Posted on 12/02/2019 5:17:30 AM PST by w1n1
Hold right and left respectively.
And if you shoot due East, that bullet might come all the way around and hit you right in the ass. I have had several near misses , you have to be careful.( sarc.)
I wouldn't discount the Coriolis Effect on rocket launches or other, military-grade ballistic weapons. It's just not something I would consider for any sort of civilian weapon I would consider firing.
mstrbtn and nothing more. Nice try though.
Newtons laws (which is how we predict motion) apply in an inertial frame. The Earth is a rotating frame, so unless you convert everything to an inertial frame first, you have to account for the motion of the rotating frame (Coriolis, centripetal, and centrifugal accelerations).
For rockets, we usually make the conversion to inertial coordinates and just use straight Newtons laws. But for short range applications like shooting, the rotational effects of the Earth can often be ignored. They are there but third order effects. And the non-engineer laymen likes to think of the Earth frame he is in as an inertial frame for his practical purposes, though its really not.
I have only a little experience out beyond 1000 yards shooting. For anything inside 1000 yards, Coriolis effect is an order of magnitude below other effects, like spin drift, so it can pretty much be ignored. As others have said here, beyond 1000 yards, or when the loft of the projectile keeps it in the air for several seconds or more, then Coriolis might become significant.
Thanks to all posters and longshots. (that reminds me...range time on the 11th with wife and cousin)
“Hold right and left respectively.”
Only in the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere you have to hold left and right! ;-)
Hmmm ... space moves? Stuff in it does like if you’re trying to shoot antelope on the moon from your front porch.
Left.
Right.
Multiply by cosine of latitude. Effect most pronounced at equator.
Unless it asks you for lat/log and compass direction, it is moot.
That said, for shots that a person (a sniper or long-distance shooter would take), I would consider the CE a much, much smaller effect than factors like wind or gravity.
And if you're a person that wants to be able to make a reasonable effort to hit targets beyond 1000 yards--just to satisfy your curiosity, I suppose you could attempt to apply the Coriolis "rules," but I think they're beyond the comprehension of most normal shooters. If you hit a target at these ranges, it's mostly luck; if you miss, there's more to blame than just the Coriolis Effect.
I guess it might be relevant of you are shooting at something over the Horizon. #;^)
Wind is most certainly the hardest to predict and bad prediction would overwhelm other effects at distance.
Regarding the application of CE, I can simulate the effects on a computer, but wouldn’t attempt to calculate them on the range. I would let a Kestrel or other ballistics calculator include that for me, along with spin drift and all the other rifle/cartridge specific ballistics. If I haven’t dorked up the Kestrel inputs (garbage in, garbage out), then elevation is usually spot on and I can attribute any windage deviation to my own poor reading of winds.
If the Coriolis effect is a significant factor it stands to reason that the end of a rifle barrel moves as the projectile passes through it. Then the target moves. Shooting south the barrel moves the bullet to the left as the target moves to the left.
Wouldn’t this negate the Coriolis effect as a factor in shooting?
I’m witchoo
That’s some shootin’!
Not that Coriolis is a big effect over the range of a gun, but to answer your example, if you were somewhere in the northern hemisphere, the points south of your are moving east at a slightly faster speed than you are, and points north of you are moving east slightly slower that you are. Does that make sense? Obviously the north pole is hardly moving at all (just spinning in place) while the equator is moving at the highest velocity (largest distance form spin axis).
And tall buildings cause gravity to decrease...............
Why didn’t Galileo cite the Coriolis effect when he was being questioned by the Inquisition for saying that the earth moves?
Or malarkey.
When I go to Oz, I’ll have to remember.
One also has to shit sideways because the whirlpool in the toilet also circumlocutes in the other direction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.