ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 I hadn't seen this one, and thought it was cool since it involved firearms. I know MythBusters can really fudge some of their 'scientific' tests, but the show is fun to watch. The Myth: If you were to drop a bullet at the same time you fire a bullet, from the same height, they would both hit the ground at the same time. The Physics: When fired on the horizontal, no ballistic arc, a bullet begins to drop immediately, and regardless of its horizontal speed, it's vertical drop speed is the same as the dropped. Status: Confirmed They used a 1911 .45acp, fired horizontally from a approx height of 3', full scale range, with downrange impact at approx 360'. The bullet is dropped within .3 of a millisecond, the fired bullet hit the ground within 39.6 milliseconds of the dropped hitting the ground. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 And confirmed by Newton a few years before... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 And confirmed by Newton a few years before... Well, there is that... But there are enough people that will argue defined facts on any matter. Go to a range and pose this as a question, bet you get some naysayers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Saiga_rom 91 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 i really like the show mythbusters, as well as this particular episode. but i also had feelings of frustration watching it because i was convinced i already knew what the outcome would be. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kodaline 178 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Lots of so called Myths are simply facts that many are too stupid/ignorant to accept. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jpanzer 1,265 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 The only thing on that show of interest to me is the redhead chick... 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 She's great to look at, but annoying. "Look at me! I'm CUTE!" only gets you so far. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jpanzer 1,265 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 She's great to look at, but annoying. "Look at me! I'm CUTE!" only gets you so far. If it got her as far as my bedroom, I could care less! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 She's great to look at, but annoying. "Look at me! I'm CUTE!" only gets you so far. If it got her as far as my bedroom, I could care less! Don't forget...the sight of meat makes her sick! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CPF 80 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Actually, if the bullet traveled fast enough (it doesn't), it could go into what would technically be called orbit (it just means that the rate of it falling is cancelled out by the curve of the earth). Unfortunately, the bullet would have to travel around 20,000 fps (maybe even more, just giving a rough estimation) to do this. However, with this test, I actually disagree. Because Earth is not flat, you can't say that they will both hit at the same time, because technically when you fire a bullet horizontally to earth's surface, you are firing at a VERY slight ballistic angle. I'll rephrase it if you don't understand what I am saying Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 Don't forget...the sight of meat makes her sick! I bet tube steak is on'er menu Quote Link to post Share on other sites
22_Shooter 1,560 Posted August 7, 2011 Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 She's great to look at, but annoying. "Look at me! I'm CUTE!" only gets you so far. If it got her as far as my bedroom, I could care less! Don't forget...the sight of meat makes her sick! Wrap your dick in lettuce. Problem solved! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Actually, if the bullet traveled fast enough (it doesn't), it could go into what would technically be called orbit (it just means that the rate of it falling is cancelled out by the curve of the earth). Unfortunately, the bullet would have to travel around 20,000 fps (maybe even more, just giving a rough estimation) to do this. However, with this test, I actually disagree. Because Earth is not flat, you can't say that they will both hit at the same time, because technically when you fire a bullet horizontally to earth's surface, you are firing at a VERY slight ballistic angle. I'll rephrase it if you don't understand what I am saying You're correct. But I would mention that would imply that the bullet was fired on a path tangent to the Earth's surface,at the same altitude as the dropped bullet. At that shallow of an angle, the effects of air as friction would cause a variable amount of drag on the bullet, as well as the direction of the shot in relation to the motion of the planet. But, to just deal with the earths curvature, we can abuse this calculator. http://www.boatsafe.com/tools/horizon.htm Put in the altitude of the shot/drop... get the distance... compute the time the drop will take to hit the ground. Distance divided by time, and you get the idea of the speeds required to make a difference. Ballistics are a hoot! Pi is 3.14159265359... We use 3.14.... 22/7 constructed everything in Rome... Sometimes, the difference isn't worth calculating. But I agree, it can still be fun to do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nailbomb 10,221 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 I miss Scottie. Cute, tattoos and a welder/fabricator? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
P lang 51 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Actually, if the bullet traveled fast enough (it doesn't), it could go into what would technically be called orbit (it just means that the rate of it falling is cancelled out by the curve of the earth). Unfortunately, the bullet would have to travel around 20,000 fps (maybe even more, just giving a rough estimation) to do this. However, with this test, I actually disagree. Because Earth is not flat, you can't say that they will both hit at the same time, because technically when you fire a bullet horizontally to earth's surface, you are firing at a VERY slight ballistic angle. I'll rephrase it if you don't understand what I am saying You're correct. But I would mention that would imply that the bullet was fired on a path tangent to the Earth's surface,at the same altitude as the dropped bullet. At that shallow of an angle, the effects of air as friction would cause a variable amount of drag on the bullet, as well as the direction of the shot in relation to the motion of the planet. But, to just deal with the earths curvature, we can abuse this calculator. http://www.boatsafe....ols/horizon.htm Put in the altitude of the shot/drop... get the distance... compute the time the drop will take to hit the ground. Distance divided by time, and you get the idea of the speeds required to make a difference. Ballistics are a hoot! Pi is 3.14159265359... We use 3.14.... 22/7 constructed everything in Rome... Sometimes, the difference isn't worth calculating. But I agree, it can still be fun to do. i understand youre thoughts and i also agree , when i watched the show i guess i never put to much more thought into it to dispute thier finding,s . had they contemplated these factors i think the show would have been a little longer than a hour though . when you start contemplating extreme velocity you get into the theory of relativity , light speed , and time slowing down and such . starts to give me a head ache if i think about it to hard ! but i really do enjoy thier shows and they generally do a good job on calculating the hi-fi stuff but somtimes miss on the common sense stuff . i saw a show a while back on tracers igniting gas tanks where they stated it was the paint on the round that was ignited by friction with the air that caused the trace , Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulyski 2,227 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 Wasn't this one taught in 7th grade science class? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fallschirmjager667 729 Posted August 8, 2011 Report Share Posted August 8, 2011 She's great to look at, but annoying. "Look at me! I'm CUTE!" only gets you so far. If it got her as far as my bedroom, I could care less! Don't forget...the sight of meat makes her sick! she'd never see it coming from behind Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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