If you shott a bullet straight up into the air, can it come back down and kill you?

Answer 1

If you fire the bullet STRAIGHT up into the air, no, it will not kill when it comes back down. Here's a good explanation I wrote awhile back:

A fast bullet fires with a muzzle velocity of roughly 1,100 mph.

A falling bullet is slowed by air resistance from drag forces and lack of propellant means it falls at a MAX velocity (for a small bullet) of 150 mph, but normally closer to 120 mph.

Travelling at 10% of the speed, the bullet strikes with 1% of the total kinetic energy (compared to a bullet fired at someone). This means that a bullet fired straight up into the air is not likely to even seriously hurt when it strikes, much less to kill. You'd have to be VERY unlucky indeed to die from a bullet fired straight up.

The problem comes when you fire a gun upwards at an ANGLED ascent... the horizontal speed is NOT significantly slowed, so the bullet might strike as fast as... say... 50% of it's muzzle velocity... that's 25% of the kinetic energy (and enough to be more likely to injure or kill). People firing guns NOT straight into the air is the problem area.... even then, however, the chances of actually striking someone are still very low

Answer 2

The mythbusters actually did this one, and the surprising answer is, "not necessarily"! Apparently, tumblig and air friction slows the bullet down enough to render it relatively harmless, but is still dangerous when shot at an angle. See link to mythbusters episode about this.

Addendum: Okay, here's the physics on this: A bullet fired straight up will spend the longest time in the air before striking the ground. During this time, because it literally has to reverse direction, the bullet will lose its gyroscopic spin and therefore its stability, and that is the cause of its tumbling, which greatly increases air friction and lowers terminal velocity. A bullet fired at a angle will spend less time in the air before striking ground, and, more importantly, is more readily able to maintain its gyroscopic spin (because of a more gradual trajectory curve) and not tumble and slow down drastically. If the bullet is still spinning and stable when it strikes you, it's likely to be lethal, having retained most of its original kinetic energy.

Answer 3

No, it will not hit you. This is because of the phrasing of your question. Assuming that you mean into the atmosphere, then no, since the slightest air disturbance in the bullets path will deflect, and if it is only a degree, then that degree transfers into meters of distance where it won't hit you. If you are talking about firing a gun straight up when you are in a vacuum, with gravity present, then yes, it would hit you, assuming as well that you shot it Directly up at a 90 degree angle to the flat space you are on. The variables that exist in the current atmosphere are to great and never constant to account for, so no one can say that they mathematically accounted for this when they shoot the bullet, since that will change constantly.

Answer 4

No, it will not kill you, but you might get a headache. I saw this on T.V. The speed where gravity and wind resistance equal each other is not fast enough to kill a person. Of course, this is only if the bullet is shot straight up and nothing effects is path, like wind.

Answer 5

No. It's like the myth of dropping a penny off the Empire State Building [false]. It would not kill you because there would not be enough space between you and the bullet. You would probably have to shoot as far as you can get to the atmosphere for it to actually kill you. Besides, it would probably curve anyway and miss you.

Answer 6

Theoretically, yes it could. Odds are, however, extremely long. What goes up must come down but, to calculate windage, earth's rotation, height of said bullet and time it takes to leave the barrel, apex, then return to earth, it's gotta' be directly next to impossible!

Answer 7

It would appear possible. But the bullet will be slowed down by air resistance.

Lots of good info (that I wont paste) at

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a950414b.html

Answer 8

yes it can it has before. there has been many times when people have died because bullets have fallen from the sky and went through peoples skulls. and due to the location of the entrance and exit wounds of the bullet they suggest that the bullet was falling down at near vertical. there has been times when this happened to farmers. who were out working then all of a sudden there buddy is just lying on the ground. one sec he is standing up walking the next he is laying on the ground with blood flowing out of his head.

i answered a question just like this about 2 days ago. i calculated that if a gun with and fps of 1200 shot a bullet perfectly straight into the air and if it was to go 2 miles into the air the bullet would come back down gaining speed from the force of gravity and it would come back down with an impact of 709 fps. that is 498 mph. it is going slower coming down then it did when it went up. it went up with 1200 fps. and came down with 709 fps. the bullet loses energy due to drag. but yes it would be fatal depending on where it hit. but if it hit you in the head then you are most likely going to die. there isnt enough energy lost to drag to make it not life threatening. but it would all depend on the speed of the winds high up in the air. but if there was not that much wind and the bullet came back down at almost near vertical then it could be life threatening.

to see my other answer click on the url. or just go to my profile. my other answer goes into detail much more and explians it better. but there are many factors to consider. but if the conditions were right then yes it could kill somebody. if it was fired directly vertical or near vertical and came back down it could gain enough speed. it would depend on how high the bullet traveled also. but as i said before if the conditions were right then it could kill somebody. maybe not you......even if it didn't come straight down. gravity would still make the bullet come down with enough speed to kill somebody. it has happened before so it is possible.

but the likliness of these conditions being right are slim to none. it would have to be a lucky shot to get into the air when the winds are minimal then to have a person standing in the right place at the right time........this is why things like this rarley happen. it is possible but very unlikely that things will work out in the way they need to in order for someone to lose their life.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Asrlo8nrUydpmFU5zz7I97zsy6IX?qid=20070102181155AAeZC8O&show=7#profile-info-AA12310234

Answer 9

yes it can but unlikely chances are it will travel a bit to the left or right and kill some small child who is innocent

Answer 10

Yes it will come back down and it has killed people.