Physics of Rifling
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| Rifling is the spiral you can see when
looked down the barrel of a gun. Lands are the depressions
in the spiral and the Grooves are the flats. This allows
the bullet to spin and keep the bullet strait. |
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| The rifling allows for the bullet to have
conservation of angular momentum, L= (I)().
Angular Momentum equals inertia multiplied by angular
velocity. In other words, the angular momentum is great
because the angular velocity is large since the spinning
is fast, and the moment of inertia is also average since
that depends on the mass and radius of the projectile.
Thus, together create an angular momentum large enough for
the projectile to stay on a course and not tumble out of
the barrel. An easier way to think about it is if you took
the spinning bullet in mid air and tried to spin it the
opposite direction/ create an opposite torque; as soon as
you let go the bullet would correct itself on the axis it
was originally on because that's the path of least
resistance. |