The Effects of a Tear Gas Launcher on the Lower Abdomen of the Human Body
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physiology and Health
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
During protests all over the world, people were injured and even killed in what were supposed to be peaceful demonstrations by law enforcement using “less-than lethal” crowd control weapons. In Iraq, ten young men got tear gas canisters lodged in their skulls during protests. They all died within three days of being admitted to the hospital due to extreme brain damage (Hoz, 2020). The purpose of this study was to prove that a tear gas launcher can severely injure people and should not be used in crowd control by testing the same forces on the lower abdomen of the human body. The hypothesis in this study was that a force of 40 newtons from a tear gas launcher can prove fatal. This is because a gas canister has been shown to go to greater depth in other parts of the body. To test this hypothesis, an air cannon was used to simulate a tear gas launcher, and ballistics gelatin was used to simulate the human body. The cannon was tested at 20, 30, and 40 Newtons of force. The data showed that this weapon can indeed kill at 30 and 40 Newtons. This is assuming that any victims do not have immediate access to medical care. In terms of inferential statistics, the alternative hypothesis that the means of the collected data would be different, had failed to be rejected. The data from this study has shown that tear gas launchers should not be used during protests for risk of life.
Recommended Citation
Wood, Eamon, "The Effects of a Tear Gas Launcher on the Lower Abdomen of the Human Body" (2022). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 57.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2022/all/57
Location
HSS 205
Start Date
4-2-2022 11:00 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effects of a Tear Gas Launcher on the Lower Abdomen of the Human Body
HSS 205
During protests all over the world, people were injured and even killed in what were supposed to be peaceful demonstrations by law enforcement using “less-than lethal” crowd control weapons. In Iraq, ten young men got tear gas canisters lodged in their skulls during protests. They all died within three days of being admitted to the hospital due to extreme brain damage (Hoz, 2020). The purpose of this study was to prove that a tear gas launcher can severely injure people and should not be used in crowd control by testing the same forces on the lower abdomen of the human body. The hypothesis in this study was that a force of 40 newtons from a tear gas launcher can prove fatal. This is because a gas canister has been shown to go to greater depth in other parts of the body. To test this hypothesis, an air cannon was used to simulate a tear gas launcher, and ballistics gelatin was used to simulate the human body. The cannon was tested at 20, 30, and 40 Newtons of force. The data showed that this weapon can indeed kill at 30 and 40 Newtons. This is assuming that any victims do not have immediate access to medical care. In terms of inferential statistics, the alternative hypothesis that the means of the collected data would be different, had failed to be rejected. The data from this study has shown that tear gas launchers should not be used during protests for risk of life.
