Could you catch a bullet in space after a gun has discharged? Do guns operate the same with little to no gravity?
In: Physics
Micro g does not affect how the gun shoots the bullet. The round contains all the reactants needed to explode so no atmosphere is needed to shoot. Guns use springs which take forces from either pushing/pulling things by your hand or from recoil action; exhaust gases back to load a new round. Gravity is not involved in any critical processes because the springs deal with forces that are much higher than the weight of the parts.
The bullet will leave the barrel at some speed and in the short term will continue at that speed with no air to slow it down. You can’t catch it if it was shot at you. You can catch it if you sit in a rocket and fire it to accelerate yourself and match the bullet’s orbit as doing this brings down your relative velocity to it.
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