Bullet Ceiling - Page 4

Cynge · 2012-07-27, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by Rockstone

When I stop getting lazy, I will try to figure out the speed of a bullet returning to the earth at different angles. I did similar stuff in Physics, but after getting a 1 on the AP Physics exam, I've retreated from it.

The aforementioned MythBuster's episode covered alot of what's being discussed here (including the velocity of an arrow fired straight up).

IIRC they concluded that a bullet fired straight out (parallel to the ground) and a bullet dropped, for all intents and purposes hit the ground at the same time (though there was minor variances).

As for the velocity of a bullet on it's way back down after being fired straight up...it wouldn't kill, it would just hurt. The average bullet doesn't have enough mass to do lethal damage from just the force of gravity, and if it's fired *straight* up the velocity of the bullet as fired from the gun is not factored into it's falling velocity. In this case, the gun just determines the height before gravity overcomes it...and then the bullet loses all aerodynamics as it falls back to the ground tumbling end over end or in some random fashion.

The problem they ran into is that firing a shot perfectly straight up is nearly impossible...and as long as there is a certain amount of angle on the shot (I can't recall how much) then the bullet maintains it's spin and aerodynamics and would have lethal velocity on it's way back down....which is why you have reports of deaths from guns being fired "straight up".

Rockstone · 2012-07-27, 03:44 PM

I was just going to go into the mathematics. Although, what I would be observing would ignore aerodynamics and just test projectile physics, so my conclusion would likely be wrong. (Now, a spherical object in a vacuum with otherwise the same conditions as earth and the same mass as a bullet could easily be expressed :P )

vVRedOctoberVv · 2012-07-27, 04:48 PM

@Lantis

I agree on all points. Mythbusters (which I've seen a number of times) are rarely all that reliable, although sometimes it's informative.

As for falling bullet kills.... How would you know if that's how you died? You wouldn't exactly see where it came from, unless they're bright tracers. OH OH! You know the funny part! THE VANU WOULD BE THE ONES BITCHING BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE BULLET DROP!!!!!!!

That just occurred to me! So funny :P

Also, tell me more of this spherical chicken.

Lantis · 2012-07-27, 05:10 PM

To me Mythbusters is more or less just...a group of well-funded laymen attempting to make things entertaining. Generally with the application of large explosions, but at the expense of accurate results. Fun to watch, but calling it accurate/scientific or using it to support an argument is the scientific equivalent of citing Wikipedia. It just isn't sound.

As for the old spherical chicken joke, I'll just copy and paste it from somewhere. I'd probably butcher it otherwise.

"There is this farmer who is having problems with his chickens. All of the sudden, they are all getting very sick and he doesn't know what is wrong with them. After trying all conventional means, he calls a biologist, a chemist, and a physicist to see if they can figure out what is wrong. So the biologist looks at the chickens, examines them a bit, and says he has no clue what could be wrong with them. Then the chemist takes some tests and makes some measurements, but he can't come to any conclusions either. So the physicist tries. He stands there and looks at the chickens for a long time without touching them or anything. Then all of the sudden he starts scribbling away in a notebook. Finally, after several gruesome calculations, he exclaims, 'I've got it! But it only works for spherical chickens in a vacuum.'"

Eyeklops · 2012-07-27, 05:32 PM

[quote=Masterr;802926][quote=Cosmical;802924]

Originally Posted by Skepsiis

If your on a people mover (treadmill thing at themeparks), so your moving at a constant speed, and throw a ball STRAIGHT up in the air, it will land right in your hand from when you tossed it up. You and the ball are already moving with a horizontal speed. if you jump straight up off the people mover when you reach the end, you will be "jumping forward" and not just jumping in place.

So if the light coming out of my flashlight is moving at "c". When I am on a people mover does the light go "c" + people mover speed?

EnderGraff · 2012-07-27, 05:47 PM

Just to clear the air here, Once a bullet or any other projectile is fired/launched/flung from rest, it immediately begins to descend UNLESS the projectile has some sort of angled wings to provide lift.

Imagine an arrow fired from a bow. It obviously starts to drop as soon as you fire it, which is why you must compensate for gravity by aiming above targets. Bullets, albeit much much faster with less mass, are absolutely no different. Once you shoot it, yes, it begins to combat gravity.

Therefor, the aformentioned example of a bullet dropped and a bullet fired will hit the ground at the same time is quite true... IN A VACUUM. In a vacuum there is no air resistance, no cross breezes, no other variables. But according to the laws of physics, yes, gravity effects every single object the exact same way.

And lastly, there is no way in hell that this will be in the game

vVRedOctoberVv · 2012-07-27, 05:48 PM

@Lantis

Thanks for the joke! I also think debating the air speed velocity of an unladen sparrow would be appropriate for this thread

Talking about reliability of TV "reality" shows, have you ever seen Deadliest Warrior? No, I'm not comparing MB to DW. DW is just total random bullshit, hands down. But it's a funny example

Knight Vs Pirate
Pirate shoots knight. Well... What the hell else did you expect?

Spartan Vs Ninja
This is just a terrible matchup, although not as stupid as "guy with gun vs guy with sword"

Spetznatz Vs Green Beret
Essentially the same.

And so...

maradine · 2012-07-27, 05:50 PM

Originally Posted by Eyeklops

So if the light coming out of my flashlight is moving at "c". When I am on a people mover does the light go "c" + people mover speed?

No, it travels c, and you and the guy you're lighting up disagree on the time.

Lantis · 2012-07-27, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by Cosmical

So if the light coming out of my flashlight is moving at "c". When I am on a people mover does the light go "c" + people mover speed?

Ah, relativity. Fun times. Essentially, the simplest way I can think of to explain it is that the speed of light is absolute, in all reference frames. To you on the people mover, it's merely moving the speed of light, however, to an outside observer, it would still be traveling at the speed of light, but the wavelength of the light will change depending on whether it's coming or going. Red shifted if moving away, blue shifted if moving towards you. Of course, this would only be readily noticeable if the people mover were moving at substantial speeds.

Long story short, common sense goes out the window at relativistic speeds.