Monday, October 25, 2010

Pumpkin Physics

In honor of Halloween being this Sunday we have a little mixture of science and Halloween!
Check out the following video!

Pumpkin Physics

41 comments:

Mrs. Martz said...

Have any of you ever wanted to launch a pumpkin out of a pumpkin launcher or shoot a potato gun? I know I have. How does a pumpkin keep from smashing itself under all of its weight? Cool video just in time for Halloween

Buelterman,Abbey said...

I loved the video It was so Ummm what do you call it oh yeah COOLIO, I wish my pumpkin would get that big without exploding someone should make a pumpkin growing potion that makes them grow HUGE HUGE and even HUGGER and that they won't explode so someone should start on that right away maybe even right now!!!!

<3 Abbey <3

Kilgore, Sydney said...

I never new a pumpkin could way upm to 1800 pounds!! thats huge and how wouldn't it break? I wonder why not all pumpkins can grow that big. Do people do something to them?

Sean Laake said...

I'd like to see someone shoot that monster of a pumpkin out of a cannon! Mythbusters do tell you how to make a potato cannon. That could be one of Newton's law experiments, what comes up must go down. The pumpkin keeps it self from smashing with all that weight by adapting, and causing a thick bottom to hold up the pumpkin.

Royer Rachel said...

Thats amazing!! That is incredible how big those pumpkins get and they wouldnt break.How is that because I didnt really understand the video at all when it came to how the pumpkin grow faster in higher stress places?
Do the farmers put chemicals o something on the pumpkina that formed them to grow faster? How come not all pumpkins do that?

Park Deborah said...

thats pretty cool! that pumpkin was huge! i wish i had one... i wonder how much they would cost if they sold it

anonymous said...

It would be sooo cool to have a pumpkin that big. I could probably fit in one. But how does it not get crushed? I can somewhat compare it to the worlds fattest man. He needs a specially reinforced bed and a few people to move him. You would probably need a sword or machete to carve that thing!
Posted by Sam Tendam

anonymous said...

Deborah, it would probably cost about $250 to buy a pumpkin that big. It would not be worth it. You would need a sword or something to carve it, and a shovel to scoop out the insides.
Posted by Sam Tendam

gorman,kyle said...

Wow that was amazing! How do pumpkins get that big with out breaking I wish I could grow a pumpkin that bih in my backyard. I would also love to shoot one that big out of a cannon that would be so cool. But there are a couple of queistions that I still want to know, What type of climate to you have to grow with them? Can you grow them anywhere all over the world and what type of season do you have to start growing them? If anybody reads this and knows the anwsers to these quietions, please awnser them because I'm really interested. Also I am very shocked that a pumpkin can weigh like up to 2,000 pounds. I couldn't imagine how many people it would take to lift that!!!

Buelterman,Abbey said...

I agree with Deborah, how does it not explode or crash????

<3 Abbey <3

Bass,Zoey said...

a pumpkin keeps itself from sashing itself under all of its weight because it uses its higher stress places ( which are at the botom of it) to i guess support it from smashing? that farmer in the video put a blanket on it to keep it warm.....maybe farmers use different remides to make it grow, i agree with abbey's post, they should start making a pumpkin potion to make it grow bigger, so you can make really big pumpkin pies or design a huge design on it for halloween!!

anonymous said...

THAT IS SO COOL! who new hat a PUMPKIN! could get so BIG! and how they would cut the pumpkin in half with that prsser. that looks so neat and i cant believe that they cut that huge pumpkin in half that is so cool. i wish i could go to where they grew it and buy one then cut a hole in it and be able to climb into it! i would to be able to go to where they do that an watch!

anonymous said...

That's so cool that a pumpkin could get up to 1,800 pounds.The thing I think about is how would you lift a pumpkin like that one for a stat fair.And how do they not break.i bet the people who grow these ginomuas pumpkins know a lot about math and science.
Andrew Hudson

anonymous said...

I agree with Rachel that why don't all pumpkins grow to be 1800 pounds. But because of this jack-o-lantern would be cooler.
Andrew Hudson

Hailey Hoover said...

1,800 pounds?! that's INSANE! i never in a million years thought a pumpkin could get that big. i'd love to see one of these in person. that would be really cool.

Hailey Hoover said...

@ kyle
yeah i was wondering ifi cold grow a huge pumpkin that big in my backyard. that would be awesome! i wonder if they can be grown all over the world too.

Kamilah Williams said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kamilah Williams said...

no rachel the farmers of the pumpkins dont put chemicals in the pumpkin to make then grow like that. they would never do that like with chemicals to make fish grow faster it doesn't happen like that

Kamilah Williams said...

man thats some pumpkin look at its size i could make 5 pumkin pies with that thing. i thought as it got bigger the gravity pulls the pumpkin down and it made that weird shape that is that is so cool how the pumpkin looks like that i should bring one to school and show mrs.Martz

Madison Schnell said...

