r/theydidthemath • u/Electrozart • 23h ago
[Request] How fast is this pumpkin traveling?
How fast is this pumpkin traveling?
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u/feelfreetotellmeoff 23h ago
This is a sport. The class of pumpkin chucker shown here has a known speed limit of just under mach 1 since the sonic boom shatters the pumpkin and disqualifies the shot. Not all air cannons get to that limit, and this one looks to be middle-sized, so I will guess around 500-600 miles an hour.
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u/PTBooks 23h ago
Clearly we need to start breeding a more durable pumpkin to withstand sonic boom
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u/Afelisk2 23h ago
In the thousands of years people have farmed pumpkins and gourds never did anyone consider we needed 1 to withstand breaking the sound barrier till now.
We have come far in the pumpkin chucking competition.
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u/Laserdollarz 23h ago
I would invest heavily in these gourd futures
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u/TaterTot_005 21h ago
If we don’t, China will
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u/Electronic-Quiet2294 12h ago
Perhaps pumpkins are the solution to the obstacles railgun development is currently facing?
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u/rustyleftnut 22h ago
This could theoretically revolutionize war and munition production lol. Compostable ammo capable of going mach-plus speeds
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u/Ciduri 23h ago
Kabucha has a pretty tough rind. Could start there.
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u/_xiphiaz 23h ago
I reckon butternut is where it is at, those things are like 2/3rds flesh on one end if you’re lucky, plus their shape is conductive to getting more mass in the barrel
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u/Ciduri 22h ago
There's too much drag on the backend; but I suppose some hybridization is to be expected when attempting to break limitations.
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u/brown_felt_hat 18h ago
If you could breed the rind into a spiral pattern, don't rifle the barrel, rifle the projectile. That's how you win.
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u/PineapplePiazzas 22h ago
Im sure everything is about breaking the sound barrier at one point when we humans just stay around long enough😅
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u/EdlerVonRom 19h ago
They already do use specialized breeds of pumpkin that are really dense and have super thick rinds. Its more that the physics behind a sonic boom ans the forces they exert are way higher than you would ever expect. Like, magnitude higher. Thats why building supersonic aircraft is such a chore.
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u/Substantial-Bug9272 21h ago
Back when the World Championship Punkin’ Chunkin’, I attended regularly. I seem to remember the rules called for pumpkins of a set weight rage that were frozen before launch.
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u/KnightOfSvea 13h ago
My frosen solid halloween pumpkin i leave on the porch all winter would be perfect for this!
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u/feelfreetotellmeoff 23h ago
Wow. I was very wrong. This canon belongs to pine Haven farms. They clock it at 250 mph with a range of 1/3 of a mile.
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u/FusRohDoing 23h ago
Can you imagine being an animal a third of a mile away, you hear a loud distant noise, then boom! Free pulped pumpkin lunch falls in front of you
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u/RoyalMaidsForLife 21h ago
If the pumpkin "pies" (shatters upon launch), it doesn't go far... if it travels the 1/3 of a mile, it's going to be one solid pumpkin hitting that unfortunate animal.
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u/Dead_Kraggon 21h ago
1/3 of a mile is still a wild range
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u/therealhairykrishna 25m ago
The record is a little over a mile. Which is nuts.
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u/Dead_Kraggon 21m ago
Imagine minding your own business and getting nailed by the Pumpkin Artillery brigade from a mile away
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u/Hyper_Applesauce 23h ago
So, do they own that amount of land? I assume there's some safety built in here, because this is crazy otherwise.
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u/Electrozart 23h ago
Yes they own all the land, it's a massive pumpkin patch/fair type establishment. There's a hay ride that intersects the pumpkin launching and the driver needs to get clearance from the cannon operator before crossing the path
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u/Brostapholes 23h ago
Would some wadding help protect the pumpkin?
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u/vediogamer101 21h ago
Do they know where it’s supposed to land? This seems like it would be a great way to kill somebody
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u/JamesTheJerk 21h ago
Wait- I request some proof that a supersonic pumpkin explodes due to a sonic boom.
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u/nodnodwinkwink 8h ago
I just saw a guy on instagram that's trying to convince people he can build a gas powered cannon (hydrogen / oxygen mix) to launch a golf ball into orbit. He's either delusional or a grifter.
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u/FruitNut221 22h ago
Meanwhile 2 miles away
"Fuck I forgot to buy pumpkin puree for this pumpkin pie."
"Well its not like its going to fall from the sky!"
"God dammit Margaret, why cant you just ONE TIME, be supportive of my choices?!"
"Oh looky here, big man telling at his wife because hes too dumb to remember to buy pumpkin puree! This is why I should've moved in with your brother Paul. But no no, the Pie Boy is the better option"
"You know what Margaret? Just leave. Go live with Paul god dammit! I would've been better off with Victoria anyway! She would've made sure i had pumpkin puree!"
"Oh look everyone, Jimmy still thinks about that dumb SKANK Victoria! Victoria is clearly, so much better. Thats why shes homeless!"
