If you are in a hot air baloon and you shoot a gun and drop a bullet at the same time which will hit the ground first?
2006-06-27 16:30:31 · 4 answers · asked by bonniesaint 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Even if you shoot the gun horizontally, the bullet dropped will reach the ground sooner because air friction. Because the shot bullet traverses a longer path in the atmosphere, it will experience a longer period of drag and reach terminal velocity sooner, and has to travel a longer path at that velocity.
There is also the effect of the curvature of the earth; the ground is actually farther away for the horizontally shot bullet. In fact, if the muzzle velocity is high enough, the bullet will never reach the ground. It's in orbit!
2006-06-27 17:41:40 · answer #1 · answered by gp4rts 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The bullet you shoot. It leaves the gun at high speed. Faster than the speed of sound. The one you drop must accelerate from zero. The bullet you drop will fall 32 feet the first second, 64 feet the 2nd second and so on. That's an accelration rate of 32 feet per second per second. Depending on the gun the bullet you shoot could start out at over 1000 feet per second and accelerate from there. It's one of Newton's laws. He's the guy that discovered gravity.
2006-06-27 16:54:59 · answer #2 · answered by theatre.dude 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you shoot the gun horizontally, the two bullets will reach the gruond at exactly the same time.
I you shoot down, in the direction of the ground, the bullet you shoot will hit the ground first.
2006-06-27 16:38:58 · answer #3 · answered by avner s 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you shoot the gun upward... the dropped bullet will reach the ground first
if you shoot the gun horizontally... they will reach the ground at the same time
if you shoot the gun downward... the gun's bullet will reach the ground first
2006-06-27 16:36:04 · answer #4 · answered by ♥Tom♥ 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