Going Ballistic: Bullet Trajectories

Abstract

This project seeks to answer at what angle does a gun marksman have to aim in order to hit the center of a target one meter off the ground and 1000 meters away? We begin by modeling the bullet's trajectory using Euler's method with the help of a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet solver, and then systematically search for the angle corresponding to the center of the target. It was found that a marksman shooting a target 1000 meters away and 1 meter off the ground has to aim the rifle 0.436° above horizontal to hit the center.

Keywords

• Euler’s Method, Velocity, Projectile Motion