ANYBODY SPEAK METRIC?:

How does a pumpkin reach 1450 kph? (Canadian Press, October 18, 2002)

When Jim Bristoe told his wife he wanted to build a cannon that would shoot a pumpkin a mile, she told him he wasn't all there.

But he built one anyway, with a 30-foot-long barrel. It is powered by a 700-gallon air tank and is appropriately named "Ain't All There." It looks much like a mobile anti-aircraft gun.

"You don't need to cover your ears, but you're going to know I shot it," the 42-year-old electrician and mechanic said during a demonstration on Wednesday.

When Bristoe fires the cannon, a 10-pound pumpkin is hit with 11,300 pounds of force. The pumpkin projectile leaves the muzzle at about 1450 kph, he said.

During the test, the cannon fired a pumpkin through the rear of a Pontiac.

1450 kph sounds like a big number, but what is that, like 25 mph? And why does the rest of the story use feet, gallons, and pounds? Posted by Orrin Judd at October 22, 2002 3:32 PM