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In one podcast, you stated that if one shoots a bullet up into the air, it will return to earth at near the same velocity at which it exited the gun. While you may be correct, the TV show MythBusters actually tried to replicate this, and they were unable to do so. It turned out that the terminal velocity of the bullet was quite small (120 MPH if I recall properly), which is only enough to annoy someone, not to injure them.
Quote from: Jon on 14/01/2011 12:30:02In one podcast, you stated that if one shoots a bullet up into the air, it will return to earth at near the same velocity at which it exited the gun. While you may be correct, the TV show MythBusters actually tried to replicate this, and they were unable to do so. It turned out that the terminal velocity of the bullet was quite small (120 MPH if I recall properly), which is only enough to annoy someone, not to injure them. That's technically true, but not important.If you fire it straight up then it will stop spinning and tumble and fall, and then it's not too bad. But if you fire it at any kind of angle then it will come down with a lot of its speed still there; people have actually died from this.Mythbusters have rated it:busted / plausible / confirmedall three, depending on conditions.
Quote from: wolfekeeper on 18/03/2011 22:41:39Quote from: Jon on 14/01/2011 12:30:02In one podcast, you stated that if one shoots a bullet up into the air, it will return to earth at near the same velocity at which it exited the gun. While you may be correct, the TV show MythBusters actually tried to replicate this, and they were unable to do so. It turned out that the terminal velocity of the bullet was quite small (120 MPH if I recall properly), which is only enough to annoy someone, not to injure them. That's technically true, but not important.If you fire it straight up then it will stop spinning and tumble and fall, and then it's not too bad. But if you fire it at any kind of angle then it will come down with a lot of its speed still there; people have actually died from this.Mythbusters have rated it:busted / plausible / confirmedall three, depending on conditions.Quite so. It's a question of trajectory. A bullet's potential to do damage depends on how much initial momentum was retained.