* points to head and holds sign "Aim Rifles Here"

[-Fanny pack]

[attachment]

ilovebees?

[VileTerror]

Huh?

[Mr.Bob]

Oh that's it! Now you've gone too far!

*Goes Rodney King On VT*

[Warren]

*files lawsuits on behalf of VT*

[VileTerror]

* fires Warren and decides to defend itself *

I did it for honour and cheap women! I regret not- er . . . well, I sorta regret the part about getting caught.

[Czar]

But on a good day, the wind would be just strong enough to counter earth's spin, causing the bullet to land right on top of your head, peircing your skull, your brain stem, your spine, your lungs, your liver, and various other internal and external organs.

And the probability of that would be not quite but almost in the neighbourhood of your best friend, who've you've only just discovered to be from another world, turning into a penguin in front of your eyes.

In other words: Pretty damn unprobable.

You forget, though, that the bullet is moving at the same rate you are.

Yes, but as the bullet gets further from the rotational center of the Earth, it'll be travelling slower than the ground below it... Err... I'm having trouble explaining this in a simple way in English...

They both travel at the same speed, but the distance to the center of rotation increases, the speed of the object must also increase if it is to remain in synch with an object closer to the center.

And yes, do get Rkolter in here. If I'm wrong, I want to get bathed in Gamma-rays so that I can get a quick end to my misery.

[Rkolter]

But on a good day, the wind would be just strong enough to counter earth's spin, causing the bullet to land right on top of your head, peircing your skull, your brain stem, your spine, your lungs, your liver, and various other internal and external organs.

And the probability of that would be not quite but almost in the neighbourhood of your best friend, who've you've only just discovered to be from another world, turning into a penguin in front of your eyes.

In other words: Pretty damn unprobable.

You forget, though, that the bullet is moving at the same rate you are.

Yes, but as the bullet gets further from the rotational center of the Earth, it'll be travelling slower than the ground below it... Err... I'm having trouble explaining this in a simple way in English...

They both travel at the same speed, but the distance to the center of rotation increases, the speed of the object must also increase if it is to remain in synch with an object closer to the center.

And yes, do get Rkolter in here. If I'm wrong, I want to get bathed in Gamma-rays so that I can get a quick end to my misery.

... Oh god. Not bullet related questions again.

Fine. Here.

1) Fire a bullet straight up.

What happens:

a) Wind moves the bullet away from your location. The wind might not mean much initially, but as the bullet slows and finally reverses course, it will play a greater role. Answer: you do not get hit on the head.

or more likely,

b) bullet not fired at an absolutely perfect 90-degree angle. Bullet mises you. An error of a hundredth of a degree would be sufficient.

Assuming that there is absolutely no wind anywhere, that the air is perfectly homogenous, there aren't any birds, trees, etcetera to alter it's flight path, and you managed an absolutely, DEAD ON 90-degree angle?

The bullet will land theoretically where it was fired. If you held it directly above your head, you would probably be hit with it. Centerfugal forces are irrelevant in this question.

The chances in reality of firing stright up and being hit as the bullet comes down? Extremely, extremely slim. However, it has been documented (the link eludes me, but there's a police report on a man who owned a custom gun and was the only one in the county to fire this particular type of bullet He was with friends and fired it straight up during bar-b-que. A very short while later, while tending the grill, he suddenly fell down, dead).

And as more people fire, it's more likely to happen. There are quite a few recorded cases of bullets plummeting to earth and killing people, particularly during large, rowdy parties of people with guns. But also in homes near forested areas where hunters fire awry. One happened not six blocks away from where I lived in Cleveland (a guy was illegally hunting).

Remember, what goes up at under the escape velocity of Earth... must come down.

And also remember, even if the chances are a billion to one against it, it'll still happen to six people on average, in the human race.

[Crazy Chris]

Is science hour done yet?

[Tim]

Every hour is science hour with rkolter!

[Mercury Hat]

I wouldn't want it any other way !

