Possibly depends on length of barrel? Just curious :-)
2007-05-24 23:39:32 · 14 answers · asked by dszwec 2 in Sports ➔ Outdoor Recreation ➔ Hunting
No, as soon as the bullet leaves the barrel the expanding gasses caused by the explosion of the powder are vented into the air and it loses all the driving force that was propelling it.
From that moment on the bullet is moving forward on inertia alone. As it travels it pushing thru the air which slowly takes away some of it's momentum untill it finally can't fight the force of gravity any more and falls to the ground.
The more or less dense the air is the shorter or farther the distance the bullet will travel.
A bullet fired at sea level will not travel as far forward as a bullet fired at 10 thousand feet. Also a bullet at sea level will travel farther on a very hot day than on a very cold day, since the colder temperature makes the air more dense.
2007-05-24 23:54:41 · answer #1 · answered by mike p 2 · 6⤊ 0⤋
The bullet in the shell sits on top of a small amount of flammable powder. When the powder catches fire, it causes expanding gases to push the bullet forward down the barrel. The pressure continues to build and continues to accelerate the bullet until the pressure reaches its peak. In something like a .22 rifle, the pressure peaks at about 14" inside the barrel....so once the bullet passes that 14" mark inside the barrel, it stops accelerating and actually starts slowing down. By the time it leaves the barrel, it's already lost some of the speed it had when the pressure peaked in the barrel.
The only time that paragraph above *doesn't* hold true is when you're firing a rocket-type projectile. Rockets carry their own fuel and continue to accelerate as long as there's fuel pushing it enough to overcome the drag from the air it's pushing through. At one time, rockets were experimented with in firearms. A thing called a "gyrojet" pistol was the result.
The gyrojet fired a small rocket with three vents to push it up to speed....and you could actually hold your hand over the barrel and catch the bullet as it left the barrel. It would continue to accelerate once it left the barrel so a few dozen yards down range, it would actually be traveling as fast as a normal bullet and be just as deadly.
So no, normal bullets don't accelerate once they leave the barrel. Rockets do but bullets don't.
2007-05-25 09:38:52 · answer #2 · answered by randkl 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Nope. The instant the bullet leaves the muzzle it starts slowing down. This is true for all normal bullets regardless of caliber or barrel length. The exception would be a bullet that was jet powered. Many years ago someone came out with a jet powered bullet called the Gyro Jet but it was a failure. You may still occasionally find one of the guns for sale at a gun show. I don't think there is any source for the ammo. This would be the only exception to the immediate slowing of the bullet as it exits the muzzle of the gun.
2007-05-27 20:21:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
YES!!! There is still the column of gas pushing on the bullet as it leaves the barrel, although this column of gas is dissapating it still provides forward force and it is greater than the non-moving air in front of the bullet. The bullet begins to decelerate as the bullet moves far enough from the bullet that the gas following not longer acts as thrust and begins to form additional drag.
This phenomenon takes place roughly within a few feet of the barrel and depends on the power of the cartridge and the size of the barrel.
2007-05-25 20:46:30 · answer #4 · answered by Maker 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Sure, it accelerates towards the ground.
Gravity.
It doesn't go any faster towards the target, though :)
You have to remember that most shots are roughly parallel with the ground, so gravity is barely acting to slow or speed the bullet in relation to the target. The bullet IS accelerating toward the ground at exactly the same rate any other piece of metal its size would if dropped from your hand.
2007-05-25 14:48:37 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
From Newton's 2nd Law, we get F=ma, F=net force, m=mass of bullet, a=acceleration
After a bullet leaves the barrel, there's no forward force acting on the bullet as it is no longer in contact with the barrel. Thus it does not accelerate. In fact it decelerates because o air resistance.
2007-05-25 06:49:51 · answer #6 · answered by ghost whisperer 3 · 7⤊ 1⤋
No, the gas in the barrel creates the pressure to move the bullet. Once out of the barrel, no more pressure exerted on it.
2007-05-27 13:27:10 · answer #7 · answered by Michael S 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ghost Whisperer .... and Newton are correct on this one. Everything else is all the babble that you didn't ask for. By the way since when is there no gravity in a vaccum? If you shot a bullet in space assuming no gravity and no resistance of any kind (which does not exist) then the bullet would travel at muzzle velocity forever. Which the rocket scientists that have answered prior might call "perpetual motion"
2007-05-25 12:57:29 · answer #8 · answered by Barry M 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
there is a theoretical possibilty that for the first few milliseconds of travel out of the barrel the gas is still able to accelerate the bullet over air resistance, but for all intents and purposes it is considered to be slowing down as soon as it exits.
2007-05-26 20:03:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
When a bullet leaves the barrel, the powder gases behind it disperse, and gravity and air-resistance take over to reduce the velocity.
2007-05-25 10:38:57 · answer #10 · answered by miyuki & kyojin 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