[ELI5] How panzers during the time of world war 1 correctly aimed at their targets when technology was not as sophisticated?

Question

[ELI5] How panzers during the time of world war 1 correctly aimed at their targets when technology was not as sophisticated?

In: Physics

Answer 1

I presume that you mean WW2. The “panzer” did not exist in WW1, although the first tanks entered service at that time.

They used a purely visual targeting optic. The gunner estimates the distance to the target and then applies this estimate to the targeting reticle to account for drop over the distance. If they missed, they would look at whether they shot long or short and adjust accordingly.