Liquid armour: The new bullet proof

A bullet travels thousands of feet less in water than in air. Great news if you’re aquaman. Not as useful for real life soldiers. But, thanks to millions of pounds of government money, liquid body armour is already a reality.

Most bullet proof vests are made from a material called Kevlar because of its high tensile strength. Not sure what that means? Check out our article on ‘making spiderman’. For now, it basically means how stretchy something is. Because Kevlar has a high tensile strength, it’s super stretchy. When a bullet hits it much of its impact is absorbed. A bit like if you fell on to a trampoline or the road. The trampoline would break your fall because it’s stretchy.

Over recent years we have been trying out armour that layers Kevlar with a liquid to increase the tensile strength even more. Some liquids are more effective than others. You may have heard of the one winning all the awards. Oobleck. The cool thing about oobleck is when it encounters stress (a force acting on it….like a bullet) it turns into a solid. When the bullet isn’t there it’s a liquid. This is amazing because it provides the user (such as a police officer or soldier) with fantastic movement but equally fantastic tensile strength.

Sounds perfect, eh? Why isn’t all armour already oobleck? The problem is liquids are heavy. Not ideal. But, only one problem away from a revolution in modern military defence.

Find military science interesting? Consider applying for a summer internship at BAE systems. Follow the link below:

http://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/careers/careers-in-the-uk/graduates/graduate-opportunities/our-schemes/summer-internship