Monkey Business II

[wordcross]

It comes to my attention that I'm being nit picky, but It has to be said that most guns, whether using Tranquilizers or real bullets, have ways of defying true free fall. Bullets have a spiraling pattern that follows a spiraling pattern inside the barrel, kind of like a screw's threads, and the spin keeps the bullet in the air longer (like spiraling a football does), so aiming directly at the monkey wouldn't work too well, unless it is assumed that there is no such mechanism for darts.

[tv snake]

I think that bullets and footballs only spin so they go in straight lines; it could also possibly help with air resistance (as the point is always going in the direction of travel there is less area to have friction on) but there is nothing that can make the bullets stay in the air longer.

[marksman physicist]

In addition to the points already brought up, the trajectory of any gun fired projectile is more accurately modeled as an ellipse than a semi-ellipse due to the recoil of guns. The muzzle is forced upward at the same instant the bullet leaves the muzzle due to the explosion of the round. This gives the bullet an initial positive y velocity. It is this ellipse that gives a particular gun its effective range. If you aim directly at a target and fire, the bullet travels upward, peaks outs, and then begins to falls. There is a distance where the target could be located where the bullet would strike exactly where it was aimed, assuming no horizontal alterations. This distance is the weapons effective range. So in effect, unless at point blank, you would want to aim lower on your target as the bullet will still be traveling upward in its trajectory.

[Ghost Post]

I think it was a nice thought for a puzzle, but a gun and a monkey just doesn't work. First, if the tests were done with an air rifle, it either shot a ball barring, or a pellet. A ball barring is not accurate, and therefor would not give accurate data, and the flat tip on a pellet would affect its trajectory much more than a streemlined projectile would. Second any neandrathol, redneck or "monkey" who shoots, knows that if you want to hit what you are aiming at, you sight in for that range. So, the bullet should go right where the sights were aimed. When the shooter moves as close as it describes, the bullet will still hit the monkey (unless he cant aim worth crap) because it is a big target. No compinsation is needed. I reolize what the author was trying to get at, but I dont think it is viable in this situation.