Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: EvilHomer15 on 12/07/2011 19:02:18
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Hallo, naked scientists.
I have recently watched the american movie "Kill Bill 2" and in a scene,
a man got punched through by another man, no weapons or anything in that matter. Just by using a fist.
I thought it would be funny to know, how much power it would take for a human being,
who has average weight, to punch through a man's skin and ribs.
Cheers, your dearest
EvilHomer15
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It would be difficult to give a precise answer because it would depend on the exact path the punch took and the diameter of the hole caused.
An approximate answer could be derived by comparing the energy of a bullet that may well pass through the body and the size of the hole it would make with the probable size of the hole a fist would make.
Some research was done on the subject after the "Indian mutiny" when cannon balls were shot thru mutineers from close range to deter future mutinies
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I would have thought that to be able to punch through a man you would have to break some bones. The question therefore would be "does the human hand have what it takes"? And I am not talking about the examples you see of people breaking through wood and so on. I am talking about the fact that these structures in the human body are supported by ligaments and muscles.
A human cannot even penetrate another living human with a stick unless it is sharpened. Now imagine using a stick with the same area as your fist. Some people might say your fist area is around about a log not a stick!
When it came to Jousting, a simple measure of safety was followed to help avoid fatal injury, the end of the lance was simply cut off to make it blunt. So even on horseback a lance maybe having half the surface area of your fist cannot penetrate the human body but instead is designed to send you flying off your horse.
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Of course they were wearing protective clothing! Ok, try this, take a t-shirt and wrap it round a dead pig, now see if you can punch your way through it, :) Not a pretty picture, but it does paint a clear picture of how this is completely not possible. [;D]
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If you punched someone hard enough to shatter ribs (not just a couple of cracks, but completely shatter them as would be necessary to penetrate the thoracic cavity). Then you would undoubtedly also suffer some serious damage to your knuckles.
There are no bones in the abdomen, except for the backbone, but you would still need some kind of pointed brass knuckles to penetrate.
I have no doubt that the jousting lance above could do some serious damage to an unprotected abdomen. At least I wouldn't volunteer to demonstrate on the receiving end.
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Time to call Mythbusters!
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Ok, try this, take a t-shirt and wrap it round a dead pig, now see if you can punch your way through it, :)
Have you been spying on me? How did you know how I like to spend my weekends?
I completely agree, though. As someone with a lot of experience with beating dead horses, it's very difficult to punch a hole in one with your fist.