Star Trek

Look..We all know Data is more than a bunch of diodes and  advance circuits, but the other day while watching the episode "Thine Own Self.." when Data  was pouring a formula in a well to cure the townspeople, someone impaled him with a huge metal pike, he died, but in "First Contact" when he was shot several times by a machine gun, IT DIDN'T EVEN HURT HIM ? NOT ONE FREAKIN BIT, it seems that he would survive being impaled by a huge rod than being shot several times at close range, How can Data survive that ? HOW tough is he really ? Put your minds to work, give me your BEST answers !  

In the Robin Hood themed episode Deanna shot him with an arrow and he admited none of his biofunctions were affected. So maybe it is not a question of how big the weapon used against him is but where does it hit him. I mean, if one were shot in one's hand - well, it would hurt, but one would surely survive. The same bullet shot in the brain or heart - and one would be dead!
And by the way, as far as I recall, Data is incapable of feeling hurt. And he didn't die in "Thine Own Self", but shut down. 

He can handle anything except an exploding thalaron generator inside a scimitar class ship.

Or a punch to the off-switch.

That last comment got me thinking:  Soong wanted Data to able to grow more human, right? And with the chip, he could feel pain.  So if you kick Data in the robo-balls, does it hurt him?

Data even said in "the Schizoid Man" that when he's shut down it would be like his equivalence to death. However the only difference is that he can always be turned back on.

OK............. Now this conversation is reminding me of Voltaire's song, "The Sexy Data Tango."

Haha, I love this song. xD

Unless his skin acts in a somewhat similar way as non-Newtonian fluids do to impact, in that bullets under high pressure merely bounce off him, while a moderately fast launched arrow will pierce somewhat, however a (comparitively) slowly thrusted metal pike punctures him far more easily.

Although under those principles, if someone were to lay a hand on him, the aforementioned hand would simply slide into his mechanics.

Like I said, "somewhat similar".

that really depends on whether you want to kill data or just hurt him - if you want to hurt him, he's very tough, if you want to kill, destroy or deactivate him, he's not very tough

well, he took an arrow to the chest in "Q-pid", but then again, the arrow was shot by deanna, so that doesn't mean as much as it should.

whatever! is there actually a difference when you get shot there? in normal circumstances, wouldn't you die anyway? my point stands, regardless.

You can't kill a machine.

You have aim to head or to kill him since he can along head still working he alive. phaser set high enough vaperises his body could do the trick.