I was watching a murder mystery/ forensics science show recently, and in the show, they state that a watermelon is the same density as a human head. :eek: This intrigued me, and so I did some online researching, but wasn't able to locate a reputable source to confirm this claim. :\

My question is this:

Does anyone know whether a watermelon is accurately comparable to a human head in terms of density and cutting medium?

(Morbid, I know, but it intrigued me) :eek:

If you could post a source that backs up posted information, it would be greatly appreciated. :)

I don't know for sure but I would say no. I have always heard that a coconut is as hard as the human skull. If that is true than the watermelon wouldn't be good for testing blunt force trauma. The truth of the matter is that there are lots of quality products that simulate bone and tissue that a forensic scientist would use before fruit. I don't know what they were doing but the plus for using a watermelon on TV is that is roughly shaped like a human head, cheap and easy to find (in season) and full of red stuff.

Watermelon: Shell is softer than skull and interior does not remind brain tissue in any way. At least, when it is ripe. Not much use for cutting exercises as well (You can cut watermelon in half with piece of rebar, without much trouble).

But it looks good on forensic shows and dinner table :)

I want to put together some ballistic gel targets, but I'd like to put in some bone substitutes. Does anyone know what I could use for the skull, ribs and arms?

I really don't want to use the plastic skeletons, as I don't think that would be as accurate as it could be.

Thanks everyone.

Strictly speaking in terms of DENSITY I'd guess they'd be pretty close overall- since both a head and a watermelon are mostly water.

In terms of structural strength, cutting resistance... much different. But a better question might be "what level of blunt trauma or cutting impact would it take to render the structural differences between a head and watermelon irrelevant when determining the final result" :eek:

One thing's for certain, and well-known to medical science: dry (dead) bone is more brittle that live bone. It may appear stronger in some ways, but will shatter more easily.

Steaphen, there are studies that have been run by the military on traumatic wounds. I wouldn't know where to go searching for it, though.

So, this sparked my interest so I ran down to the gorcery store and bought a coconut. After going through a couple noodles and 15 waterfilled bottles, I put the coconut on the stand....
Yeah, not easy. In fact, I took off the top of the cocout and sent it flying, but for the life of me I was having a hard time cutting the rest of it. If that's not close to bone, I'll be surprised.

Note: I was using an Albion Tolhoffer with a good edge.

I've cut watermelons before and they are definitely not a good substitute for skulls. It takes almost no effort at all to slice one completely in half with an axe or sword, even if it's not very sharp. I don't know about coconuts.

As far as bones go, when the Mythbusters were re-making their test dummy Buster, they did several tests on different human bones and several substitute media and figured out that poplar dowels and squares have similar breaking and stress-handling characteristics to bone. I seem to remember that a 3/4 inch poplar square was equivalent to a human femur in their tests. I don't remember what they used to simulate the skull.

You might want to check out their website and see if they have those results, and if not you could perhaps email them, or I know that there is a forum there somewhere as well.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Watermelon also much more susceptable to fists. I can quite happily punch a hole in a watermelon, but I have never seen a fist get stuck in someone's head in a fistfight.

It's also decidedly more delicious than head.

M.

Very sorry to misquote you Peter; I remembered wrong and couldn't find the thread. Thanks for correcting my mistake!

A new project! Thanks for the description! Yes, it's a bit of a morbid subject, but it's also relevant when it comes to the martial aspect of studying sword fighting.

Bone is NOT mostly water, therefore your argument is invalid. The density of bone, also measured by xray attenuation is approximately 500 Houndsfield units avg wtih the cortex being even more dense. The brain is similar to watermelon, not the head which includes the skull. For reference the Houndsfield scale is a quantitative measure of radiodensity water has an attenuation of 0 Hounsfield units (HU) while air is -1000 HU and metal is about +1000 HU.

Its all about the skull...