Is it possible for air to be dense enough to stop a bullet?

[Altivu]

SDMB newbie here.

Is it possible for the atmosphere of a planet to be so dense that it can cause bullets fired from standard handguns to disintegrate from the sheer air resistance? If so, would said planet even be habitable, or would the required temperature for this (if possible) be far too low, affecting any or all of the basic necessities required for our survival?

I know that objects burn up upon reentering the atmosphere due to air molecules not being able to move aside fast enough, but those things are going at many times the speed of sound, while a bullet goes at approximately “only” 2.5 times that speed at around 2000 mph (http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1999/MariaPereyra.shtml). Also, I know bullets can be fired in space, but since it’s a vacuum up there, of course things wouldn’t “burn up” anyhow regardless of temperature. Anyhow, if there’s some really simple, too-obvious answer to this, it’s because I’m not very knowledgeable in this subject, if at all.

[Der_Trihs]

@Altivu

If so, would said planet even be habitable, or would the required temperature for this (if possible) be far too low, affecting any or all of the basic necessities required for our survival?

A super dense atmosphere would crush a human, rendering the temperature moot.

[bordelond]

Related question:

Could an atmosphere be dense enough to stop bullets and still be gaseous? I am thinking that such an “atmosphere” wouldn’t be perceived by Earthlings as an “atmosphere”, but instead as “the surface of the planet”.

[engineer_comp_geek]

Most handguns can be fired underwater and the round won’t disintegrate. The round won’t go very far though so the handgun would only be useful at very close range.

In this video you can see that the bullet goes maybe a couple of feet at best and then just sinks.

- YouTube

Bigger and more powerful rifle rounds can disintegrate in water.

I don’t think most folks would describe a liquid as an “atmosphere.”

[Altivu]

There seems to be a bit of discrepancy between my title and OP; by “stopping” the bullet, I also refer to any situations where the bullet can

@Altivu

disintegrate from the sheer air resistance

…or from any sort of resistance that the medium (let’s just go with “fluid”) exhibits. Two very different situations, no doubt?

@Der_Trihs

A super dense atmosphere would crush a human, rendering the temperature moot.

:smack:

Would a super dense atmosphere basically be like water anyways?

[leahcim]

@Altivu

Would a super dense atmosphere basically be like water anyways?

We’d probably be talking about a supercritical fluid for any “atmosphere” that has this property, which has properties of both liquids and gasses.

[Senegoid]

@engineer_comp_geek

Bigger and more powerful rifle rounds can disintegrate in water.

I don’t think most folks would describe a liquid as an “atmosphere.”

If the dominant species on this (hypothetical) planet were dolphins, they might.

[the_diego]

our atmosphere IS dense enough to stop a bullet (or melt it.) just up muzzle velocity to at least 40,000 miles and hour.

[Xema]

@Altivu

… can cause bullets fired from standard handguns to disintegrate from the sheer air resistance?

Note that certain types of bullets can be fired into seriously dense substances (say, the wood of a tree) without disintegrating. OTOH, by choosing a sufficiently fragile material you could probably make a bullet that would readily disintegrate in our atmosphere.

[Quercus]

@Xema

Note that certain types of bullets can be fired into seriously dense substances (say, the wood of a tree) without disintegrating. OTOH, by choosing a sufficiently fragile material you could probably make a bullet that would readily disintegrate in our atmosphere.

Nitpick: Wood really isn’t very dense. In fact, it’s less dense than water (as proved by the fact that it floats). It’s not particularly tough against puncturing forces like a bullet, either (you can pound nails in by hand).

[pancakes3]

I don’t know about disintegrating but if you fire a gun up in the air, the atmosphere in all likelihood will stop it (eventually). Not sure if the OP is looking for specifically disintegrating or if merely stopping will be possible.

[Xema]

@Quercus

Wood really isn’t very dense.

It is compared to most gasses.

…it’s less dense than water (as proved by the fact that it floats).

True of most but not all wood.

It’s not particularly tough against puncturing forces like a bullet

Again, compared to almost any gas it’s really quite tough.

you can pound nails in by hand

It’s widely reported that a hammer helps.

[Xema]

@pancakes3

if you fire a gun up in the air, the atmosphere in all likelihood will stop it (eventually).

Gravity might have something to do with that.

[pancakes3]

So we’re shooting into a nebula and not a planet?

[Altivu]

Not much to add really, but I’d like to compromise my question a bit in hopes to generalize the situation a bit more and get some more answers…

Are there any sort of environmental/atmospheric attributes that can contribute to the disintegration of bullets flying through the"air" (perhaps some sort of “roughness”), but not too much of anything else?

[drewtwo99]

@Altivu

Not much to add really, but I’d like to compromise my question a bit in hopes to generalize the situation a bit more and get some more answers…

Are there any sort of environmental/atmospheric attributes that can contribute to the disintegration of bullets flying through the"air" (perhaps some sort of “roughness”), but not too much of anything else?

As already pointed out, Earth’s atmosphere will disintegrate anything that flies through it. The key is that the object has to be going fast enough.

For standard handguns, they just don’t have enough velocity to convert enough kinetic energy into heat to melt/disintegrate stuff, no matter what you’re shooting it through.

Technically, if the atmosphere was VERY hot, it’d melt the bullet (and the gun). But I’m sure that’s not what you mean.