Will a gun fire in space?

[HandK]

I voted the only real option there is!! Will bacon fry in space?? If not then I don't want to go there!! and as for the gun thing!! well they have ray guns for that!! haven't you ever seen Star Wars!!!

 

[HICKMAN]

Oh sweet, another Glock thread.

 

[G_Stines]

Yes. The air in the case "should" provide enough of an 02 mixture to fire the round. The bullet will fly faster in the frictionless environment, and truer til gravity picks it up.

 

[Eddie]

I voted bacon. Duh! It's bacon. Nerds!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEdDMQZaCU&feature=related[/ame]

 

[PhantomJ]

As previously stated, given appropriate temperatures for the primer/power, the round will fire. If the person firing the gun is in earth orbit,gravity will affect the bullet little diferently than it does on earth, but the round will travel further due to no air resistance. As far as being pushed into deep space/shot backwards at the same velocity as the bullet, not exactly. The force for the bullet cause a very small amount of motion in a mass as large as an adult human. If no other force ever acted on the person, they would continue in a strait line forever in the opposite direction. In reality astronauts are still in free fall in the earths gravity well, so in terms of where we can get in space, you would eventually just plummet back to the earth.

 

[Brandon]

 

[mk2ja]

I am fairly certain the round would fire, but wouldn't firing a round in space propel you at the same speed as the round in the opposite direction?

Bullet will go faster. Rough proof:

1. F=F (The forces are exerted equally in opposite directions.)
2. F=ma (Force equals mass times acceleration)
3. m1•a1 = m2•a2 (Substitute 2 into 1 on both sides)
4. (200 pounds) • a1 = (0.0164244385 pounds) • a2 (Substitute approximate weight for adult male healthy enough to be in space for m1 and weight of a 9mm bullet for m2.)
5. a1 < a2 (Acceleration of the bullet is greater than that of person firing weapon, q.e.d.)

 

[RoyalTenenbaum]

Bullet will go faster. Rough proof:

1. F=F (The forces are exerted equally in opposite directions.)
2. F=ma (Force equals mass times acceleration)
3. m1•a1 = m2•a2 (Substitute 2 into 1 on both sides)
4. (200 pounds) • a1 = (0.0164244385 pounds) • a2 (Substitute approximate weight for adult male healthy enough to be in space for m1 and weight of a 9mm bullet for m2.)
5. a1 < a2 (Acceleration of the bullet is greater than that of person firing weapon, q.e.d.)

Nerds of the world UNTIE!

 

[lyric911]

I am fairly certain the round would fire, but wouldn't firing a round in space propel you at the same speed as the round in the opposite direction?

No. F = m*a still applies even in vacuum/0G. Your mass is much greater than the bullets so your backwards acceleration would be significantly lower. If you're in empty space you'd move backwards, albeit very slowly. If you're floating in space with a gun you probably also have navigational thrusters that you could easily counteract it with.

Edit: Of course somebody beat me to it.

 

[Beans&Bullets]

Yes, it is the gases coming out of the cartidge into the sealed barrel will force the round out the barrell. It should travel at a higher velocity than on earth due to the reduced resistance and lack of gravity.

 

[Coach13]

For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction.... You better hope it doenst fire, your aass will land on mars!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lyric911]

For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction.... You better hope it doenst fire, your aass will land on mars!!!!!!!!!!

Scroll up.

 

[mk2ja]

Incidentally, in the "frictionless" realm of space, F=ma would even more closely model reality than it does back down here on Earth!

 

[brotherbill3]

I believe it will fire but a better question is will it make a noise?

I was gonna chime in and agree w/ the other 'geek' scientific types ... earlier ... It will fire ... there will be no noise. ... sound is vibration in the air ... no air (complete vacuum) ... therefore no noise ...

 

[rhino]

Except for the fact there is little to no heat transfer in a vacuum.

So if the gun was room temperature when you took it with you on a spacewalk it would likely remain room temperature for hours or even days. Unless you encountered a cloud of gas or dust.

I would say that the greater danger isn't the gun getting to cold its the gun getting to hot from solar radiation.

No heat transfer in a vacuum? There would not be any conduction or convection, but there would be plenty of radiation heat transfer from the gun to space and it would reach the temp of its surroundings fairly quickly.

And the question of whether or not it would fire has been answered (i.e. yes). Plenty of oxidizer contained in the propellant and the primer will provide adequate energy to initiate the reation.

As to what happens to you? Assuming you're far from any large masses so that you're experiencing microgravity, you would be propelled in the direction opposite of the direction the projectile and exhaust from the expanding reacting mixture.

Momentum must be conserved. The total momentum of the projectile and expanding propellant charge will equal (in magnitude) the momentum of your body (and everything you're carrying) in the opposite direction (assuming you don't start rotating as well). Quantifying the impulse of the expanding gas is more challenging than I'd like to address this late, but the bullet would be easy (speed x mass). That total momentum (magnitude) would equal the product your mass and your speed. Divide the product by your mass and you will know how fast you'll be moving in the opposite direction.

 

[rhino]

While I'm feeling sporty . . .

. . .under what circumstance is kinetic energy conserved during a collision?

You have 30 seconds to answer (no looking it up, either!)

 

[remymartin]

Fn'ing A right it will man, last time I was in space I blasted a ton of them little weirdos. They tried to get ne with their little ray guns.... I was like S&*T I'm American eat lead suckas. I was carrying a 1911 at the time and they worshiped me, thought I had a time machine or something, It was all a blur.

 

[CountryBoy19]

While I'm feeling sporty . . .

. . .under what circumstance is kinetic energy conserved during a collision?

You have 30 seconds to answer (no looking it up, either!)

Perfectly elastic?

 

[.40caltrucker]

For every action there is a equal and opposite reaction.... You better hope it doenst fire, your aass will land on mars!!!!!!!!!!

Problem solved bring plenty of bullets. If you start floating towards Mars just shoot at it and the opposite reaction will push you away from it. Who needs navigational thrusters when you've got a .45 with plenty of bullets.

 

[rhino]

Perfectly elastic?

WINNER!