WEBVTT - Where Do Bullets Go When Fired Into The Air?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>it's Christian Seger. What if I take this imaginary gun

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<v Speaker 1>that's in my hand and I fired it straight up

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<v Speaker 1>into the air? Bang bang bang? Wow? What is going

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<v Speaker 1>to happen to all these imaginary bullets? Well, the old

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<v Speaker 1>saying what goes up must come down is an appropriate

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<v Speaker 1>way to start off this conversation, because that's exactly what

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<v Speaker 1>happens to straight bullets when they're fired up in the air.

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<v Speaker 1>You know how crazy guns can be. If you shoot

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<v Speaker 1>a gun up in the air, bullets are going to

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<v Speaker 1>travel up to a mile high to bring on the

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<v Speaker 1>angle of the shot and the power of the gun.

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<v Speaker 1>And once it reaches a climax in the air, that

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<v Speaker 1>bullet it's gonna fall. Now, air resistance limits its speed,

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<v Speaker 1>but bullets are designed to be fairly aerodynamic, so the

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<v Speaker 1>speed is still quite lethal if the bullet happens to

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<v Speaker 1>hit someone. Now, if you're in rural areas and you're

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<v Speaker 1>shooting guns out in the field, the chances of hitting

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<v Speaker 1>someone they're pretty low because the number of people are

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<v Speaker 1>also pretty low. But if you go to a crowded

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<v Speaker 1>city someplace like I don't know, times square and you

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<v Speaker 1>start shooting off a gun, well, hey, you're gonna get

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<v Speaker 1>in a lot of trouble and your chances of hitting

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<v Speaker 1>someone is going to go up dramatically because well, the

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<v Speaker 1>number of people around you have gone up as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And the fact of the matter is that people do

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<v Speaker 1>get killed quite often by stray bullets. Therefore, most major

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<v Speaker 1>cities have laws in place to try to keep people

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<v Speaker 1>from shooting guns in the air in celebration. So if

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<v Speaker 1>you want to celebrate, I don't know, think of an

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<v Speaker 1>alternative like high fiving or eating ice cream that's a

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<v Speaker 1>safe thing to do. You can throw your spoon up

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<v Speaker 1>in the air and it might hit someone in the head,

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<v Speaker 1>but you know what, it won't kill them. Check out

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<v Speaker 1>the brain stuff channel on YouTube, and for more on

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<v Speaker 1>this and thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com.