When a fire is shot with a handgun, and the bullet impales the victim...?

Question

...would the kinetic energy of the bullet be an example of inelastic collision? And would that kinetic energy be transferred because of the bullet being a kinetic projectile?

And, would the man feel recoil from the gun because of the kinetic projectile as well?

Alright, thanks, but does the kinetic energy of the bullet has anything to do with the recoil that the man should feel? I already know that it is about the law of conservation of momentum, but I am thinking, could it work?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

yes, to both parts of your question. It is an inelastic collision, and the kinetic energy is transferred to the victim.

People who have survived getting shot while wearing bulletproof vests say is is like getting slammed in the chest with a baseball bat. What the vest does is spread the impact out in terms of space (over a wider area on the body) and in terms of time (due to cushioning, the bullet takes longer to penetrate.) Same idea behind why it is easier to drive nails into wood by hitting them suddenly with a hammer than pressing them slowly into the wood with a vise.

Answer 3

When the gun is triggered, the chemical reaction in the bullet is an expanding gas which pushes the bullet in one direction and the gun in the other direction. The bullet travels down the barrel and out the muzzle and towards the vicitim.
That part is well covered by the previous answers, but keep in mind that the expanding gas also pushes back on the breach of the gun and that generates the "kick" that the shooter feels.