Question: Is there a way of creating a force field capible of reflecting bulets?

Asked by tatch91 to Dirk, Elise, Janette, Renee, Yusuf on 16 May 2012.

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  1. Photo: Dirk SlawinskiDirk Slawinski
    answered on 16 May 2012:

    Well according to link 1) below it could be if you were in space and just wanted to stop dust particles.

    Bullets are generally lead, not in space and bigger than dust. Lead is a soft, dense and nonmagnetic metal. As the only “force” we can really produce easily and with some strength, that I know of, is a magnetic one then the answer is looking like a no.

    So stick to Kevlar and personal reactive armor.

    1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_field

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  2. Photo: Renee WebsterRenee Webster
    answered on 16 May 2012:

    Bullets are also made out of materials including steel, tungsten and metal alloys. In theory it is possible to generate a magnetic field that would be strong enough to deflect a bullet, but the catch is that to generate a field that is strong enough, the amount of electric coils and size of the power supply you would need would be so huge that if you were being shot at, you might as well just hide behind that!
    In 2007 some Australian scientists showed that it could be possible to make a bullet-proof vest made from carbon nanotubes that would not just slow down bullets, but actually bounce them off!

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  3. Photo: Yusuf PisanYusuf Pisan
    answered on 17 May 2012:

    Yes, but it is not practical. It would be too large to move around, so instead of going on with your everyday business, you’d have to wait behind the forcefield to have somebody come and shoot a bullet at you. It would also consume too much energy, so you cannot have it on all the time. Well you could, but it would be really expensive. You’d be better off getting a steel door and closing it instead.

    A bullet is a bit like a hammer. They are both made out of metal; however, the bullet is usually smaller and travelling much much faster than a hammer. A bullet is travelling at 180-1500 m/s http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/MariaPereyra.shtml That is 648-5400 km/hour so much faster than your average car which is what makes it hard to stop.

    🙂

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  4. Photo: Elise PelzerElise Pelzer
    answered on 17 May 2012:

    I read a book recently where everyone wore personal reactive armour, the catch is that whilst it stops the bullet from penetrating, it does not stop the force associated with the impact, so at the very least you still get a big bruise, just like you do when wearing a bullet proof vest.

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  5. Photo: Janette EdsonJanette Edson
    answered on 17 May 2012:

    The other scientists have answered this one pretty well – and it seems there definitely seems to be methods out there to do it, but they are just not practical (unless you are Magneto, then you can just use your magnetic powers and send them flying away from you with a wave of your hand!)

    The best and most practical thing we currently have is protective armour, usually ballistic vests (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletproof_vest). They can’t deflect bullets, but just help stop them and absorb the shock. They are usually made out of Kevlar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevlar) and sometimes also have ceramics in them to help absorb the shock of the bullet and protect the wearer.

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