[LAGtheNoggin]

Indeed!

Could anyone expand on earth rotation in relation to precision shooting? The coriolis effect I think it's called. For shots over a kilometer I know it's something that's to be thought of, but I don't know why. Ballistic computing is not something I've researched.

I also know barometric pressure, bullet temperature and multiple crosswinds are sometimes considered. So, yeah, lots of things can affect a bullet.

[ShineDog]

i shot my self in the shoe with an airgun once.

impressivley it went between my toes, doing no damage

[BrownEyedCat]

I wouldn't want it any other way !

Agreed!

[Czar]

Could anyone expand on earth rotation in relation to precision shooting? The coriolis effect I think it's called. For shots over a kilometer I know it's something that's to be thought of, but I don't know why. Ballistic computing is not something I've researched.

I know it affects artillery, at least, which part of the reason I assumed it would affect anything going straight up, which was because I was stupid and didn't think it through. (I'll take that gamma ray burst anytime you're ready, Rkolter)...

As far as I've misunderstood it ('cause I obviously didn't understand it right), you don't need to factor it into your calculations unless you're shooting at something very far (at least a few miles, at shorter ranges, the effect is to small to matter, wind is a greater factor) to the north or south of your position. It does not factor (or at least it is not such an important factor) if you're shooting directly to the west or east.

And I remember this correctly:
This due to the target and the cannon (and therefore the projectile) travelling along with the rotation of the Earth at diffeterent speeds (spin a ball, the surface of the ball moves faster near the 'equator' than at the pole).

And unless I'm thinking stupid again:
The result is, if you don't include it in your calculations, if you're shooting at something to your south (say, German Train Guns during WW1 shooting at Paris) that the shells will impact to the west of the intended target, and when firing north, they'll impact east of it.

Although, I could be wrong.

[Mr.Bob]

The result is, if you don't include it in your calculations, if you're shooting at something to your south (say, German Train Guns during WW1 shooting at Paris) that the shells will impact to the east of the intended target, and when firing north, they'll impact west of it.

Although, I could be wrong.

...and assuming the Earth doesn't quietly change the direction of its rotation while no one is looking.

[Czar]

See, this is why I should think things through more than twelve times.

Post edited for correctness.

[Ekspiulo]

That educational moment was brought to you by the letter R

If I've got this right, you could do some film some awesome special effects about 32.65km above the earth. Assuming negligible wind resistance and a bullet fired at 800m/s, it would slow down and come to a full stop at about that altitude. It would be moving so slowly you could just catch it, watch it come to a full stop, or bat it away with a hand. This is of course your position is pretty carefully meassured and the gun fires reasonably reliably at the same speed.

*adds being shot at from miles below to my 'to do' list*

Edit: I guess you could also just drop bullets on people from a short distance above, but duh that's like boring and easy, Gah.

[Czar]

*Exact altitude at which this would occur varies with muzzle velocity and caliber.


As for dropping bullets at people from an altitude: It wouldn't be boring, just really, really hard [to hit the intended target].

[Stinkywigfiddle]

The chances in reality of firing stright up and being hit as the bullet comes down? Extremely, extremely slim. However, it has been documented (the link eludes me, but there's a police report on a man who owned a custom gun and was the only one in the county to fire this particular type of bullet He was with friends and fired it straight up during bar-b-que. A very short while later, while tending the grill, he suddenly fell down, dead).

And as more people fire, it's more likely to happen. There are quite a few recorded cases of bullets plummeting to earth and killing people, particularly during large, rowdy parties of people with guns. But also in homes near forested areas where hunters fire awry. One happened not six blocks away from where I lived in Cleveland (a guy was illegally hunting).

Remember, what goes up at under the escape velocity of Earth... must come down.

And also remember, even if the chances are a billion to one against it, it'll still happen to six people on average, in the human race.

Yet another reason to be afraid of going outside.

[Crazy Chris]

Okay, I'm putting an end to this.

*points rifle into air and fires*

Now we wait.