How come journo's can't get the basics right?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by javadog

The short answer is the journalists typically have no knowledge of the subject they write about, they were trained in writing not in the subjects they cover.

And physicists are crappy writers. But a GOOD writer has someone knowledgeable fact check the piece. This writer's failure is not ignorance, it is laziness. He should have had the piece fact checked.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by javadog

The short answer is the journalists typically have no knowledge of the subject they write about, they were trained in writing not in the subjects they cover.

Let's also say that journalism students weren't usually the sharpest the students in college.

As for the ballistics issue, the US plans to introduce a new generation of military rifle in a few years, that may also have significantly increased muzzle velocity.

There was an article a couple months ago that the army wants artillery that can fire 1000 nautical miles. I assume they will not be using traditional propellants.

[legion]

Originally Posted by flipper35

There was an article a couple months ago that the army wants artillery that can fire 1000 nautical miles. I assume they will not be using traditional propellants.

Isn't that called an ICBM?

[David]

I saw one a few years ago that had me really dumbfounded. The author of an article on electric power confused kW with kWh. She compared the current kW (in Terrawatts) usage with expected future kWh (she still used Terrawatts) usage. She concluded that we needed to increase our current power plant output by about 10 times current output and soon! And at a cost of trillions of dollars!

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

"Begins to fall as it slows down?" I thought I learned in physics it began to fall at the rate of 32 ft./sec./sec. when it exited the barrel. Of course that was 50+ year old physics. Maybe things have changed since.

Very much Wrong.


If you shoot a bullet 90 degrees up, it will rise, not fall,
It will keep rising until it's upward velicity comes to zero due to Air (Drag) slowing it down & Gravity pulling it back down

And then it starts to fall back to earth.
At which time it will speed up in it's fall untill the Gravity can not accelerate it against the air (drag)



If you shoot a bullet at 0 degrees : Flat (which rarely happens)
It will indeed start to fall right away.

If you aim flat, at your target, the further out your target is, the higher your barrel will point and the higher your bullet will go , before it starts to fall again.


Check out these Arti Rounds : They are not falling !!!


Ballistics.. It's not hard
But VERY few people get it.
And a lot of people who do get it, can't explain it to save their own life.

You cannot fall if you end up at a higher elevation then where you started
And you cannot make a bullet fly flat across the ground if you want to make it go far.

fall
[fawl]
ExamplesWord Origin
See more synonyms for fall on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object), fell, fall·en, fall·ing.
to drop or descend under the force of gravity, as to a lower place through loss or lack of support.
to come or drop down suddenly to a lower position, especially to leave a standing or erect position suddenly, whether voluntarily or not:
to fall on one's knees.
to become less or lower; become of a lower level, degree, amount, quality, value, number, etc.; decline:
The temperature fell ten degrees. Stock prices fell to a new low for the year.


"but the nagging effects of gravity starts slowing a bullet down the moment it leaves the gun barrel"

This is the only real big error in the article, the main issue is Air that causes drag and causes the bullet to slow down.
Shoot it up, and gravity would indeed be a force that slows the bullet down, but it does so much less then drag.
Shoot the gun down, and it would not.. So it is a variable that can slow down the bullet.

Think of it this way, people think that when they shoot to a target that is up on the mountain, that they would have to aim higher. then expected.
The opposite is true, since they are shooting at an incline, the target is actually closer.



With this, if you shot at a target 1000 yds away
30 yds above you... The bullet will still fall at the end before hitting the target even though you are shooting up.

But for the most part of it's flight, it will be rising, rather then falling.

Bullet "drop" is only a function of aiming.
You aim at your target, and the barrel is given elevation so the bullet can rise high enough to be in a position it CAN drop .. to the aiming point.
if it never would rise, it would never be able to drop.

Elevation on your scope, is turning the scope DOWN , not up , relative to your barrel.
It's the barrel that comes up, not the scope.


The only true statement about gravity & bullets =
Gravity will affect the bullet the second it leaves the barrel.

[Otter74]

It sounds like some of you know about as much about journalists as that writer knows about ballistics.

[javadog]

Well, at least a couple of us have worked with them, way back when, so I stand by my comments. Obviously, we are not saying they are all worthless, but more than you expect.

One other point, those that report the news on TV are generally even less knowledgeable about their subjects, especially at the local level.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by javadog

Well, at least a couple of us have worked with them, way back when, so I stand by my comments. Obviously, we are not saying they are all worthless, but more than you expect.

One other point, those that report the news on TV are generally even less knowledgeable about their subjects, especially at the local level.

Agree. I worked with one reporter that got it right. Others just made up what fit their view.

TV reporters are the worst. They LOVE to record crying. Moms crying are a staple. The funniest thing I saw was a TV reporter pull up to the scene of a fire, and immediately run over to the home owners and stick a microphone in the face of a crying mom, and then ask her how she feels. She used lots of profanity, but she expressed he feelings quite clearly. The local cops told the reporter to get off the property of they were going to jail.