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In theory, if a bullet dropped vertically at the same instant that a bullet is fired horizontally from a gun at the same height, they should both hit the ground at the same time.

This example is used to emphasize that that horizontal motion and vertical motion may be analysed separately since they occur independently of each other.

This is one of those things that works better in theory than in practice.

There is a caveat that is important if you consider doing this in the real world. The process is not happening in a vacuum. The aerodynamics of the bullet fired at high speed is tremendously important. In early gun design, this was not understood and bullets fired from guns were very inaccurate and went up or down or right or left in unpredictable ways. Modern guns stabilize the trajectory by putting a spin on the bullet. The result makes the bullet act like a gyroscope and then to remain pointed forward when it encounters small anomalies in the air and wind. So, the moving bullet is subjected to vertical forces and can not be expected to drop at the same rate as a bullet with no horizontal motion.

The principle of independent horizontal and vertical motion works better when illustrated by throwing and dropping heavy rocks. The principle is entirely correct, but there are more vertical forces involved than gravity with the bullets.

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10y ago
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12y ago

Case 1

The first bullet is fired downwards (towards the ground).

The answer is obvious. The bullet fired from the gun will reach the ground faster than the bullet dropped from the same height.

This would be because the bullet fired from the gun would have a higher initial velocity. The bullet dropped from the gun will have no initial velocity.

Case 2

The bullet is fired vertically upwards (away from the ground).

Again, obvious. The bullet fired will take a longer time to fall down than the dropped bullet.

This is because the bullet has to first travel upwards and then downwards, and hence will have more distance to cover.

Case 3

The bullet is fired perfectly horizontal.

If the bullet is fired perfectly horizontal to the ground, the fired bullet and dropped bullet will hit the ground at the same time.

The reason is that the force of gravity is a constant, so the bullet will be pulled down vertically at the same speed, regardless of its horizontal speed.

Note for Case 3:

In theory, it will do so, but only in a perfect vacuum when the bullet is fired exactly parallel to the ground. The reason for my caveats are that, in a vacuum, there is no air friction, which might tend to affect the fired bullet more than the falling bullet, nor any ability to for the fired bullet to rise aerodynamically (like the wing of an airplane).

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9y ago

If the bullet is shot perfectly horizontally, and the land in the direction of the shot

is perfectly flat, and both begin at exactly the same distance from the ground,

and there is no air in the way to interfere with the bullet's vertical motion, then

both bullets will hit the ground at the same time.

The horizontal motion of the bullet is independent of the vertical motion. Both

bullets are acted upon equally by gravity and will fall at the same rate. Because

the one bullet is also moving horizontally, it will strike the ground far from the

bullet that is dropped.

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13y ago

Provided the ground way out in front of the rifle is at the same elevation as the ground

under the gun's barrel, both bullets hit the ground at the same instant.

(What I mean is . . . if the rifle fires into the side of a mountain, or off the edge of a cliff, then

of course they don't hit the ground at the same time. The point is that both the dropped bullet

and the fired bullet fall the same vertical distance in the same amount of time, regardless of the

big difference in their horizontal speeds.)

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13y ago

they will hit the ground at the exact same time(if the terrain is flat, but the earth is round so if you consider the roundness of the earth, the one that is dropped will hit the ground first).

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8y ago

Yes both fall at the same time provided the friction due to air is not taken into account. If air friction is to be considered then there will be a slight difference. Horizontal one would take a little bit larger duration than the vertical one

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14y ago

YES! they will fall at the same time...according to my science teacher. So you should test that out one of these dayys. it sounds exciting.

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8y ago

dropped

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Q: What will hit the ground first the bullet shot horizontally or the one dropped?
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Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

How far does a bullet travel horizontally before gravity has an effect and takes over Is Newtons law correct that the bullet will hit the ground at the same time if it were simply dropped?

Gravity has an effect the instant the bullet leaves the barrel. The bullet starts to fall towards the earth at the same rate as the dropped bullet. However, (assuming the ground follows the curve of the earth, or you are shooting over water) the dropped bullet will hit the ground/water first. The reason is that the as the fired bullet falls the ground is receding away from it (the curve of the earth). The extreme example of this is: the bullet is fired fast enough that as it falls, the curve of the earth is 'falling' continuously away below it; we would say this bullet is now in orbit around the planet. However, if the ground you are shooting over is 'flat' (i.e. flat like a ruler, NOT following the curve of the earth) then: yes, the two bullets will hit the ground at the same time.


