Does Firing a Bullet Upwards Have the Same Impact as Point Blank?

Thread starter Oliva
Start date Oct 5, 2003
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Force Gravity

AI Thread Summary

Shooting a bullet straight up and having it fall back down does not impart the same force as firing it at point-blank range due to the effects of gravity and air resistance. When a bullet is fired, it initially travels at a high velocity due to the force of the gun, but once it reaches its peak height, it begins to fall under the influence of gravity, accelerating at 9.8 m/s². The bullet will not hit the ground with the same speed it was fired if air resistance is considered, as it will reach a terminal velocity lower than its initial firing speed. The discussion emphasizes that the force from the gun is crucial for lethality, while the gravitational force alone does not provide enough energy to cause significant harm when a bullet falls from the sky. Overall, the impact of a bullet fired from a gun is vastly different from one that has been dropped due to the initial kinetic energy provided by the gun.

May 19, 2004

TeV

Alkatran said:

Can't we just say the bullet's going to be going slower than point blank but will still have the potential to kill (way too many variables (head shot? type of gun? bullet? weather?) to determine a kill or not).

Bullet will be definitely slower when it returns becouse of the air resistance.But is it harmless?I think not.Besides,ballistics will tell you the situation is quite nonlinear,bullet is usually fired with high axial rotating velocity in order to be steady during the flight and other reasons.
It wouldn't surprise me that inital trajectory angle of 1° become as large as 10° when it comes down due to the effects.
Bear in mind that 10 g rock can produce serious injure to the victim when dropped from the high skyscraper.If the bullet is pointy and person is unlucky..