Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B

10/22/2019

Calculating
Bullet Trajectory
Using Simple Math

Introduction
I was inspiration to take this topic for my IA occurred after I spent a long time
shooting my air rifle. Usually I would aim just above the target to attain a
perfect shot. Aiming above the target so that your bullet/projectile hits the
intended target is a very common practice in the sport of long-range shooting.
Later I thought about why exactly do shooters aim above the target, Can the
reason be explained using mathematical/scientific terms??

The idea of this IA is an attempt to calculate the perfect long range shot after
taking into account the gravity exerted on the projectile causing it to curve and
form a parabola.

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

The practical application of this concept can be found in military sniping &
long-range air-gun shooting where the shooter sometimes has to aim just above
the target to attain a perfect shot.

Key Terms
 Trajectory-path followed by projectile
 Projectile-is any object thrown into space by the exertion of a force.
Although any object in motion through space may be called a projectile,
the term more commonly refers to a ranged weapon.
 Bullet Drop-the distance the bullet has dropped when fired after a certain
range.

Where/When does the actual math get involved??

Before we get into the calculations of distance, curves etc. we must understand
a few rules of projectile motion which I have listed down below.
 The distance traveled by the projectile along the X-axis is independent of
the distance traveled by it along the Y-axis. (so never interrelate both).

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

 when a projectile is fired parallel to the ground IE. 0o at a speed of 10

m/s from a height of 1mts (for example) it will take the same amount of
time to touch the ground as a ball dropped from the same height except
that the projectile that has been shot will cover a larger distance
horizontally.

 There will always be 2 forces acting upon a projectile one is gravity

which causes the trajectory to be in the shape of a parabola and the other
is the forward force which causes the horizontal velocity.

 Gravity will immediately start to act on the projectile once it leaves the
barrel of the gun and will immediately start to curve.

What Needs to be calculated to achieve the perfect shot

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

Here I have made a list of elements that have to be calculated to achieve the shot.
The definitions of the terms and how to calculate them will be explained after the
list.

1. Bullet Drop

2. Distance to target

3. Muzzle velocity

4. Angle of firearm

5. Depth of bullet drop

explanation of the elements

Bullet drop- in this case bullet drop is the

distance between the target and the bullet
after it covers a certain distance.

Time-in this case time refers to the time taken for the projectile to travel the
distance .For example the target is placed 20 MTS away time refers to the tame
taken for the projectile to travel 20 MTS irrespective of its vertical position.

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

Gravity-in this case refers to the force exerted by earths gravitational pull
which is 10m/s2

Getting to the math:

The exact mathematical formula that will be used to calculate the elements to
achieve the perfect shot are:

- (G/2)*t2 (bullet drop formula)

- time = distance/speed

- Properties of right angle triangle

- Gravity=10m/sec2

calculating the elements

note-these formulas and calculations eliminate the affect of air resistance

on the projectile and the simulations we will be using is owned by PHET
simulations Colorado

Step 1- calculating time taken

to do this we will have have to divide the distance to the target by the
speed of the projectile

Step 2-calculate bullet drop

the formula for bullet/projectile drop is (G/2)*t2

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replacing the variables with the values which we will be doing.

Solving real life problems

Take this situation for example

The intended target that needs to be hit is the small plus like sign. The question
what should the angle of the cannon be to attain the perfect shot.

This part of the document will guide you through the process

Step 1- First I started of with calculating the distance of bullet drop using the
general formula which is G/2 * t2

in numbers it would be 10 X 12
2
So that would be = 5*1
=5 mts

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

Step 2- now we know that if we look parallel to the ground our bullet will
drop 5mts below our target. Logically if we look 5mts above the target our
bullet will drop just enough to hit our target. In this step we aim to find the
angle at which we need to keep our gun to look exactly 5mts above our target.
To do this I have used a graphing software GeoGebra to find the angle.

Now we know that if we angle our gun at about 180 to 20o we will achieve the
perfect shot.
Step3- now I will use the information I have and fire the shot.
Since we will be using a virtual simulation we might have to compensate a
few degrees. The angle is also in a decimal value and is too fine for the
simulation to process I have rounded it firing angle to 20o.

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Aarush Ram Anandh VIII-B
10/22/2019

As u can see our calculations have proved correct and our projectile /bullet has
hit the intended target.
Conclusion
I conclude this document by saying that using the (G/2)*t2 and the right angle
method is an accurate way to calculate the perfect bullet shot.

Bibliography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projectile
https://www.mansfieldct.org/Schools/MMS/staff/hand/lawsgravprac.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CSHt1-ShL4
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/projectile-motion/latest/projectile-
motion_en.html