What happens if you shoot a bullet straight up in the air on a wind free day?

Question

would it come back down or have sufficient velocity to either get caught in th atomsfear and dragged out a while or even break out?

Answer 1

In this theoretical situation (provided you shoot the bullet PERFECTLY straight up, completely perpendicular to the ground in both dimensions, and there was absolutely no wind), then the bullet would rise until downward acceleration due to gravity slowed it down to a stop. It would then accelerate down and reach terminal velocity when the force due to air resistance balances the force due to gravity, but contrary to what someone else said, the velocity would be PRETTY DAMN FAST (I would get out of the way).

Note: Some people think the bullet would burn up in the atmosphere, but the bullet won't go high enough up there. It needs to get to a point where the air friction actually burns the bullet in mid-air, and you need to be quite a few miles high for that to happen.

Answer 2

How some distance relies upon on mechanics i'm no longer able to ensure despite if I had the rigidity of the gunpowder and weight of the bullet. even nevertheless i will permit you recognize that no count how at once you shoot it at once up it won't provide way precisely from the place it replaced into shot. The wind will make it curve off purpose extremely and fall on a distinctive spot perhaps quite a few hundred if no longer hundreds ft away.

Answer 3

Air friction is important. The bullet will rise until, by the combination of atmospheric drag and gravity, it loses its upward momentum. It will then fall, at a gradually increasing speed, until it reaches a limiting velocity at which the gravitational pull is balanced by the air resistance. That will probably be a low enough speed that you won't be injured if it should land on your head -- but I am not about to try it.

Answer 4

It will come back down as long as nothing impedes it's path. The escape velocity for any object leaving Earth is 17,500 mph. Bullets only travel about 3,000 mph, well short of the required speed to go into and maintain orbit.

Answer 5

The bullet will come back to earth. The muzzle velocity of a high-speed bullet is about 6,000 ft / sec. Escape velocity is 7 mi/sec.

Answer 6

There is never a wind-free day. There is always constantly moving air in all levels of the atmosphere. What goes up must always come down. It may not come straight down, but it will come down.

Answer 7

The bullet would come back down, but it would land slightly to the right of where it was fired, due to the coriolis force.

Answer 8

Straight up with no wind it goes back to where it came from

Answer 9

if velocity of earth movement/centrifical don't have any effect
you could get a pretty good lump on your noggin -- leave
that to the physics pros

Answer 10

It may come down and hit you. I heard of that happening once.