Science Fair Project update?

Question

I submitted my idea today. I decided to get rid of the steel plate in my first draft, I am just going to shoot gelatin.

For the gelatin I am going to get regular Jello and just use more Jello than normal resulting in a more rigid gel. Hopefully it will keep its shape OK if I make it thick enough. I have also considered packing the Jello stuff into a plywood box similar to how it was suggested with the phone books. The phone book idea is great but since gelatin is clearish I can photograph the results easier and more clearly.

That is what I have given them so far, I can still revise for a while so if anyone has any good ideas speak now or sometime soon.

For those of you telling me to check with my teacher, what I have been working on is the approval form. She can accept my idea, tell me to change it a little, or totally reject it... we will see. If it is rejected it is because of her personal bias since I am in compliance with the district guidelines.

Any input? Does it sounds good? Anything I can change? I am looking around for some of that steel core Norinco ammo to use, since someone suggested that.

Answer 1

There is a product called Sure-Jell that is primarily used for making homemade Jellys amd Jams, you can substitute the regular Jello for this Sure Jell to get a semi-clear NON flavored ballistic gell.Most any grocery store carrys it, it's a little more expensive than Jello, but it's more concentrated and you get more mass per box out of it. I've used it almost exclusively to make gell blocks for ammo testing.

Answer 2

I'm afraid that the Jello idea won't work. Jello, even when mixed to a heavy consistancy, is still most likely too thin. I think what will happen is that the Jello will blow out of the box as if you had thrown a hand grenade into it. Because of its lesser density, the bullet will most likely go all the way through it and out the back of the box unless your box is unusually long. I would guess that the box would have to be at least 4 feet long to stop the bullet. That's going to take a lot of Jello.

For photographic evidence of depth of penetration when using the phone book idea, just carefully part the pages as you search for the bullet until you locate it and then insert a stick at that point to indicate its depth of penetration. You won't be able to see the bullet but your stick will show how far it penetrated. Repeat this for each bullet.

If you do go ahead with the Jello idea, I'd like to hear what happens. I'm betting you have a heck of a mess and no data.

BTW, www.brownells.com has ballistic gelatin.

Answer 3

Well so far so good. But the jello idea doesn't sound to good for all the reasons that the other guys gave. One thing you might have forgot about is keeping the jello from melting. Unless you plan to do you project in the winter.
Sarge

Answer 4

I actually tried to do this (make homemade ballistic gel) I had green jello I'm telling you right now boil the water then start adding the powder until it cannot hold any more (its going to be about a 1:1 mixture by volume

Use a 22 because if you don't its going to cost you quiet a bit and its going to be a real pain in the @%$#

Have fun

Answer 5

You might try some sort of unflavored gelatin (Knox used to be a brand name), and go to Costco or Sam's Club or something like that to get it in commercial sized bags. For a starting point you might look up a recipe for "Knox Blocks" as a starting point for your homemade ballistic gelatin. Good luck.

Answer 6

the jello thing wont work, find some sort of ballistic putty if ur testing 4 damage and temp. cavity size.

Answer 7

here's a good site and a recipe/formula for you.