A hunter aims directly at a small target (on the same level) 85 m away.?

Question

If the bullet leaves the gun at a speed of 199 m/s, by how much will it miss the target?



I'm not sure how to start this problem, if anyone could help me out with this problem that would be great.
Thanks

Answer 1

Find the time required for the bullet to reach the plane of the target, then use that time to find how far the bullet drops vertically due to gravity.

Answer 2

Not too difficult actually.

Step 1: Figure out how long (in seconds) it takes the bullet to travel 85 m (hint: use the velocity formula)

Step 2: Figure out how far the bullet has dropped (due to gravity) during this time you found in Step 1. (hint: acceleration due to gravity is constant and is approximately 9.8 m/s/s down)

The mass of the bullet is inconsequential as gravity has the same effect on all objects regardless of mass. In other words, it doesn't make any difference if the mass of the bullet is 1 gram or 1 kilogram, it will still fall the same distance.

Likewise, you don't need to know the height of the gun at the time, for the above question, you just have to assume that it (and thus the target) is high enough from the ground that it doesn't hit the ground before it travels 85 m horizontally from the hunter. Making assumptions like this are necessary, particularly in physics.

Hope that's enough help

Answer 3

It's unanswerable with the information you've given. Even if you know the speed of the bullet, you need to know its weight, and even its shape, to determine how much it will drop over a given distance. The height of the gun is also important.

However, you can approximate it. The bullet will begin dropping immediately after it leaves the barrel, at very close to freefall speed. So, you can pick a height for the gun, say 1 m above the ground, and figure out how long a bullet will take to fall that distance. Then you figure out how far it will travel at 199 m/s in that time. (Another approximation, since it will be decelerating as soon as it leaves the barrel.) That will give you a rough idea of how far it will miss the target.

JMB

Answer 4

here is a hint if you point a gun and fire at a 45 degree angle the height and the distance travelled will be the same