That is one BIG pumpkin! I wonder the same as them, how do all of those huge pumpkins grow so big and not break, or squish.
I have always wanted to launch a pumpkin! It seems like it would be a blast. A pumpkin weighing 1800 lbs is probably the biggest pumpkin I have ever heard of. Why dont all pumpkins get that big? Do they use a special chemical or seomthing to make the pumpkin keep growing bigger and bigger?

Madison Schnell said...

Andrew-
I am thinking about the same thing, how would they lift it? Like out of the pumpkin patch and everything. I did see something like a tray under the pumpkin, maybe they lift it with that.

Madison Schnell said...

Deborah-
I am wonder the same about cost! Some really good small or mid-sizd pumpkins can be expensive, how about a 1800 pound one! It must be really expnsive then. I wonder how much!?

kaleb.quinlan said...

Pumpkins of the Atlantic Giant variety can weigh more than 1800 pounds.That is so awsome that pumpkins can get so big and they look really crazy.

oleary stephanie said...

that is so cool! ive seen pumpkins that were really big the biggest weighed 660 pounds!! thats not as big as the pumpkins in the video but its still pretty big.i would love to launch a pumpkin.it seems very fun but messy. it is very good for holloween

PAPATHANAS,ANTHONY said...

I have also launched a potato cannon. And also there is some show on discovery that is all about pupkin smashing. Also those were some pretty big pumpkins and also i thnk that the pumpkin supports itself by its sides and also the insides of it.

Sean Laake said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

wow thats wierd i never thought a pumpkin would get bigger but s and i have seen many pumpkin that are very big but keep there shape thanks and merry trick or treating

Sheridan,Megan said...

Thats so cool. wouldnt the pumpkin break? it weighs 1800 pounds thats huge! Launching that big of a pumpkin would be so cool. Do they put something in the pumpkin to make it grow bigger than normal sized pumpkins?

Anonymous said...

and yes i would love to shhot a potato cannon it would be a thrilling experience

Sheridan,Megan said...

Deborah,
I also wonder how much it would cost to buy that pumpkin. I know that normal szed pumpkins are like from 7 to 13 dollars! so that would be a lot more money for a HUGE one!

keisersydney said...

I would want to hide in a gigantic pumpkin, and then i would jump out in a michael meyers costume and the kids would freak out and drop their candy so i would get extra candy mwa ha ha! Although i would be afaid the pumpkin would collapse on me...oohh! and when i jump out of the pumpkin i would throw ballons full of fake blood at them! Well thats a little harsh, i guess...
That video was insane! talk about a jack-o-lantern! who knew science would scare a bunch of little kids into ,possibly, a pumpkin phobia! Sweet!

anonymous said...

That is so cool, I never ever would of imagined it could weigh that much! And Deborah, I bet it would probably be a lot! Like hundreds of dollars or something like that, and I wonder the same thing, what do they do with it to make it that big? I never thought it could even get bigger than my dog!

-Corissa Sturm,(:

Ryan, Marissa said...

I thought that pumpkins shaped because, well...they're pumpkins. But i never put enough thought into it to know that pumpkins grow different because as they get bigger, gravity has more to pull on, and the pumpkins get shorter, or tall and skinny, it all depends. Pumpkins are normally half the size in height compared to he width. The shapes change because the gravity pulls the pumpkin harder so the bottom is very thick which keeps the pumpkin from bursting. I would love to shoot a pumpkin out of a cannon! That would be soo fun!

Ryan, Marissa said...

Sydney,
I was thinking the exact same thing! Why do some pumpkins grow as large as 1800 lb, while most Halloween pumpkins grow to be much smaller? I think it all has to do with the way you nuriture and take care of your pumpkin while it grows. For example, one of the guys they talked to in the video said that he puts a blanket over his pumpkin every night. Now im not sure what good that does, but for all i know, it could help greatly.

anonymous said...

what a big pumpkin. it would be so much fun lunching a pumpkin. i cant believe they dont smash since they are so big. totally agree with sams comparison lol.

kelly rogers

gorman,kyle said...

To: sean that would be awesome if mythbuster did that. And very could about the newton lwas that everything goes up has to come down.

Anonymous said...

Kyle take your pumpkin seeds from halloween this year and throw them somewhere where it can get water. I did it and i got a whole pumpkin patch in my backyard.

Anonymous said...

WOW I didnt know pumpkins can get that big, i think it would be cool to shoot one that big out of a canon probly wouldnt go far but still.

gorman,kyle said...

To Brendan:ok thats really cool

freel,amanda said...

I thought the video was awesommmeeee. I wish I had a pumpkin that would explode. I only had a little pumkin for Halloween because I dropped my sister's pumpkin and so I had to give her mine...

johnsholly said...

i never knew that a pumpkin couldget up to 1800 pounds that is so cool.and it makes you wondetr why they dont break?