Even though a ping pong ball is very light, it will be traveling fast enough to go straight through a 1/16″plywood board. This is more than enough energy to cause serious bodily injury and in extreme cases, death if proper safety precautions are not taken. A barrier or cordon should be in place to keep bystanders away from the system unless it is ensured to be safe.
- Always act like the tube is ready to propel a projectile even if it’s unloaded.
- The tape can be clear and you cannot see a vacuum, it may be loaded even if it doesn’t appear to be, so never assume.
- Never point the tube at anything you are not willing to destroy.
- See first bullet point.
- Do not load the ping pong ball, apply the tape, or create a vacuum until you are ready to conduct the experiment.
- The tape could fail at any time, don’t increase risk unnecessarily.