When a pellet ricochets
What is happening when a pellet ricochets and you hear that high pitched noise ? Why does a ricochet not sound like a stick when you throw it ?
Ps- I know what a ricochet is I just want some in depth science about it.
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It doesn’t sound the same way each time. If it does to your ears, they are out of calibration. Better take them in for a precision tune.
A stick would sound that way if you could trow it at 900 fps. What? You can’t? Arm out of Calibration too? 😀
Way back when, I built a cannon with a 2 inch bore. If you loaded it with 4 or 5 lug nuts, you got the same richochet sound but a lot louder! Very cool sound! The sound was imediate, the lug nuts did not hit anything. Gave away that cannon many years ago.
Mark
I often hear the pellet ricochet after it passes through a squirrel.
It doesnt always mean you missed, 8)
The 42gr EJ seems to be the worst culprit, but the Kodiaks do the same nonethless.
Same here. Many times, 21.1 grains @ 950FPS=Total penetration and ricochet.
I often hear the pellet ricochet after it passes through a squirrel.
It doesnt always mean you missed, 8)
The 42gr EJ seems to be the worst culprit, but the Kodiaks do the same nonethless.
Other words no two ricochets are the same.
I’ve had pellets make that noise, and pellets not make that noise. No one is saying that it happens every time, I was just saying that’s what the noise is when it does…… Like the guy asked –
Your arguing another point all by yourself… because no one is disagreeing with you. You didn’t answer the guys question… but your not wrong – Self taught by Wikipedia – Gotta love it.
Here we go… My answer, but explained by Oscar winning Audio Engineer Randy Thom.
The fundamental frequency of the ricochet decreases as the object slows down, and is subject to doppler too, both of which contribute to the “peeeeowwww.” You can get variations of the buzz sound by shooting a flat object like a coin or washer through the air with a slinshot and bouncing it off an object like a rock or even the ground at a shallow angle.
It’s hit and miss, and the higher the velocity the more likely it will happen, but at least 10% of the time you should get a very audible, and recordable, buzz as it tumbles end over end after the collision.
Also to explain the stick reference, if you notice when you swing the stick faster the pitch of the sound is higher. Same thing applies to the pellet, and it is going 550 miles per hour.
When I hear that sound, it means something just narrowly missed dying because I missed the shit out of it…… 😆 😆
Disagree. How do you know the bullet or pellet is tumbling? Can you see it? Does it always behave the same way every time? The sound is dependent upon how its deformed/disfigured and speed of travel. The first sentence of the ref says it all: “The likelihood of ricochet is dependent on many factors, including bullet shape, velocity (and distance), target material and the angle of incidence.”
Other words no two ricochets are the same.
YN nailed it, the question was about the sound it makes.
I was lead to believe that the noise is caused by it tumbling – a Doppler effect as it provides a large and then small cross section to the air its passing through.
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There is a u-tube video of a big bomb explosion and the camera was placed on the ground to tape the explosion. Seconds after the explosion you can hear stones ( i guess that’s what it is) whizzing and ricocheting
very close to the camera. Sounded just the ricochets you hear in the old western movies.
I’de post the link to the video but I don’t think I’ll find it again.