What will hit the ground first the bullet shot horizontally or the one dropped?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

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).

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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.)

Answer 5

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).

Answer 6

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

Answer 7

Both bullets will hit the ground at the same time, assuming we neglect air resistance. This is because gravity acts on both bullets equally, causing them to accelerate toward the ground with the same acceleration, regardless of their horizontal motion.

Answer 8

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.

Answer 9

dropped