Watermelons Are In Mid-Season Now, Too

Is there a speed at which you can throw a watermelon at an airplane propeller to get slices instead of splatter?  Discuss

Jeremy brings you a fun and messy Gedanken experiment to think about.

The best part is, it doesn't necessarily have to be just a thought experiment.  You can try it at home!

If you try this at your local airport, you'll probably get arrested.  So just keep than in mind when you ask your parents' permission.  

So, everybody knows that standing around a spinning blade is generally a bad idea.  Just Ask This Guy From Indiana Jones.  As you clearly see from that scientific re-creation, something standing in the way of a spinning propeller is quickly carved into mulch.  This comes as no surprise.  Of course, the Mythbusters also Conclusively Showed that under the right circumstances, a propeller blade can, in fact, slice through an object, leaving shreds instead of pulp.  

Watermelons exploding is not a novel concept.  Two different Gallagher's made a living off of this for years.  Also, A simple Youtube search for "Watermelon Explosion" yields over 29,000 videos, some of which are probably kitten videos that have nothing to do with watermelons, but you get the idea.  Speaking of which Stop What You're Doing And Watch This Video Right Now.  We'll wait.  

You can also slice right through a watermelon fairly easily.  With a sharp enough blade and/or enough speed Watermelon Slices happen.  It's a great party game for kids' birthdays and Bar Mitzvahs.  

So, I'm curious if this can be pulled off.  Obviously a near stationary watermelon lightly tossed into an airplane propeller will be nearly liquefied.  A watermelon hurled fast enough and with the right timing could also conceivably pass between the blades of the propeller and never make contact.  Unfortunately, we must also keep in mind that the leading edge of a propeller blade is rounded, and the blade itself is not perfectly parallel to the plane of motion (That's how propellers work, duh), and these two variables are pretty key in figuring out if this could work or not.  

So, is there a specific set of variables wherein you can hurl a watermelon at an airplane propeller, and end up with a lovely sliced watermelon instead of a big sticky mess?  You know...for science.