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From: hamilton@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Wayne Hamilton)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Small caliber velocity
Message-ID: <13086@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 12 Jan 90 04:47:11 GMT
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From: Wayne Hamilton <hamilton@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
cash@uunet says:

> However, (as a purely theoretical consideration) it seems doubtful to
> me that someone could be killed by a pistol or rifle bullet fired at a
> vertical or near vertical angle.  The bullet would rise until all of
> its momentum had been expended, and then would begin to fall.  At this
> point, it would behave like any falling object (just as though the
> bullet had been dropped from an airplane overhead).  As I recall, air
> resistance imposes a limit on the speed to which any falling body can
> accelerate, however I don't remember what that speed is.  I have a
> hunch that it's below the threshold of doing serious damage.  Anybody
> out there with a more recent physics course who can help me out?

all i have is anecdote: from my skydiving days, i remember that in the
head-low "tracking" position, a skydiver's terminal velocity rises to
120+mph.  as a motorcyclist, i have experienced bugs hitting my face
at a mere 50mph.  the thought of a lead bullet hitting at 120mph is scary
enough; its actual TV must be much greater than the skydiver's.

if you're up for some impirical research, get a friend to drop a spent slug
on your head from a 10th floor window...

	wayne hamilton
	U of Il and US Army Corps of Engineers CERL
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