Please help me with this crazy homework problem I have for astronomy.?

Question

In your right hand u hold a gun, aimed exactly horizontally, and in your left hand u have a ceramic vase. suppose u fire the gun exactly at the same instant as u release the vase. Which will hit the ground first, the vase or the bullet from the gun?

a) vase
b) bullet
c) both at the same time

that's all the problem requires but if u can tell me why, that would be super!

i just got back the results of the quiz and the answer

IS NOT THE VASE

i think it's both. but i'm not sure.
cause i think that gravity and the force from the bullet travel at the same speed.

Answer 1

Any of the three answers can be correct depending on two critical parameters that are not defined: The shape (and thus aerodynamics) of the vase, and the speed of the bullet.

The curvature of the earth will delay the descent of the bullet (the faster the bullet travels, the greater the effect), and the drag of air on the vase will slow its descent (relative to the bullet, which is obviously more aerodynamic).

The answer would be c) if those two parameters cancel each other out: the speed of the bullet delays its descent (due to the curvature of the earth) at exactly the same rate that the air drag from the vase's shape slows ITS descent.

a) will be correct if the vase is sufficiently aerodynamic to allow it to reach the ground while the bullet is travelling the greater vertical distance.

b) will be correct if the air drag from the vase's shape slows it more than the earth's curvature delays the bullet's descent.

Whereas I personally would place my bet on b) being the greatest likelihood, none of the three scenarios can be dismissed out of hand without further data.

Sure, the intervals are thousandths or millionths of a second, but so what?

Answer 2

Do you mean shoot the gun at the ground? Wouldn't that be vertically? I mean if you hold the gun horizontally and shoot it the bullet will go either right or left from you and it will go that distance prior to falling to the ground... it takes time to go teh distance and so it depends on what type of gun(power, etc) ~ because if it has more power it may go further right? I mean well also there are dif. types of bullets and well THere are too many varibles with the horizontal gun shooting. How ever if the gun is fired towards the ground as teh vase is dropped, wouldn't we think that the bullet would hit first because it has "propelling force behind it"? I mean it woudl be like saying you had two vases, and you simply dropped one and you forcefully threw the other one to the ground, well the one you used force to throw to the ground will get there first. Also what type of VASE, does it have some skirting or baffeled edges or something ~ in such a case there may be resistence as it is dropped and well there is that consideration..... Tell you teacher there are too many varibles to give a straight answer.

www.link.20fr.com

Answer 3

exactly horizontal is the sherlock holmes clue!!!
as others have said ...the horizonal has no effect on the vertical!
just as galileo dropped a large boulder and a small boulder from the leaning tower of pisa a while ago...
it is not the weight that matters ... but the density...
in other words, a pound of feathers weighs the same as a pound of lead., ,,,agreed?
but the lead will fall faster... air resistance...
the answer is that the bullet will hit the ground first because it is more dense than a vase (you said ceramic)
if the vase was made of pure lead then it would be a tie...
unless the bullet was alumiminum... .....ok you get it
LOL
IT'S the bullet corina.... it's more dense!!!

Answer 4

The vase would hit the ground first because if you were holding a gun horizontally (sideways) it'd be pointing at the vase, the bullet would hit the vase (or wall) not the floor.

Or maybe I misunderstood the question.

Answer 5

i would have to say the vase because it is falling straight out of your hand to the ground. As for the bullet unless you were shooting at a hill not to far infront of you then it would haveto travel a bit before it would hit this ground, but there is a way to find out for sure and that is to put it to the test. if you can

Answer 6

I think c. the bullet is traveling further but gravity is pulling on it just as much as the vase.

Answer 7

both, gravity pulls them down at the same rate of speed, it's just that the bullet travels realy far in that second it takes for them both to hit the ground.. this is of course assuming the ground is level also.. if it is at a slight rise the bullet would hit first because it didn't have to drop as far.

Answer 8

Depending on your assumptions the answer could vary, but in this case the answer they are probably looking for is c).

The reason is the force due to gravity is the same on either object. That is assuming that air resistance/friction is zero.

I'm guessing that you are in a Physics I class and about to start doing vector algebra to calculate how much of a force is acting in the horiz. and vert. direction. In this case, the vase has zero horiz velocity and accel. and zero vert velocity and accleration = -9.8 m^2/sec

The gun has some horizontal velocity (that is irrelevant unless you want to know how far it travels before it hits the ground.) and the exact same starting horz velocity and accel.

Answer 9

The vase. The bullet's drop rate is less than the drop rate of the vase because the bullet is under accelerated motion, which cancels gravity until the bullet slows down after a few seconds. It would take the vase less than a second to hit the ground.

Answer 10

A because the initial velocity of the gun is faster than the gravitation pull of the earth pulling on the vase, so it would take longer for the gravity to act upon the bullet