A train traveling at 600 miles per hour and a bullet coming out of a gun at the same speed… What do you think could happen in such a situation?

If we fasten our seat belts, let’s get on the train and Let’s get ready to shoot!

We can think of three possible scenarios for shooting from a train.

Let’s assume at the first opportunity that the train is not moving. If we fire the cannon from the forward compartment while the train is stationary, The bullet is moving away from us at a speed of 1000 km per hour.

In fact, this is one of the consequences of Newton’s first law of motion. This is ultimately; Unless there is an external force, a moving object remains in motion. The motionless object remains motionless.

This is of course an assumption and we assume that there is no air resistance in such a possibility. In other words, in such a case the bullet does not show any decelerating movement and moreover Returns of a rifle, pistol or any weapon.

Now let’s start moving the train at a speed of 1000 km per hour and see how this affects the fired bullet.

In the first case, we were traveling on a stationary train and the relative speed between us and the train was zero. But now the train is moving at a speed of 1000 km and this It means that we also have a speed of 1000 km.

calculate this The relative speed between us and the train becomes zero again. In other words, the bullet appears completely normal to us as it moves forward. But if we look from an observer’s perspective, the situation changes completely.

To a person standing motionless on the ground outside the train, this time the bullet appears to be traveling at 1,200 miles per hour. In addition, because the person is not in the train but on a lower ground, the relative speed between him and the train is 1000 km per hour. Again, the speed of the bullet relative to the train is 1000 km per hour. So The speed of the bullet relative to the ground is a total of 2000 km per hour.

What if we fire the cannon in the direction of the train?

In this case, for someone standing motionless on the ground, The speed of the bullet appears to be zero. This is because when the ball and the train move at equal speed but in opposite directions, the resulting relative speeds of the two cancel each other out and become zero.

Someone who looks at us like this can easily see that we are aiming and pulling the trigger but to him the bullet does not move and seems to fall straight down. But of course this is a thought experiment.

Even if in real life the bullet can travel at 1000 km/h in the opposite direction, It takes time to reach this speed. In short, the bullet will not reach its terminal velocity when the trigger is pulled.