Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports Program
Welcome to the Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports Web Site! Check here for information on 4-H leader certification opportunities, schedules of events and other information about one of the fastest growing 4-H Projects in Colorado!
Be sure to check out upcoming SHOOTING OPPORTUNITIES that you may wish to participate in.
Join Colorado 4-H and Shooting Sports! Click here to start!
Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports News |
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| The understanding of
science and scientific principles is extremely important to the education of
today's youth! A well rounded education in Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) is critical for youth as they enter college and
workforce settings. 4-H uses its projects and programs to help youth understand
just how important an interest in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics is to advancing our society's competiveness in a global market
place. |
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| What happens to a bullet fired on the moon? | |||||
 First, we know that the
bullet has the same initial velocity on the moon as it does on the Earth--that
is, it exits the gun at the same speed. But as soon as it leaves the gun, it's
a different story. First, the moon bullet doesn't have to contend with air
resistance--with so little friction, it can maintain its speed longer than the
Earth bullet can (it's analogous to shooting a hockey puck across ice, which
has very little friction, and shooting a puck across sand, which has a lot of
friction. The puck will travel a lot farther on the ice!) Now, there is the issue of gravity. Assuming your bullet doesn't hit anything (a pretty safe bet on the moon, but don't try this on Earth!) and forgetting about air resistance, the time it takes for the bullet to fall to the ground depends on its initial velocity, the angle at which you shoot it, and the force of gravity. There are several formulas to calculate how long it would take for the moon’s gravity to bring a bullet to the ground (and we may visit them in a later 4-H Shooting Sports Science Blast!). The simple answer is … Neglecting air resistance, the bullet will go about 6 times farther on the moon than on Earth! You might also ask, if the bullet were fired straight up, could it actually escape the moon's gravitational pull and fly off into space? To answer this, we have to compare the moon's "escape velocity" (the minimum velocity (speed) an object needs to escape the moon's gravity) to the bullet's initial velocity. The moon's escape velocity is about 2.38 km/s (about 5300 miles per hour), but a bullet typically travels at only 1 km/s (about 2200 miles per hour). So take cover--even in this case, what goes up must come down! Something to think about!! |
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| This "4-H Shooting Sports Science Blast" is part of the new Colorado 4-H Shooting Sports Program S.T.E.M Connections Activities. | |||||
