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The firing pin strikes the primer, the quickly expanding fumes of 6.5 grains of gunpowder fill the chamber, the 230 grain jacketed bullet accelerates out of the barrel. As the slide rocks back, the spent case is ejected, the dual recoil springs in the 1911 compress to soften the slides travel to the rear while simultaneously lessening the impact imparted to the shooter.
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Before
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After
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| Pistol Recoil Video |
Conservation of Momentum
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Guided by the principle of Conservation of Momentum, total momentum when a gun is fired is equal to zero, this phenomenon is observed when a gun “kicks” back as the bullet is fired in the opposite direction. The momentum equation MgVg=-MbVb describes this cancellation in momentum as the mass of the gun times an unknown velocity must be equal and opposite in direction to the total mass times the velocity of the bullet.
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/ P = M * V
/ M * V = -(M * V) / F = M * A |
Picture courtesy of hk-phy.org/contextual/mechanics
Why Does The Bullet Travel With A Higher Velocity Than The Gun?
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Although the force acting on the bullet and the force acting back on the gun are equal in magnitude, the affect of that force on the gun is far less than that on the bullet due to the difference in mass of the two objects. This difference in mass causes the bullet to accelerate much faster than the gun. This can be explained using Newtons 2nd law, F=m*a which can be translated into a=F/m to calculate acceleration.
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Toppr.com slides, introduction to conservation of momentum
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