How far would you go?
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00:00 Whoa!
00:06 That was pretty cool.
00:09 But could we do even better?
00:13 What if, instead of compressed air,
00:16 we filled the cannon with liquid nitrogen?
00:20 Could you live through this ordeal
00:22 without getting frozen in the process?
00:25 How far would you go?
00:27 And how much would this cost you?
00:31 This is WHAT IF,
00:33 and here's what would happen
00:34 if you were shot out of a liquid nitrogen cannon.
00:39 ♪
00:43 That is liquid nitrogen.
00:45 It's non-toxic,
00:47 it has no smell and no color,
00:49 and it boils at -196 °C (320 °F).
00:55 At this temperature,
00:56 your body would instantly freeze.
00:58 But for liquid nitrogen,
01:01 it's like a sauna.
01:04 If you got shot out of a real cannon,
01:07 you'd fly out with gunpowder burns on your body,
01:10 at the very least.
01:12 To make it a safer trick,
01:14 stuntmen use compressed air
01:16 to push forward the platform they stand on
01:18 inside the cannon.
01:20 Basically, it's a catapult masquerading as a cannon.
01:24 So let's fill this catapult with some liquid nitrogen.
01:29 And in this scenario,
01:31 you'd be like the cork in a champagne bottle.
01:36 Of course, we wouldn't send you flying out
01:38 of a liquid nitrogen cannon right away.
01:41 For your safety,
01:42 we'd perform some dummy tests first.
01:45 We'd need to figure out
01:46 how much liquid nitrogen we'd need,
01:48 and calculate where to put a net
01:50 to catch you safely.
01:52 We don't want this story to end up with you
01:54 smashed all over the ground.
01:56 "Ouch."
01:58 For this human cannonball to work,
02:01 you'd need to be pretty thin.
02:04 I don't mean to tell you to lose some weight,
02:05 but my calculations say that
02:08 the lighter the person,
02:09 the less force it takes
02:11 to shoot them out of the cannon.
02:13 If you're light enough,
02:14 you'd only need 750 liters (1,000 gallons)
02:18 of liquid nitrogen.
02:19 And if you heat up the cannon walls a bit
02:22 right before you launch,
02:23 you can get by with only 400 liters of the stuff.
02:27 That's still going to cost you about $1,000.
02:31 Theoretically,
02:33 you'd fly a distance of about 60 m (154 ft),
02:35 sailing 23 m (154 ft) up in the air
02:38 before landing in a net.
02:39 At least, that's the plan.
02:42 After all the tests were done,
02:44 everything would be good to go.
02:46 Are you ready?
02:48 I'm kind of worried about you.
02:51 You'd climb right into the cannon.
02:53 It would be a snug fit,
02:54 so hopefully you're not claustrophobic.
02:58 As you stood there waiting,
03:00 your assistants would heat the cannon.
03:02 Slightly, but enough for you to break into a sweat.
03:06 From there, things would go pretty fast.
03:09 The assistants would pour liquid nitrogen
03:12 into the bottom of the cannon.
03:14 Instantly, the liquid nitrogen would heat up
03:16 and turn into gas.
03:18 In a fraction of a second,
03:20 the gas would expand
03:22 and propel the platform you were standing on forward.
03:25 A split second later,
03:27 you'd be flying at the speed of 112 km/h (112 mph).
03:33 But something's not right.
03:35 When we were testing the dummy,
03:37 we kind of forgot about something.
03:40 Liquid nitrogen is really cold.
03:44 Before the cannon shot you out,
03:45 the nitrogen would have to be stored
03:47 in a sealed container
03:48 at a temperature below 196 °C (220 °F).
03:52 Once the liquid nitrogen was poured into the cannon,
03:55 you'd find yourself in a cloud of this gas all around you.
04:00 Liquid nitrogen can be pretty deadly for humans,
04:03 because as it evaporates,
04:06 it displaces the oxygen around it.
04:09 And did I mention it's insanely cold?
04:11 You'd pass out and freeze
04:13 if you stayed in that cloud long enough.
04:16 But luckily for you,
04:17 our cannonball events would be unfolding too fast
04:20 for the gas to cause any permanent damage to your body.
04:24 Thanks to the Leidenfrost effect,
04:26 the quick contact with liquid nitrogen inside the cannon
04:29 wouldn't instantly freeze your skin.
04:32 The nitrogen wouldn't even touch it,
04:34 only hover above its surface.
04:36 If somebody hit you with a hammer after the stunt,
04:39 your body wouldn't shatter to dust.
04:42 There would be no visible effects at all,
04:45 except the bruise from the hammer.
04:46 Ouch!
04:48 But it would sting badly.
04:51 Your whole body would be in sharp pain
04:53 as you went flying towards the net.
04:56 But hey, at least you'd still be alive.
05:00 You'd be accelerating rapidly.
05:02 It would feel as if gravity just got nine times stronger.
05:07 That could make you pass out on the flight.
05:10 And if you didn't pass out by this point,
05:13 seeing the net would sure make you feel on edge.
05:17 But you got lucky again,
05:19 as you dropped right into it.
05:22 The net slowed your velocity
05:24 and made the impact less intense.
05:27 That didn't cost you your life,
05:29 but I wouldn't do this again if I were you.
05:33 Maybe if you like liquid nitrogen so much,
05:35 you could try jumping into a pool
05:37 completely filled with liquid nitrogen.
05:41 But that's a story for another WHAT IF.
05:46 [music]
05:51 (dramatic music)