Gunfight

Sachiel

New member
Some TV programs and films have high drama scenes based on a victim being shot by the pursuer and being ?blown backward? a meter or two by the projectile impact. Is this dramatic response Hollywood hype, or is there good physics here?
 
One could do good classical physics here, but the movie-makers have turned the scene into Hollywood exaggeration. The physics is determined by the conservation of linear momentum. Assume that the victim of the shooting is initially at rest, so the total momentum initially is all in the bullet (or buckshot) of mass m and speed V before hitting the victim, at mV.
 
So if you had the speed of the bullet and mass of the bullet you can work out how far the victim would be "blown backward"?
 
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