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When you fire a gun into the air...

#1 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Dragonman {lang:icon}

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Posted 17 January 2008 - 09:45 PM

...what happens to the bullet? Does it get lost into outer space, or does it fall back down, with the potential of hitting someone? I always wonder this when I see guns fired in movies.
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#2 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Aaron {lang:icon}

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Posted 17 January 2008 - 09:51 PM

It eventually falls back down to earth. It possibly could hit someone, but Mythbusters has proved that it is highly unlikely that you will die from a falling bullet grnwink.gif .
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#3 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Zoo {lang:icon}

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Posted 17 January 2008 - 11:38 PM

I don't think anything happens... either that or I just have no idea how to fire a fun bluetongue.gif
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#4 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Ratty {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 12:05 AM

QUOTE (Zoo @ Jan 18 2008, 10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I don't think anything happens... either that or I just have no idea how to fire a fun bluetongue.gif

Teehee, I was thinking the exact same thing. bluetongue.gif

:withAaron: I saw the episode of Mythbusters. It's kinda like the penny-drop one. If you fired a bullet into the air, and gravity pulls it back down, it just doesnt have enough mass to cause any major injury.
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#5 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Master Of Stuff_NA {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 12:45 AM

I saw the mythbusters episode(it's unlikely), and I saw the local news in Arizona(it happened). So... I think it could happen if the shot was fired angled at 45 degrees and below and it hit in the right spot. But the MB test was roughly 90 degree angles, which I can see as unlikely.

It pretty much means what is 'in the air'
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#6 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Dragonman {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 01:04 AM

QUOTE (Aarоn @ Jan 17 2008, 04:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It eventually falls back down to earth. It possibly could hit someone, but Mythbusters has proved that it is highly unlikely that you will die from a falling bullet grnwink.gif .

They were close together... shhh. 2eyes.gif

I should have figured that Mythbusters would solve a mystery like this.
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#7 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Rylkan {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 04:13 PM

Makes sense, though. In a perfect vacuum the bullet would come back down and cause damage, but since this is the real world, doesn't work that. way. sad.gif

And for the bullet to escape into space, would need to go close to 11 km/s for a good distance. (It's more complex than this, but thats a the escape velocity for earth). Though it would be odd to have bullets flying through space...I think? conf.gif
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#8 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Snowy {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 07:10 PM

QUOTE (Rylkan @ Jan 18 2008, 08:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Makes sense, though. In a perfect vacuum the bullet would come back down and cause damage, but since this is the real world, doesn't work that. way. sad.gif

And for the bullet to escape into space, would need to go close to 11 km/s for a good distance. (It's more complex than this, but thats a the escape velocity for earth). Though it would be odd to have bullets flying through space...I think? conf.gif



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#9 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Rylkan {lang:icon}

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Posted 18 January 2008 - 09:27 PM

Sadly, no. bluetongue.gif Bullets can't quite keep up that speed. bluetongue.gif
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#10 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Goto {lang:icon}

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Posted 19 January 2008 - 10:57 AM

Aye... Although bullets can go a fair way, gravity and air resistance would quickly slow it below escape velocity I would assume. And then on the way back down although gravity is aiding it, air resistance means the bullet will be limited to its terminal velocity. A quick google gave me a figure of about 40 m/s terminal velocity for a bullet, not sure how accurate that is or what kind of bullet it would be for though. While certainly pretty fast, bullets are light enough that it would most likely not be lethal force.
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#11 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Bespetna {lang:icon}

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Posted 21 January 2008 - 07:13 AM

QUOTE (Aarоn @ Jan 17 2008, 04:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It eventually falls back down to earth. It possibly could hit someone, but Mythbusters has proved that it is highly unlikely that you will die from a falling bullet grnwink.gif .

He is correct

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#12 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Rylkan {lang:icon}

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Posted 24 January 2008 - 01:50 PM

QUOTE (Goto @ Jan 19 2008, 11:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Aye... Although bullets can go a fair way, gravity and air resistance would quickly slow it below escape velocity I would assume. And then on the way back down although gravity is aiding it, air resistance means the bullet will be limited to its terminal velocity. A quick google gave me a figure of about 40 m/s terminal velocity for a bullet, not sure how accurate that is or what kind of bullet it would be for though. While certainly pretty fast, bullets are light enough that it would most likely not be lethal force.


Despite the gauge of the shot, you're only looking at a small order of magnitude difference between different sized shots. The shape is more important I would think, since that can change air flow more than a small change in size. (Though, I dont imagine it would change it TOO much on that scale) So I imagine that number is pretty standard.
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#13 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Ruckus Fox {lang:icon}

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Posted 04 February 2008 - 04:24 AM

Speaking from experience, it doesn't kill you. In fact, it feels like a mosquito bite. The very most it could do is give you a bad scrape, and that's talking large caliber ammunition, like a .308 bullet or a 5.56mm.

Now I didn't get hit by a bullet, per se, I was hit with a small scatter of shot from a shotgun shell. It hurt all the same...

Why doesn't it kill you? Because it's no longer under the same velocity from the gun; it lost that velocity when fighting gravity. Due to gravity, it will reach a steady pace (once again, the larger, the faster) and keep that pace until it hits the center of gravity. AKA, the earth. The speed will be relative 9.8 Meters/sec squared. Not that fast, when you figure out how fast the bullet is traveling upon exiting the barrel.

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#14 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Rylkan {lang:icon}

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Posted 05 February 2008 - 01:41 AM

Sorry, that's not quite right Ruckus. That is an acceleration, it doesn't move back at 9.8 m*s^-2. Easy way to verify this is Energy Conservation, it would fail that test if it did. It does however lose to other factors, so it will come down slower none the less.
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#15 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Monkeys & Me {lang:icon}

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Posted 23 February 2008 - 12:40 PM

Mmm I thought I was because when it leaves the barrel of the gun it is already travelling at terminal velocity. Since leaving the barrel wind resistance slows the bullet down dramatically (Hence why Rifle barrels use the cokscrew technique to allow the bullet to travel through the air faster)

So if you fired a bullet straight up; the wind resistance would counter the speed greatly; turning a lethal shot into a potential bruise!
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