Kinetic energy is very important to this topic because it is whats needed to make a weapon effective in combat.

(1/2)m(v)^2

    The equation above is the kinetic energy of an object. For a weapon to be useful it needs to have enough kinetic energy to neutralize a target. the more kinetic energy a bullet has on impact, the more stopping power it has. 'm' is the mass of the object, and 'v' is its velocity.         Analytically to get a higher amount of kinetic energy it is better to increase the velocity of the bullet. this is why most firearm designs have changed from firing larger bullets, to firing smaller ones at a high velocity. This also leads to a firearm being more effect at a larger distance, because gravity has less effect on the bullet.

    The law of conservation of Kinetic energy is used to explain much of how a weapon behaves. This will be explored in more depth on the next page.