The degree of tissue disruption caused by a projectile is related to the size of the temporary versus permanent cavity it creates as it passes through tissue. The extent of cavitation, in turn, is related to the following characteristics of the projectile: * Kinetic energy: KE = mv2/2 (where m is mass and v is velocity). This helps to explain why wounds produced by missiles of higher mass and/or higher velocity produce greater tissue disruption than missiles of lower mass and velocity. * Yaw * Deformation * Fragmentation