Wonder about instant Acceleration

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Chitose
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Acceleration
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of instantaneous acceleration, particularly in the context of objects with mass, such as bullets. Participants explore whether it is possible for an object to reach a high speed instantly or if it must always undergo a period of acceleration. The scope includes theoretical considerations and practical examples related to physics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions if objects with mass can achieve instantaneous acceleration, suggesting a bullet might reach its speed instantly when fired.
  • Another participant asserts that instantaneous acceleration is not physically possible for objects with mass, stating that they must always experience an acceleration period.
  • It is noted that the bullet accelerates within the barrel, and the length of the barrel affects the bullet's speed.
  • Factors such as resistance, environmental conditions, and the medium through which the object travels are mentioned as influencing acceleration.
  • A participant points out that high acceleration can lead to deformation of the object due to the forces applied unevenly across its surface.
  • There is a clarification that while the speed of light remains constant, its propagation speed can be affected by the medium it travels through.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the possibility of instantaneous acceleration for objects with mass. While some agree that acceleration is necessary, others explore the implications of high forces and environmental factors, leaving the discussion unresolved.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the nature of forces and acceleration, as well as the effects of environmental factors on the motion of objects. There are unresolved aspects regarding the limits of acceleration and the conditions under which it occurs.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals curious about the principles of acceleration in physics, the behavior of projectiles, and the effects of forces on objects with mass.

Chitose
Messages
73
Reaction score
0
About jump from speed 0 to 100 without passing 1 - 99.

Can Objects with mass do something like that?

or it's already can but I don't know?

.......

Example bullet speed is 100, When we shooting bullet, is bullet move to its speed by instant? or still climb form 1 to 100 even in millisecond?

.......

PS. English is not my native language, please forgive me if I'm wrong in gramma.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Welcome to PF, Chitose.
The only way that something could experience an instantaneous acceleration would be if its mass was decreased to zero. (Isaac Asimov actually pulled off a pretty cool murder that way in one of his short stories.) That is not, however, physically possible. Bullets undergo tremendous g-loads, but all are different. A mass-driver (electromagnetic catapult) is capable of about 130 g's as of my last information input. Nothing with mass goes from rest to speed without an acceleration period.
By the bye... you communicate quite well in English. It's obvious that you aren't fluent in it, but you certainly didn't leave any doubt as to your question. I've encountered posters (and people in real life) who have English as a first and only language, who are far less understandable than you are. :smile:
 
Chitose said:
Example bullet speed is 100, When we shooting bullet, is bullet move to its speed by instant? or still climb form 1 to 100 even in millisecond?.
The bullet accelerates in the barrel. The longer the barrel, the faster the bullet. Longest barrels ever build:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-3_cannon
 
Also depends on resistant factors such as wind and structure of object, even the temperature and moisture in the air can play a part, and this follows into the medium in which the accelerated object is pasting through. Even the speed that light travels can vary given it's apposing environmental elements.
 
A couple of comments regarding the last 2 posts. The length of the barrel is only productive until the point where the internal pressure drops to atmospheric. That pretty much never happens in real life, but it is something to consider.
As to the second post, it must be noted that the speed of a photon is always c. The propagation speed of the light signal is altered by the atomic structure of the medium. There are a few very educational threads regarding that subject hereabouts. A forums search will pull them up quickly.
 
High acceleration means strong force. Usually any force is applied on body surface, not to all particles of the body. Than means the body gets strongly deformed and destroyed with that force! Think of a bullet hitting an infinitely stiff wall. The bullet gets smashed. The same happens if you want to give an instant velocity to a resting bullet by hitting it with a stiff wall.
 
Last edited:
You have a strange approach to things, Short Bob... and I love the way that you think. :biggrin:
Incidentally, I pretty much couldn't understand more than a couple of words in your linked blog, but it looked cool.
 
As a matter of fact, I am not a short Bob but rather a fat one. My full name is Vladimir Leonidovich Kalitvianski, - hard to remember and pronounce, that's why I call myself Bob_for_short.
 
Bob_for_short said:
I am not a short Bob but rather a fat one
By your avatar, you don't seem to be much overweight (at least by North American standards). Pretty much everyone is heavy to me, though. I'm currently the fattest that I've ever been, due to a massive intake of beer and beef. I have ballooned to 132 lbs. in the past couple of years. Damn!... I'm a blimp!
Now shut up and go do something rude to your wife or girlfriend or both. :-p
 
  • #10
I see...
So as long as object still have mass, no matter how strong force pushing or pulling, It can't go to speed without acceleration period.

Thank you.
........
I still have lot more question about physics and stuff, glad to find this forum.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
4K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
363
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 24 ·
Replies
24
Views
4K
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • · Replies 41 ·
2
Replies
41
Views
5K
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K