calculating travel of a bullet

[BrokenBiker]

bit of a hypothetical what if question that was asked to me on a shooting group on face book...

truth is i dunno the equation needed so im asking the intelligent

bullet weight is 80 grains
travel speed (constant) is 3285fps
angle of shot it 45 degrees

disregard any wind speed or angle, this is a what if question after all.

how far will it go before hitting the ground, assuming the ground is constantly flat and level

 

[tflnemesis]

Easy... gravity on earth accelerates towards its centre at 9.82 metres per second squared (9.82 m/s^2).
So all you need is height of muzzle and to find out how long the bullet will stay in the air before hitting the ground when fired. Then you can work out the distance travelled.

 

[BrokenBiker]

we could use a hypothetical muzzle height of say 6 foot for a standing shot...

 

[arther dailey]

I cant give you an answer but you would also need to know, what type of powder,how many grains of powder, smooth or rifled bore, barrel length, feet above sea level...........etc etc.Arther

 

[tflnemesis]

Actually I didn't see the angle, that does make it a bit more complicated

 

[BrokenBiker]

I cant give you an answer but you would also need to know, what type of powder,how many grains of powder, smooth or rifled bore, barrel length, feet above sea level...........etc etc.Arther

thats all negligible for this one, im not even considering the rate the bullet slows at during flight or the air resistance etc, or rifling etc...this is just based on weight, a constant speed and angle just to give a worst case type of thing i the gun were to fire at 45 degrees, what would be the furthest it would travel

 

[BrokenBiker]

Actually I didn't see the angle, that does make it a bit more complicated

yeah, thats the bit i dont really know about...i can work out from a level shot as you say, the weight of the bullet and gravity sort that out then speed to determine distance but the angle is screwing with me...i havent done this sort of maths for years, if it dont involve volts im screwed lol

 

[arther dailey]

thenemasis is obviously one person who can answer..

 

[BrokenBiker]

this is what makes me want to move over to physics

 

[BrokenBiker]

thenemasis is obviously one person who can answer..

yes, im sure there a few on here that can...im hoping maybe maker pops in as he is an A level maths student i believe

 

[ronan]

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmdist-5.1.cgi

 

[wyn]

I'm pretty sure you get longer distances at angles less than 45*......20 or 30 may be the best.

45* gives maximum distance if in a vacuum...........I could be talking rubbish though..just seem to remember reading it somewhere.

 

[ronan]

http://www.convertalot.com/ballistic_trajectory_calculator.html

 

[Crater Creator]

At 45 degrees, it's V^2/g.
Velocity squared over acceleration due to gravity.
Weight is not a factor, gravity is the same regardless of mass.

 

[tflnemesis]

Just been sat with my eldest, me trying desperately to remember my forces and motion stuff from 10 years ago and him being confused, he's 16, doesn't remember any equations because 'They will all be given to me on a sheet.' won't listen to me about knowing as many as possible to help in his exams. I was an adult student 10 years ago not an early starter .

 

[BrokenBiker]

http://www.convertalot.com/ballistic_trajectory_calculator.html

that one has no imput for projectile weight...it gave me 63 miles with just speed and angle with initial height too

 

[BrokenBiker]

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmdist-5.1.cgi

this one says 2.6 miles which is more like it

 

[BrokenBiker]

any way, thanks for all the input...i have learnt 2 things here...firsty i need to get back to school and secondly i won the arguement anyway as the guy with the original question claimed 7 miles and it is more like 2.6-3 depending on which calculator you use

 

[tflnemesis]

Mass (weight) doesn't matter ^^^

 

[BrokenBiker]

Just been sat with my eldest, me trying desperately to remember my forces and motion stuff from 10 years ago and him being confused, he's 16, doesn't remember any equations because 'They will all be given to me on a sheet.' won't listen to me about knowing as many as possible to help in his exams. I was an adult student 10 years ago not an early starter .

i was like him...look where its got me, asking you or help haha...i plan on being back in education asap