>>>>>>>>>>>I am only grateful you do not live in one of the many cultures where firing AK47s into the air is a celebratory gesture <g>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Aren't those the places where the Law of Gravity has been repelled and bullets do not come back down?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Good point that, Alex. What DOES happen to the bullets once fired into the air? Assuming they travel several 100 meters, then fall back to earth (the latter is not just an assumption :-), I guess they would be pretty lethal landing on your head, made of metal and all - like dropping something off the Empire State Building.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I do remember the MythBusters that was mentioned by someone else. I seem to remember the bullets not being lethal, and I seem to remember the "dropping something off of the ESB" being a myth too.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_225.html
>>>>>>
>>>>>>That's all very well, citing a tumbling penny, but how about a streamlined bullet, or ball-bearing.
>>>>>
>>>>>He did say ignoring wind resistance, so in that case, if a penny reached a speed of 280 fps, then so would a bullet or a ball bearing (or a feather).
>>>>
>>>>Hey, I didn't say a wind-surfing penny, I said "tumbling". A penny landing edge-on would exhert a lot more pressure, I'd imagine.
>>>
>>>Ignoring wind resistance, it would exert the pressure of a coin at 280 fps. Now, I'm sure that would hurt like hell, but his point was that 280 fps is not very fast. It would probably hurt more on edge (more lbs per sq. ft), but still, if he is correct, it shouldn't do that much damage. Neither the bullet, nor the ball bearing would have any more speed than the coin, so shouldn't do much more damage than the penny, if any more at all. Given that there is, in fact, wind resistance, then the coin would likely not achieve 280 fps, while the bullet and the ball bearing would get a lot closer to it
>>
>>Sure, I did physics, Galilleo and his cannonballs from the Tower of Pisa and all that, but a bullet would have more mass than a penny, therfore more momentum.
>
>Well, there you have me. I have no idea how the mass of a penny compares to the mass of a bullet.
>
>>And wouldn't that speed be comensurate with that of a fast baseball pitcher? Whereas I don't think it would kill you I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end.
>
>Actually I think it's at least twice the speed of a good fastball. A decent fastball will do around 90 mph, so about 132 fps, but I'm pretty sure any ump would throw out the penny and call a balk.
>
>>
>>>
>>>On the other hand, the bowling ball, would probably achieve approximately the same speed, but I imagine it would hurt more. ;)
>>
>>As I said, not if it was just the finger holes that got you.
>
>We have a real card doing the announcements on my evening commute on the GO train. He likes to remind us to stand behind the yellow line and not to try to cross the tracks because if we get hit by a speeding train, it would certainly leave a bruise. He also likes to remind us that this does not apply to him, or course, because he's a trained professional.

:-) They're those cool double-decker trains right? We couldn't have them in this country cos all the old railway tunnels and bridges, the infrastructure, is so old and too small.