“Terminal ballistics is the science of what happens when the bullet strikes the target.”[1] Gelatin has often been used as a tissue simulate, a model for what happens during the impact of a bullet. The FBI Academy Firearms Training Unit uses gelatin in ammunition testing. Gelatin is temperature sensitive and deteriorates over time. For this reason, experiments generally only keep it out for 20 minutes at a time, to make sure that the consistency remains the same throughout the experiment.[2]
Jell-O, composed of gelatin, shares similar potential to that of the gelatin used in ballistics testing. It can be used to model and test the deceleration of bullets and has been used many times in the past. Our project examined the deceleration of a BB in frozen Jell-O, a medium that we believe has not been previously explored. Frozen Jell-O contains similar properties to that of regular Jell-O, being slightly squishy but still producing interesting visual effects.