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Like Fearne here, imagine you're a monkey hanging from a tree. Something catches your eye - it's a hunter pointing a rifle at you. You can see the finger tightening on the trigger - so what do you do? |
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Also like Fearne, you might just drop and hope that the bullet flies over you. |
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But that's not the best plan, and can never be. If the gun is aiming at you, and you and the gun are both level, and you drop at the same time the gun fires and you're within range, the bullet will always hit. |
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Whenever Fearne or a monkey falls, they do so because of gravity. But when the bullet leaves the gun, it falls because of gravity too. Imagine the path of a bullet as the jet of water coming out of this water pistol. |
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A very powerful jet appears to travel horizontally... ...but actually it's falling. |
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So the bullet and the monkey fall at the same rate, because of gravity. |
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This studio demonstration puts all this to the test. This can represents a monkey - it's attached to an electromagnet. |
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And this represents a gun. When the bullet leaves the barrel, it breaks a contact point which switches off the electromagnet holding the can, causing it to fall. |
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A direct hit. |
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The same thing even happens when a greater distance is involved. |
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No matter how fast the bullet is travelling, or how far away the monkey is, it always gets hit. |
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