3 ms·

It’s not molten, and heat plays no role in the penetration ability. This is a very common misconception. It’s simply focused kinetic energy that does it. The

It’s not molten, and heat plays no role in the penetration ability. This is a very common misconception. It’s simply focused kinetic energy that does it. The cone focuses the copper into a slug like object, and the slug becomes similar to an extremely powerful bullet.

Brian_K_White 4y ago
So it's like that old picture of the grass straw driven through the telephone pole by nothing but hurricane wind? The flimsy straw could do it simply because of how fast it was moving. The strength of the straw doesn't matter, simply it's mass, moving that fast, carries itself through, ie the leading edge is not being pushed from behind like a nail, more like a bullet with a string attached? Setting aside the simplification, that probably the mass of the rest of the straw does play some part not absolutely zero, is that a reasonable way to conceptualize it?
- chemeril 4y ago
  Yes, that's reasonable. By the time the jet hits the target the explosive provides no motive force whatsoever: it's purely a momentum game.
- foucalt-apathy 4y ago
  Are you certain that a hurricane can blow a straw through a telephone pole? I hadn't heard of this phenomenon and was interested. I was unable to find a good source. According to this article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association thinks it's not possible: https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wood.html https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wo... (Alternative explanation in the article: the tree twists during the hurricane, cracks temporarily open, and debris gets stuck in the cracks.)
  - Brian_K_White 4y ago
    The picture (perhaps multiple but at least one) was a piece of hay poked right through a telephone pole, in the aftermath of some kind of storm. Not a tree. It was shown in grade school in the 80s or late 70s.
throw_away 4y ago
What would happen if you just started with a slug?
- sacrosancty 4y ago
  I don't think you could deliver as much energy to it because it has such a small surface area normal to the direction of travel.
- lazide 4y ago
  It’s really hard to get a slug Moving like that without tearing it apart. It’s easier to use the explosive to spread the force over a wider area initially but in a way that the projectile is formed by the concentration of the explosive forces mashing it all together. Weird.

Brian_K_White 4y ago

So it's like that old picture of the grass straw driven through the telephone pole by nothing but hurricane wind? The flimsy straw could do it simply because of how fast it was moving. The strength of the straw doesn't matter, simply it's mass, moving that fast, carries itself through, ie the leading edge is not being pushed from behind like a nail, more like a bullet with a string attached? Setting aside the simplification, that probably the mass of the rest of the straw does play some part not absolutely zero, is that a reasonable way to conceptualize it?

chemeril 4y ago
Yes, that's reasonable. By the time the jet hits the target the explosive provides no motive force whatsoever: it's purely a momentum game.
foucalt-apathy 4y ago
Are you certain that a hurricane can blow a straw through a telephone pole? I hadn't heard of this phenomenon and was interested. I was unable to find a good source. According to this article, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association thinks it's not possible: https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wood.html https://www.livescience.com/39270-tornado-straw-into-tree-wo... (Alternative explanation in the article: the tree twists during the hurricane, cracks temporarily open, and debris gets stuck in the cracks.)
- Brian_K_White 4y ago
  The picture (perhaps multiple but at least one) was a piece of hay poked right through a telephone pole, in the aftermath of some kind of storm. Not a tree. It was shown in grade school in the 80s or late 70s.

throw_away 4y ago

What would happen if you just started with a slug?

sacrosancty 4y ago
I don't think you could deliver as much energy to it because it has such a small surface area normal to the direction of travel.
lazide 4y ago
It’s really hard to get a slug Moving like that without tearing it apart. It’s easier to use the explosive to spread the force over a wider area initially but in a way that the projectile is formed by the concentration of the explosive forces mashing it all together. Weird.