# Which bullet hits the ground first: fired or dropped? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268 "2003-07-09T16:40:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/41 "2003-07-11T14:41:51Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by ccwaterback \* Let’s just say they would _essentially_ hit the ground at the same time. At _exactly_ the same time, probably not - for the myriad of reasons posted here. My physics professor in high school performed an experiment for us to prove this point. Let me see if I can explain what he did… [QUOTE] My physics teacher had the same experiment. Difference was that the two balls were not at the same level: the “dropped” ball was high in the corner of the room and the cannon was on the floor, angled upward to point directly at the first ball. Because the distance that the cannon ball deviated from a straight-line trajectory was the same distance that the dropped ball moved, the two balls eventually collided. Same principle as your professor’s experiment, but even mmore non-intuitive. And, I should point out, bullet speeds are much greater than the balls in this experiment. Since air drag is proportional to velocity _squared_, the air resistance is much more critical in the case of the bullet than it is for the physics experiment. ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/42 "2003-07-12T01:25:39Z")
Oh Crikey! In the realm of real handguns and shoulder-fired long guns, the question posed by the OP is answered, “Yes, the bullets hit the ground at the same time.” Get over it already. ---
**Author:** ![homercles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed8c4c/32.png) [@homercles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/homercles)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/43 "2003-07-12T01:28:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by radar ralf \* > \*\*Oh Crikey! In the realm of real handguns and shoulder-fired long guns, the question posed by the OP is answered, “Yes, the bullets hit the ground at the same time.” Get over it already. \*\* d00d, whats your problem? Are all Aussies/Kiwis as uptight as you? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/44 "2003-07-12T01:34:17Z")
Aussies? Dood, buy a globe. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/45 "2003-07-12T01:34:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by homercles \* > \*\*d00d, whats your problem? Are all Aussies/Kiwis as uptight as you? ☹ \*\* Last time I checked, Alaska was part of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/46 "2003-07-12T02:40:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by radar ralf \* > Oh Crikey! In the realm of real handguns and shoulder-fired long guns, the question posed by the OP is answered, “Yes, the bullets hit the ground at the same time.” Get over it already. Excuse me? If you’re talking about _real_ guns, shouldn’t you have realistic atmosphere? Air resistance plays an enormous role in this problem in a realistic setting. It greatly slows the descent of the fired bullet. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/47 "2003-07-12T05:15:08Z")
If you want an example that’s easier to set up, get a toy gun that shoots ping-pong balls and two ping-pong balls. Shoot one ball and drop the other, at the same time from the same height. (Do it inside, so there won’t be any wind.) They will hit the ground at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/48 "2003-07-12T11:05:00Z")
Hey, **radar ralf** and **Super Gnat** , I was all with you and was searching for a cite for the OP, because there was money involved and I certainly wouldn’t pay up without a cite, but I ran across that link taking drag (air friction) into account. I am not going to agree that they hit at the same time until someone adequately dismisses the vertical component of drag and its effect (albeit small) on vertical velocity, and therefore time. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/49 "2003-07-12T11:06:48Z")
“Aussies”, that was a good one. ---
**Author:** ![Chagto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Chagto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chagto)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/50 "2003-07-12T12:35:09Z")
no actually, it wasnt that good, **unclebill** , coz as every1 has said, alaska’s in the US. just to add a lil nitpick, assuming a conventionally shaped bullet, (ie cylinder with a point at one end, and flat at the other) would not the fired bullet have rotated somewhat before hitting the ground? assuming that both bullets began their respective journeys pointing the same way, i’d say they’d hit at different times because of this. ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268/51 "2003-07-12T13:16:17Z")
Costello: “I’m not askin’ you who’s on second.” Abbott: “Who’s on first.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bullet-hits-the-ground-first-fired-or-dropped/187268.md?page=2)