Ballistics (gr. βάλλειν ('ba'llein'), "throw") is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.
A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles. A ballistic missile is a missile only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the laws of classical mechanics.
In the field of forensic science, forensic ballistics is the science of analyzing firearm usage in crimes.
Gun ballistics
Gun ballistics is the study of projectiles from the time of shooting to the time of impact with the target. Gun ballistics is often broken down into the following four categories, which contain detailed information on each category:[1]
- Internal ballistics, the study of the processes originally accelerating the projectile, for example the passage of a bullet through the barrel of a rifle;
- Transition ballistics, (sometimes called intermediate ballistics) the study of the projectile's behavior when it leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized.
- External ballistics, the study of the passage of the projectile through space or the air; and
- Terminal ballistics, the study of the interaction of a projectile with its target, whether that be flesh (for a hunting bullet), steel (for an anti-tank round), or even furnace slag (for an industrial slag disruptor).
Forensic ballistics
Forensic ballistics involves analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine the type. Separately from ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations ("ballistic fingerprinting") involve analysing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.
See also
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ballistics. |
- Ballistic fingerprinting
- Ballistic conduction (to do with electron transport)
- Bullet
- Cartridge
- Gun
- Gunshot residue
- Physics of firearms
- Trajectory
- Vaporific Effect
- Gunshot injury
- Stopping Power
- Mechanics
References
- ^ U.S. Marine Corps (1996). FM 6-40 Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Field Artillery Manual Cannonry. Department of the Army. http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/docs/fm6-40-ch3.htm.
External links
- Ballistic Trajectories by Jeff Bryant, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project.
Ballistic comparison
- Ballistic Chart
- AmmoGuide
- JBM Ballistics — Trajectory and related calculators
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