Ballistics

Ballistics (gr ba'llein, "throw") is the science that deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, aerial bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and hurling projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.

A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles.

Firearm ballistics information is used in forensic science.

Ballistics is sometimes subdivided into:

• Internal ballistics, the study of the processes originally accelerating the projectile, for example the passage of a bullet through the barrel of a rifle;
• Transition ballistics, the study of the projectile's behavior when it leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized.
• External ballistics, the study of the passage of the projectile through space or the air; and
• Terminal ballistics, the study of the interaction of a projectile with its target, whether that be flesh (for a hunting bullet), steel (for an anti-tank round), or even furnace slag (for an industrial slag disruptor).

A ballistic missile is a missile designed to operate primarily in accordance with the laws of ballistics.

See also:

• physics of firearms for an elementary introduction
• gun, cartridge and bullet

External links

• http://naca.larc.nasa.gov/reports/1922/naca-tm-111/
• http://www.mindspring.com/~ulfhere/ballistics/mechanics.html