed.

 

[taper]

That is so over my head

How much stronger is 179.2MW/m^2. compared to the force of massive concert speakers?

Imagine thousands of 9mm bullets hitting every square inch of your body at once. It's a bit more than concert speakers.

 

[Elta]

Imagine thousands of 9mm bullets hitting every square inch of your body at once. It's a bit more than concert speakers.

So in effect a bass wave strong enough would be just as damaging to humans as the bullets?

 

[amadeus]

Who else thought of fish and not sound?

 

[JonathanStrange]

A standard 9mm bullet has a muzzle energy of ~570 Joules, or Watt/seconds and a velocity of 390m/s. To stop this in 20m you'll need .05sec. 570 Joules in .05sec is 11.4kW. A 9mm bullet has a frontal area of 63.61mm^2, so you'll need a sound intensity of 179.2MW/m^2. This is staggeringly huge.

I was told there would be no math.

 

[Yeekim]

So in effect a bass wave strong enough would be just as damaging to humans as the bullets?

My guess is it'd be worse.

 

[Perfection]

So in effect a bass wave strong enough would be just as damaging to humans as the bullets?

The problem here is power density. Not simple power. That is the ability to pack power into a small area. A stadium speaker can put out lots and lots of power, but it can't focus it into a very small area as would be needed to stop a bullet.

There are limits to how loud things can get in air before the air starts behaving distinctly unair-like (molecules break apart etc.) and absorb a large chunk of the power into heat. I would suspect that's what would occur if you attempted to produce large enough power density to knock out a bullet.

 

[Elta]

The problem here is power density. Not simple power. That is the ability to pack power into a small area. A stadium speaker can put out lots and lots of power, but it can't focus it into a very small area as would be needed to stop a bullet.

There are limits to how loud things can get in air before the air starts behaving distinctly unair-like (molecules break apart etc.) and absorb a large chunk of the power into heat. I would suspect that's what would occur if you attempted to produce large enough power density to knock out a bullet.

So would my idea of adding a floating anti projectile shield (shown here not floating at the shoulders : http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/OZ-13MSX2_Mercurius) Such as the Mercurius that instead of an energy shield sets off controlled bass waves to protect the user be totally unrealistic?

It's for a creative writing class, but I can't just make things up without a back story.

Also shown here floating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CByRc3zYzTY

 

[nonconformist]

So in effect a bass wave strong enough would be just as damaging to humans as the bullets?

Different types of damage, not comparable.

 

[Abaddon]

Who else thought of fish and not sound?

I have no idea why, but I was reading it as bRass...

 

[Elta]

Different types of damage, not comparable.

If you are dead on both counts they don't need to be comparable, dead is dead.