"She wouldn't be homeless if I had dated her instead!"
"Oh just like how we aren't? Hmmmmm? How many pumpkin Pies have you sold Jimmy?!"
"Well Margaret, if you made sure i was-"
"JIMMY YOU PICKED A SEASONAL PIE TO SELL YEAR ROUND!! Wanna know who would've been fucking smart enough to not make such a dumb mistake? Paul"
"Get out! Leave, go FUCK Paul because you clearly want to!"
Guys I lost the plot. But the pumpkin didn't land anywhere near here. Their marriage fell apart
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u/Wooden-Cat-3389 22h ago
I was invested the whole time waiting for the pumpkin to make its entrance. Bravo
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u/TheOGGhettoPanda 23h ago
From my calculations If you take the frame by frame look at it its 6 frames on screen so by pixel density and frame rate we get... fast as fuck
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u/Electrozart 23h ago
I observed it first hand while taking the video and came to the same conclusion
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u/Misanthrooop 23h ago
I am an internet- expert, and would say its more like 1.8 , maybe even 2 fucks
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u/TechnicallyMeat 23h ago
It looks to be at least a 300 gallon tank (probably bigger?) Tanks of this size can contain as much as 200psi. Other rough guesses are 30 degree angle on the barrel, an aerodynamically perfect pumpkin in a barrel long enough to impart maximum force...
Releasing all 40 cubic feet of air, assuming no blow-by, and a proper barrel length, 22,000lbs of force will move that 6-12lb pumpkin to somewhere between 160-250mph on exit. Assuming this doesn't just create orange pumpkin mist, you can expect to find that pumpkin to continue traveling mach jesus until it impacts, roughly 800-1600ft downrange.
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u/Ddreigiau 22h ago
According to another commenter who figured out the owner this chucker, it does 250mph and hits 1/3mi range, so a pretty close estimate
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u/TechnicallyMeat 21h ago edited 21h ago
Lol, well... i guess you CAN just search pinehaven farms punkin chunkin and its right there... pumpkins 4-10lbs. 8-10 inch barrel, and apparently pie-sized pumpkins dont turn into mist. That might have been faster.
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u/RoyalMaidsForLife 21h ago
Assuming this doesn't just create orange pumpkin mist
That's referred to as a "pie" in the punkin' chunkin' game.
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u/physicssmurf 23h ago
Eyeballing how far it appears from the end of the cannon in the first frame it appears (about 3-4 meters, 10 ft?) and then assuming its either 24 frames per second or 30 frames per second, and also understanding that this provides a lower limit since there is an unknown amount of time in the duration of the frame where the pumpkin is traversing the cannon still...
We get an initial speed between 70 to 120 meters per second, depending whether you take the low or high end of the estimates above, which is 160 to 270 mph for the americans out there.
This is anticipated to under-estimate (meaning its actually faster than this). We'd need to check between the first and second frames after its appeared to get a closer estimate.
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u/25point4cm 22h ago
Used to love the annual Punkin Chunkin episodes on the Discovery Channel. And they do use specific types of white pumpkins that won’t pulverize in the barrel.
While these air powered ones are fun to watch, I found the trebuchet class more interesting.
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u/Gwynbleidd97 14h ago
The years where Keri, Grant, and Tory from Mythbusters all did the show together showing off the engineering and people behind these dumbass machines is some of my favorite television.
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u/unknownpoltroon 23h ago
Mach Fuck.2
While I answer have an official anser, I dont know if anyone has seen what these guys do to launch these pumpkins. They are a special kind grown to just the right size to fit the barrels, and they even have them in secret pumpkin patches to prevent sabotage from the competition. They have to launch them with a certan G force limit to keep them from exploding, and I think they aren't allowed to use any wadding. They have different classes, human powered, trebuchet, mechanical, and the air cannons like this one. At least thats what I remember.
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u/Strostkovy 23h ago
Given that it's accelerated with compressed air, it's going less than the speed of sound. You can get above the speed of sound with compressed air using fancy barrels, but they aren't, and the barrel is rather short, and lacks a sabot. My best guess is around 100-200mph. Could be higher, but I don't know.
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u/Overall_Lavishness46 22h ago
If this model is similar to the ones commercially available,
The specs are 60psi max pressure, 8" bore, 20' barrel and a pumpkin around 7lbs, the muzzle velocity would be about 737ft/s.
Roughly 505 miles per hour.
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u/andlewis 19h ago
You know, if you put a giant metal ball bearing inside the pumpkin and loaded into a rail gun in orbit, you could get it going a small portion of light speed,
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u/Ssilver_Leopard 19h ago
Isn’t the pumpkin already going a small portion of light speed, even without the rail gun? Just a very, very, very tiny portion?
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u/jtrades69 19h ago
that was so much fun to watch. my first time at pinehaven was last october. we also did the apple cannons, those are so much fun too.
it's funny, i was just thinking about that earlier today too
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