The Range Equation
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from: http://www.csn.net/~bsimon/backyard.html |
So you have your rifle or pistol at the range and you wonder what type of range you can expect to get. If you know the velocity as the bullet leaves the barrel and the angle at which you fire the gun, you can calculate range. Yes it is that simple! The range equation for projectile motion is R=(Vo^2/g)sin2q,where R=Range, Vo=Initial Velocity, g=Acceleration due to gravity, and q is the angle at which the gun is fired. So for our .338, fired at an angle of 1/2 degree, we would expect a range of: R=((((2285ft/s)^2)/(32.2ft/s^2))*(sin(2(1/2))))=2829.9ft! That is impressive range. Since we know that firing an object at 45 degrees will give you maximum range, we can calculate what our .338 would do. Using the range equation, we get a range of 162,149.85ft or roughly 30 miles! This is of course neglecting things such as drag, but it is still impressive figure.
