Movies show people being slammed backwards by bullets hitting them. Never mind that it's not realistic, the question is, if bullet catridges are going to have a certain amount of gunpowder, which will have more "knock-down" power, heavier or lighter bullets? Lighter bullets will have a higher muzzle velocity, but heavier bullets have more momentum.
2006-12-09 07:12:33 · 3 answers · asked by Scythian1950 7 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Weight has nothing to do with it. It is more a matter of bullet design. The bullet that can transfer more of its energy to the target will have more knockdown power. The mass of the bullet is directly proportional to the energy, where velocity has an exponential relationship to the amount of energy.
2006-12-09 07:25:25 · answer #1 · answered by tmarschall 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
....1/2massXvelocity^2.
You figure it out.
(Unless the smaller bullet just goes through and thus doesn't transfer all the energy into the body).
2006-12-09 15:47:40 · answer #2 · answered by ergonomia 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ask the mythbusters./
2006-12-09 16:21:23 · answer #3 · answered by snake_in_a_cage 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