I am on a train with only 1 carrige 500 metres long,the train is travelling at twice the speed of sound and can go on for another few hours at this speed in a straight line.
i am at the front of the train and another person with a gun is standing at the back of the train, there is nothing else in the carrage apart from me and the other person,he shoots at me , the bullet is travelling at the speed of sound,
would the bullet hit me?
2007-03-22 08:38:28 · 21 answers · asked by spamalot 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
YEs, it would hit you.... you are both stationary with respect to each other; even the air inside the car is moving with both of you. As long as the coach moves in a straight line, and at constant speed, there are no external forces to alter the course of the bullet, with respect to the both of you.
2007-03-22 08:44:37 · answer #1 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Of course it would. At the moment the shooter fires the gun both of you are traveling twice the speed of sound relative to the outside ground, however relative to eachother, neither of you are moving at all. The inside of the train is it's own system so you cannot take a measurement from an outside observer and apply it to that system.
To the outside observer if both of you are traveling at twice the speed of sound and then the gun is fired, the bullet will be traveling 3 times the speed of sound! (but only for the outside observer, to both of you on the train the bullet will only be going the speed of sound)
You must also consider the acceleration of the train. If the train is moving at a constant velocity, in other words the acceleration is 0, the previous explanation applies, but if the train accelerated after or during the firing of the gun then it would affect the bullets speed relative to you. However it would be extremely difficult for the train's acceleration to have much affect on the tiny bullet because of the difference in their masses. It would take an enormous amount of energy to make the train accelerate or decelerate but only a little to make the bullet accelerate.
2007-03-22 08:49:20 · answer #2 · answered by johnny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not necessarily! If the "shooter" had an unmissable aim, then yes it would. The speed of the train has nothing to do with it. Only the shooter's aim. Same as if you were both standing still the same distance apart, only his aim counts. The speed of the train doesn't matter (only the motion does which might affect his aim and put him off a little)!
It's a bit like asking....if I can run 100 metres straight on a track in 10.00 seconds, would I be any faster if I ran 100 metres in a straight train carriage which was travelling at the speed of sound. Technically, the distance you'd cover is greater, therefore if distance is measured from A-B you would have covered a much greater distance whilst running on the train. But this doesn't mean you ran the 100 metres distance in the train carriage any faster than your 10 seconds.
It's a clumsy explanation but it's the only simple analogy I could think of.
The speed of the train has nothing to do with the whether the bullet would hit you or not.
PS - I just realised this has been asked in the Physics category. Ironically, I got thrown out of my high school physics class 29 years ago cos I asked too many questions, questions just like this! I feel vindicated now! Unless of course, my physics teacher answers next and totally contradicts me!
2007-03-22 08:47:50 · answer #3 · answered by nephtine 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The bullet will hit you under certain circumstances. There is a possibility that, he might miss. If, for example, the villain has fired at t=0 when the train was stationary and also at t=0+ (i.e. immediately after t=0) train started moving and attaining a speed twice the speed of sound instantaneously, then the bullet will never catch up with you and you'll be safe. because the bullet will be travelling at speed of sound while you, being on the train, will be travelling twice the speed of sound.
However, if the villain is on the train when it is moving at twice the speed of time and fires, then the speed of the bullet with respect to ground will be its own speed plus the speed of the train which is equal to 3 times the speed of sound. As your speed will be equal to the speed of the train which is twice the speed of sound with respect to ground, the bullet will catch up with you 500/344=1.453 seconds (assuming speed of sound in air is 344m/s) after the villain has fired and, if he is a good shot, you might be mortally wounded. So you have a chance. I hope this is helpful.
2007-03-26 04:53:13 · answer #4 · answered by East Ender 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the bullet was travelling in the gun, in the train, at twice the speed of sound. The bullet leaves the gun at the speed of sound PLUS the speed of the train.
2007-03-22 08:47:53 · answer #5 · answered by Norrie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you'd better duck fast. The bullet will have the speed of the train plus the speed of sound. It's a matter of relativity. The answer would be different if the train was traveling at the speed of light and the bullet had the speed of light.
2007-03-22 08:46:36 · answer #6 · answered by ironduke8159 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, its all relative, because both you and the gun man are travelling in a carriage. It doesn't matter how fast the carriage is going because the relative positions of the people stay the same at 500metres. it would be the same as if you were not in the carriage.The carriage is enclosed so there will not be any impedance from the wind.If the guy was not on the train and shot at you as long as the train kept going at twice the speed of sound or turned you would not be hit.
2007-03-22 09:12:16 · answer #7 · answered by Angel S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO. The bullet would never hit you.
Your scenario is a little misleading. The bullet in the chamber of the gun is already traveling at twice speed of sound before it is even fired along with you...on the train. Once fired, according to your description, the bullet is traveling at the speed of sound...which isn't possible unless it was fired in the opposite direction and was fired with a muzzle velocity of exactly the speed of sound. In which case...it could never hit you...because it would be traveling away from you...not toward your direction.
Now...if you meant to say that the bullet was fired with a muzzle velocity of the speed of sound...toward you. Then in actuality the bullet would have a velocity of three times the speed of sound...and assuming it was targeted correctly...it would hit you.
I hope this helps.
2007-03-22 09:00:51 · answer #8 · answered by proudbaldeagle 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The bullet is actually going to be going at the speed of sound PLUS the speed of the train, because it is going at the speed of sound with reference to the train, not to the ground. If the bullet were moving at the speed of sound with reference to the ground, it would appear to go backwards from the reference point of the train (which wouldn't make sense). The bullet will hit you.
2007-03-22 08:52:40 · answer #9 · answered by JaniesTiredShoes 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe it would its all relative the bullet would leave at the speed of sound regardless of the speed the gun on the train was travelling at (I think)
2007-03-22 08:47:53 · answer #10 · answered by kuppaz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