When bullets are shot into the air in protests, do they fall back down and kill fellow protesters?

Answer 1

Bullets fired straight up or nearly so return to Earth under gravitational pull, and only reach terminal velocity for the bullet -- speeds substantially lower than muzzle velocities and typically insufficient to inflict injuries.

Bullets fired at lesser angles, i.e., in a flatter trajectory will invariably impact somewhere with force determined by the original velocity and the type of projectile. Those bullets may strike with lethal force at great distances.

Answer 2

I might be all wet because I'm an old guy trying to remember physics classes from umpteen years ago but...I believe if in a vacuum yes it would and here's why. A bullet leaves the muzzle with a certain velocity. The force of gravity acts upon the bullet to slow it's speed til it is finally 0. As it begins to fall downward from this height the same force of gravity accelerates the bullet at the same rate that it decelerated over the same distance. By the time it has fallen back to it's exit point from the barrel the velocity would equal the muzzle velocity it had on the upward leg of it's trip....that would hurt.
Not being in a vacuum the bullet is acted upon by wind resistance (friction) which slows the bullet down. At this point I can't explain the mechanics further except to say that a terminal velocity is reached...that is a speed at which it stops accelerating. To be honest I don't understand why...or can't remember why there is a terminal velocity...i just know there is. But it must be that the force of wind resistance is proportional to velocity in such a way as to cancel the acceleration produced by the force of gravity. However...Don't try this with a cannon. Hope that helps...and I'm sure there are others that will refresh my memory if i'm in error.

lesliepatrus Again I may be wrong but I don't think your statement that the higher the bullet goes in the air the more damage it will do, for the above reason...there is still a terminal velocity which if I'm not mistaken would be the same no matter how far it fell.

Answer 3

Simply no.
A bullet leaving the barrel of a gun, exits at 1,000's feet per second.
When it is shot up in the air, the bullet eventually stops due to lack of acceleration and starts falling back to earth.
The speed at which it starts falling downward is not nearly close to the speed that it left a barrel with an explosive charge.
It will surely hurt someone, for sure. But not kill them.

Also, the higher the bullet goes in the air, the more it will hurt someone. The longer it falls, the more speed it will generate.
For instance, a high powered rifle will do more damage than a .22, if the bullet was shot in the air.

I haven't heard of anyone dying from a bullet that was shot in the air.

Answer 4

NO. I watched a Myttbusters on it and they proved that the bullet will not fall fast enough to break the skin. BUT if fired at the right angle it can kill someone a few miles away because it keeps it forward movement as where when shot straight up it goes until it runs out of speed and then falls.

Answer 5

yes, they can come back down and hit someone. Not long ago, near our town, there was a KKK meeting and they fired shots into the air. One of the members was struck in the head as the bullets came back down.

Answer 6

Sometimes, if it hits someone but wind will affect where it lands and so it most likely will not come straight down.You should NEVER shoot a gun into the air straight up or at an angle unless you are hunting bird with a shot gun, way to dangerous for others

Answer 7

Anyone with any responsibility would not fire in the direction of another person, but assuming that it was shot straight up in the air, it would only be travelling at 9.8 meters/second on its descent, which wouldn't be enough to kill someone.

Answer 8

There have been cases where guns fired in celebrations in the Middle East resulted in deaths. Bullets fired straight up land with the same velocity at which they were fired .

Answer 9

The trajectory of the bullet usually takes the bullet a couple of miles away so unfortunately, no

Answer 10

The cable show Mythbusters did a show on this and the short answer is "no". They don't have enough velocity to penetrate very far. They might cause injury but a fatality would be extremely rare.