What is the equation used to determine the force exerted on an object?
I am doing a school project on shotgun shells. I am attempting to determine the amount of force, possibly in pounds, exerted on an object given the individual pellet’s weight and speed. Also, once I figure out what force one has, how does that apply to multiple pellets? For instance a single 1-ounce pellet going 1500 feet per second hits with so much impact, how would I figure the force of 8 pellets? Do you multiply the origional answer by the number of pellets? Any help finding the equation or web links related to this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I would need the answer to be in foot pounds rather than newtons.
Thampy- You are on to something but that equation seems to be for the initial force to get the bullet moving, I need the force it exerts on an object when it strikes it.
I have actually found the answer since I asked it, I want to see who can figure it out. The equation I am looking for involves taking the weight of a bullet in grains and it’s speed in feet per second upon impact, using these two variables you can determine the impact in foot pounds on the target.
Posted in used shotguns
January 8th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
"M x V to the power of 2 ÷ 450400 = foot pounds energy"
"Example: The muzzle energy of a 300 Remington Ultra Mag 180gr Core-Lokt Ultra bullet propelled at 3250 feet per second"
"Step 1: Multiply M (M = bullet weight in grains) times V2 (V2 = the square of bullet velocity in feet per second): 180 x 3250 x 3250 = 1,901,250,000"
"Step 2: Divide the product of step 1 by 450400: 1,901,250,000 ÷ 450400 = 4221 foot pounds of energy."
January 8th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
force=mass*acceleration
F=1*1500
F=1500 N (newtons)
to find the force needed for 8 pellets, you just multiply 8 by the amount of ounces they are.
F=8*1500
F=12,000 N (newtons)
January 8th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Force = Mass times Acceleration
F=MA
January 8th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
I think what you are looking to answer is the concept of "Impulse" not force. Impulse is the product of force and time and is mathematically equivalent to the change in momentum of the particle. To answer your question specifically, assume that the shell weights ‘m’ Kilogram (Kg) and has a velocity ‘v’ meters/sec, as the shell was initially at rest and then pushed to velocity ‘v’, we can assume that the change in momentum is mv – m*0 = mv. This is the same as the impulse imparted = Force*time. To figure out the actual force that was given, you need to know the time involved in the hammer hitting the shell, this could be of the order of microseconds. Simply divide ‘mv’ by that time and you would get the force that was execerted. For multiple pellets, simply increase the mass.