How is it that a bullet that is 12.7 mm in diameter can kill somebody with so much more bodily damage than a 20mm rebar rod that is impaled through the body? I see stories of people surviving impalement all the time, but a shot with a .50 cal to the same area almost always results in instant death. Shouldnt the bullet just go through its target because it travels so fast?
In: 546
This is the type of question a gun nut could authoritatively answer. I’m not a gun nut but I did fire one long ago and I’m only going on old memories of firing one long ago, so take my info with a grain of salt.
**1 momentum**: the 50BMG can generate 18,000 – 20,000 joules of energy while a rebar going through you (or you falling on it) generates (0.668 lb/ft x 6 ft = 1.814 kg @ 6 meters = 10.9 m/s) (0.5 mv^2) 108 joules. I’m sure my math is bad, but the orders of magnitude alone should convince you the bullet has 2 orders or magnitude more energy (176x). **The rebar would have to be falling at 144 m/s or 324 miles per hour to hit you with the same energy**. Keep in mind this extra energy (and speed) means it’s not just going through you faster, but it brings a [SHOCKWAVE](https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/galex/20070815/f.html) with it, and that’s gonna tear up more stuff.
(sorry about the switching units, my brain is just crazy with units)
**2 TUMBLING (STOPPING POWER)** Also is the fact a rebar will probably to straight through you most of the time, while bullets will often [TUMBLE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stopping_power), which just creates an awful mess.
hope that helps.
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