roboc

Corrected entry: In the movie, black powder (gunpowder) is detonated by firing a musketball into it; however, black powder detonates at approximately 320C(600F), while bullet temperature has been measured at only 267C shortly after leaving the barrel, not enough to ignite the powder. See http://www.indigosystems.com/PDF/articles/R&D_article.pdf and http://www.americanpyro.com/fireservice/Ignition%20Temperatures.pdf.

Correction: Actually, if you watch closely, the musketball strikes the metal rim of the barrel, sending a shower of sparks into the spilling rum/black powder mixture, causing ignition.

roboc

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.