Suppose you are racing at a speed of about 300 km / h and criminals are chasing you. To break away from the chase, you decide to shoot back, but here's the problem: the bullet from your weapon moves at exactly the same speed with which you are moving. So you are driving forward at 300 km / h and you are going to shoot backwards at 300 km / h. What will happen to the bullet?
Does this mean that she will remain in place and will not fly anywhere? At first glance, this may seem like a silly question. However, in fact, this is a very interesting task, since its solution can be useful to engineers who develop, for example, tail firing systems for combat aircraft that will shoot in the direction opposite to flight.
If you are moving at the speed of a bullet, but in the opposite direction, obviously the bullet will not fly anywhere and will just fall down. But in reality, things are a little more complicated. First, even if the bullet can travel at 300 km / h in the opposite direction (at exactly the same speed as you), it will take a little time for it to reach that speed. This way, the bullet will not fall directly downward as soon as the trigger is pulled.
In addition, it is worth considering the air resistance and the fact that in the case of a firearm, the bullet will rotate. Both will lead to the fact that the bullet deviates slightly from the course and does not fall straight down. Watch a video from the Mythbusters show, in which the hosts put this experiment into real life!
Alexander Ponomarev