This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
BT The P: Why 120? It seems that a tiny, pointed bit of lead would have a much higher terminal velocity than a human body, which tops out around 90.
Looney Toons: Hmm. (Googles.) I stand corrected — but so do you. According to this Wikipedia article
, 120 MPH is actually terminal velocity for a human body in the usual freefall position; it goes up to 200 MPH if the person pulls in his limbs and streamlines himself. And 200 MPH is also the terminal velocity of a bullet, according to a 1920 US Army Ordnance study. I'll revise the page accordingly.
BT The P: Excellent. It's always nice to know that the government spends some of its research money on useful things.
Moved from Firing In The Air A Lot Discussion Discussion page
Actually, people have been hurt & killed by this. Every New Years it seems this happens to someone here in New Orleans. It only makes the news if it's a tourist who gets hit, though.
BT The P: Okay, first, no need to start a new discussion page for a discussion page, just edit the extant one. Also, there's no need to put an index trail on a discussion page. Third, please sign what you put on discussion pages, it helps a lot, and it's not automatic. Thank you.
Fighteer: That index markup is horrible so I removed it, with apologies if I offend anyone. Back to reality, I'm a bit miffed with this example:
- Happens in the 2008 Iron Man movie. The doctor that we get introduced to picks up an assault rifle and runs around shooting the ceiling (and not the baddies) with it. Presumably because of the Hippocratic Oath.
He was trying to scare them off to buy time, not kill them. One can also imagine that he was not a very good shot, being a doctor and not a soldier. The bigger Fridge Logic here is that the ricocheting bullets didn't hit something important, like him. Not to mention the Narmalicious death scene a few minutes later. Are we making a distinction in this trope between firing in the air to distract or intimidate, versus doing it for no particular reason?
