Projectile Motion

Projectile Motion

Video: Projectile Motion

Video: Myth Busters Shoot vs Drop a Bullet

The bullet shot from the gun falls down at the same rate as the bullet dropped straight down. However, since the Earth is round, the bullet shot from the gun has a greater distance to fall and thus takes longer to hit the ground. YEA SCIENCE!

The ball going in an arc takes the same amount of time to hit the ground as the ball going straight down. Remember, Larry the pirate who sunk his own ship with a cannon ball? When Larry dropped the cannon ball, he watched it go straight down and hit the deck in 6.0 seconds. When you watched from shore, you watched the cannon ball fall in an arc (projectile motion) and hit the deck 6.0 second later. It was THE SAME cannon ball and THE SAME time, even though for Larry it was straight down and for you it was a projectile. OBJECTS FALL TO THE EARTH AT THE SAME RATE, even if they are moving left and right in the process.