If a bullet were to be fired in space, would it continue on forever until it hit an object?

Answer 1

No. It would continue on for a little while, but our solar system is able to support the elements that it does only because of the specific balance of energies it has. The bullet would enter into a region of space that the metal would be exotic to, and all the protons and neutrons and electrons would get pulled apart and the atoms would balance out with their surroundings, whatever elements those might be.

Relativity isn't the way of the Universe dudes. It'll never be able to explain the state of the atoms because it was based off of what we were able to observe in our solar system (and I can't stress this next part enough) when it's in this present energy state. The Universe is filled with all sorts of varying strengths of these currents, which give rise to the magnetic fields we see everywhere.

Double-helix galaxies (like our double-helix DNA) shaped by magnetic fields and Birkeland currents are out there, so this should help the scientists figure out that big Theory of Everything they are still searching for. We couldn't detect the Sun's magnetic field for the longest time because it was too big for our instruments. Scientists can't tell that the Solar Wind isn't electrically neutral because it's so big and the difference in electrons too small to detect.

They'll realize what's up some day, but only because they'll have to. It'll be after some powerful lightning storms sweeps over our planet and the powerful bolts of lightning, attracted to the metals and things we throw away, crushes our garbage dumps and landfills into our water table and poisons it.

Answer 2

Newton’s first law of motion states that if the vector sum of the forces acting on an object is zero, then the object will remain at rest or remain moving at constant velocity.

The implications of this, combined with the mechanics of, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, mean that if you were to fire a bullet in space, you would also be propelled backwards to some degree.

You would have to find some other method to propel the bullet than a combustive explosion, since in the vacume of space, gunpowder wouldn't have any oxygen to ignite. Perhaps it could be "fired" with the use of a magnetic field.

But no matter what kind of force you used to push the bullet down the barrel, only half of that force would be used to fire it. The other half would either throw you backwards, or slow you down, if you happened to be moving in the direction you shot it.

This doesn't mean that you would then travel at the same velocity as the bullet. If the bullet weighed less than you, it will travel faster than you after the force was exerted on it. If the bullet weighed more, then of course you would then travel faster.

Objects with greater mass need more energy to change direction or velocity. And if there isn't any forces acting on an object (gravity, friction, etc), then that object will either stay at rest or in motion indefinitely.

Answer 3

Well, technically, no bullet can be fired into space unless it has rocket boosters, or some kind of engine such as an atomic bomb.
But, if you are firing a regular gun bullet, it would float freely in space and would not continue because there is no air in space. It may go on forever exploring other planets! Even, if it hit an object, it would bounce away and continue to float.

Answer 4

Well considering that the space shuttle orbits the earth at 17,000 mph which is at least 9 times the speed of a bullet, I would say that a bullet fired in space at a height of 200 miles above the earth at a velocity of 2200 feet per second would have an orbital decay of 9.8 meters per second^2 and would fall back into the earth's atmosphere in less than 5 minutes.

Answer 5

Yes. An object in motion, stays in motion. In space there would be no atmospheric friction to slow it down.

Eventually it would get snared in the gravitational field of a larger object, like a planet or the Sun. There's a slim chance it could take a stable obit around that object, but most likely it would eventually be pulled in and collide.

And incidentally, you can fire a bullet in space. Both fuel and oxidizer are contained in the cartridge; it does not need atmosphere to fire.

Answer 6

In my opinion the bullet will travel along the space without stopping. However, the gravity and small partical in the space will decrease the speed of the bullet for a very long time. At one point nothing can stop the speed of the bullet and it remain travelling with that slow moving bullet.

Answer 7

No. It would eventually stop due to numerous collisions with atoms and molecules that populate space. It might take a very long time for that to happen, but it would eventually stop. This is why satellites fall out of orbit. Even though it is space, it is NOT a perfect vacuum.

And for the other person who said Armstorong's golf ball is still going, it was Alan Shepard on Apollo 14 who hit the golf ball. Not only was Alan the first American in space, he was the only one of the original Mercury 7 that actually go to go to the moon.

Answer 8

Yes, a gun would fire in space, since the bullet is a sealed chamber and the gun powder acts as an oxidant. The bullet would travel until it hit something, wherever that may be, and would in deed hit it at the same speed it left the barrel.

Answer 9

Saying you were able to fire a bullet in space, if there were no other objects or large masses with a considerable gravitational field to draw it, yes, it would go on for eternity. Or until the Unproven end of the universe.

Answer 10

An object in motion remains in motion unless a net external force acts on it. This applies to direction too.

So in an ideal situation with no net external forces (gravity or drag due to interstallar gases) the object will continue on it's path forever or until the end of the universe should that occure.

Of course that's not the universe we live in and something it bound to act on it eventually, even if just ever so slightly.

Answer 11

Firing a gun can be done in space. No the bullet will not continue on forever, it's momentum will eventually slow down.