A bullet is shot horizontally from a gun at 275ms How much does the bullet drop in flight if the targey is 50m away?

The bullet dropped .1612 meters. To solve this type of problem, first determine how much time it took the bullet to travel to the target. Since Velocity = Distance / Time, Time = Distance / Velocity. In this problem Time = (50 m) / (275 m/s) = .1818 seconds. Now use this time to figure out how far the bullet would have fallen due to gravity. You've probably seen this equation (or something like it) before: Δy = vo*t - 1/2 * g * t2. This equation means that to find how far the bullet fell you need to know how long it was falling, how fast it was falling at the very beginning, and what the acceleration due to gravity is. We already figured out how long the bullet was falling, we know that it wasn't falling at all at the very beginning, and gravity = 9.8 m/s2. This means that: t = .1818 vo = 0 g = 9.8 So plug that in to the previous equation: Δy = (0) * (.1818) - (1/2) * (9.8) * (.1818)2. Δy = - .1612, with the - sign meaning the bullet went down and not up into the air.


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Related questions

A bullet is fired horizontally out of a gun at the same time another is dropped from the end of the barrelthe one to hit the ground first is?

Both hit at the same time.


2 balls dropped horizontally and vertically.Which ball strikes ground first why?

Please describe how you drop something 'horizontally'


Which bullet strikes the ground first the one that is fires from a rifle or the one that from the rest?

A bullet fired parallel to the gound, over flat ground, and a bullet dropped at the same time from same height will hit the ground at a time so close to each other as to be the same.


How far does a bullet travel horizontally before gravity has an effect and takes over Is Newtons law correct that the bullet will hit the ground at the same time if it were simply dropped?

Gravity has an effect the instant the bullet leaves the barrel. The bullet starts to fall towards the earth at the same rate as the dropped bullet. However, (assuming the ground follows the curve of the earth, or you are shooting over water) the dropped bullet will hit the ground/water first. The reason is that the as the fired bullet falls the ground is receding away from it (the curve of the earth). The extreme example of this is: the bullet is fired fast enough that as it falls, the curve of the earth is 'falling' continuously away below it; we would say this bullet is now in orbit around the planet. However, if the ground you are shooting over is 'flat' (i.e. flat like a ruler, NOT following the curve of the earth) then: yes, the two bullets will hit the ground at the same time.


If a rifle is fired horizontally and an identical bullet dropped from the height of the barrel Which hits the ground first?

They hit at almost exactly the same time. Just because the bullet from the gun is moving horizontally at high speed, this does not mean it escapes the pull of gravity. However, the direction of the fired bullet is "horizontal" (perpendicular to the vertical pull of gravity). This vector is very slightly tangential to the force of gravity, because the Earth is curved. So although the bullet path describes an arc, it is very, very slightly above the curvature of the Earth. The difference for this case would be practically immeasurable. However, for faster projectiles it would be proportionally larger.


A dart is fired horizontally from a dart gun and another dart is dropped simultaneously from the same height If air resistance can be neglected which dart hits the ground first?

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When a body is projected simultaneously from the top of the building with different initial horizontal velocity which of the two will hit the ground first?

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Does an object fall at the same rate going horizontally as one going vertically?

To a first approximation, over short distances horizontal motion is decoupled from vertical motion. If you fire a bullet horizontally from a gun, and drop a bullet from next to the gun at the same time, both bullets will hit the ground at the same time. Over long enough distances the curvature of the Earth begins to have an effect, so this is no longer true.


When a rifle is fired horizontally the bullet leaves the barrel and doesnt drop at all for the first 35 meters of flight Is this true?

Depends on rifle, bullet, case design and powder charge.


Which will hit the ground first a ball thrown horizontally at 2 meters per second off a building 20 m high or a ball dropped by a hand at the same height?

They should reach the ground together, since their initial vertical speed is the same, namely zero.


If a cannon fires a cannonball horizontally and you drop a cannonball at the same time which will hit the ground first?

A cannonball fired horizontally and one dropped from the height of the muzzle simultaneous with the shot will hit the ground at the same instant, provided only that the ground under the muzzle and the ground where the shot lands are at the same elevation, i.e. the shot was not fired off the edge of a cliff or into the side of a mountain. To solve this kind of problems, it often helps to separate the movement, or the speed, into vertical and horizontal components. In this case, the vertical component of the speed is the same.


Which will fall first in vacuum paper or stone?

Depends on which one is dropped first. If they are both dropped at the same time, they will both reach the ground at the same time.