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Science > Physics |
| User: |
"W. Watson" |
| Date: |
26 May 2007 09:42:08 PM |
| Object: |
MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
I happened to catch a part of MythBusters today but not the final minutes.
They addressed whether shooting a bullet in the air could kill someone.
Their early results of shooting a bullet straight up were at odds with some
factual data that showed people have been killed by guns aimed upward, but
not necessarily straight up. They started experimenting with shots not aimed
straight up. How did it turn out? I'm sure they would find that the angle
does matter.
--
Wayne Watson (Nevada City, CA)
Web Page: <speckledwithStars.net>
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| User: "Uncle Al" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
27 May 2007 05:10:22 PM |
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"W. Watson" wrote:
I happened to catch a part of MythBusters today but not the final minutes.
They addressed whether shooting a bullet in the air could kill someone.
Their early results of shooting a bullet straight up were at odds with some
factual data that showed people have been killed by guns aimed upward, but
not necessarily straight up. They started experimenting with shots not aimed
straight up. How did it turn out? I'm sure they would find that the angle
does matter.
Bullet ballistic trajectories can and do kill at long distances.
Vertical launch followed by free fall return can only deliver a sound
thump, including heavy 30-06.
--
Uncle Al
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/
(Toxic URL! Unsafe for children and most mammals)
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/lajos.htm#a2
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| User: "Androcles" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
27 May 2007 05:19:21 PM |
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"Uncle Al" <UncleAl0@hate.spam.net> wrote in message
news:465A01CE.B7181F0D@hate.spam.net...
[snop wet fart, or anip wet fart]
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
26 May 2007 10:59:29 PM |
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On May 27, 12:42 pm, "W. Watson" <wolf_tra...@invalid.com> wrote:
I happened to catch a part of MythBusters today but not the final minutes.
They addressed whether shooting a bullet in the air could kill someone.
Their early results of shooting a bullet straight up were at odds with some
factual data that showed people have been killed by guns aimed upward, but
not necessarily straight up. They started experimenting with shots not aimed
straight up. How did it turn out? I'm sure they would find that the angle
does matter.
Physics requires that the terminal velocity reached by the falling
bullets be insufficient to cause a flesh wound. Mythbusters found the
same. They interviewed a doctor who claimed otherwise, although they
did not cover the specifics of those cases (i.e. angle, etc)
--
Wayne Watson (Nevada City, CA)
Web Page: <speckledwithStars.net>
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| User: "W. Watson" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
27 May 2007 07:51:36 AM |
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When I left the story, they had gone to a desert to shoot 30 caliber and 9mm
shots into the air at an angle. They had planted observers under bullet
proof plastic material to observe the bullets as they impacted. The
observers did see the impacts, but I never found out if they found the bullets.
schoenfeld.one@gmail.com wrote:
On May 27, 12:42 pm, "W. Watson" <wolf_tra...@invalid.com> wrote:
I happened to catch a part of MythBusters today but not the final minutes.
They addressed whether shooting a bullet in the air could kill someone.
Their early results of shooting a bullet straight up were at odds with some
factual data that showed people have been killed by guns aimed upward, but
not necessarily straight up. They started experimenting with shots not aimed
straight up. How did it turn out? I'm sure they would find that the angle
does matter.
Physics requires that the terminal velocity reached by the falling
bullets be insufficient to cause a flesh wound. Mythbusters found the
same. They interviewed a doctor who claimed otherwise, although they
did not cover the specifics of those cases (i.e. angle, etc)
--
Wayne Watson (Nevada City, CA)
Web Page: <speckledwithStars.net>
--
Wayne Watson (Nevada City, CA)
Web Page: <speckledwithStars.net>
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
27 May 2007 09:53:02 PM |
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On May 27, 10:51 pm, "W. Watson" <wolf_tra...@invalid.com> wrote:
When I left the story, they had gone to a desert to shoot 30 caliber and 9mm
shots into the air at an angle. They had planted observers under bullet
proof plastic material to observe the bullets as they impacted. The
observers did see the impacts, but I never found out if they found the bullets.
I saw that episode about a year ago, so as far as I can remember,
they eventually found some of those bullets half a mile out after
searching for most of the day. I believe they compared the penetration
depth with a direct fire into the ground and found a significant
divergence. They busted the myth that a shot straight up can be fatal
coming down, but not so for a shot with an angle (based on interviews
with Doctor and x-rays, etc).
What they found is consistent with what Newtonian physics predicts.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: MythBusters and Shooting Bullets in the Air |
26 May 2007 10:35:02 PM |
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W. Watson <wolf_tracks@invalid.com> wrote:
I happened to catch a part of MythBusters today but not the final minutes.
They addressed whether shooting a bullet in the air could kill someone.
Their early results of shooting a bullet straight up were at odds with some
factual data that showed people have been killed by guns aimed upward, but
not necessarily straight up. They started experimenting with shots not aimed
straight up. How did it turn out? I'm sure they would find that the angle
does matter.
Following WWI the US Army got concerned that troops shooting at the
newly invented airplane might wipe themselves out from falling
bullets.
In the 20's, a guy name Hatcher was sent to a (then) deserted beach
with men, guns, and equipment to make a firing stand that had a machine
gun (among other things) fire straight up while under a sheet of armor
plate.
Their conclusion was that bullets in the 30 caliber range (all the
worlds armies used rifles that were roughly 30 caliber at that time)
when fired straight up came back at terminal velocity of around 200-300
fps depending on the exact bullet.
This is enough energy to cause a wound, but not generally lethal one.
I know of no study that attempts to find the maximum lethal angle.
--
Jim Pennino
Remove .spam.sux to reply.
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