The training class idiot - tell your story

[seamusTX]

It's 1/2 m v^2.

- Jim

[Kalrog]

Thanks. I thought I was missing something there but couldn't remember what while I was working.

[lawrnk]

It's 1/2 m v^2.

- Jim

Ok, you guys are really good at math
I struggle with balancing my checkbook!

[txmatt]

I didn't know bullets could travel that fast!!

They can, but only in a vacuum.

You're joking, right? Air resistance has nothing to do with why bullets (or any massive objects/particles) cannot travel at the speed of light. The instructor could be correct (and letting c be the speed of light) if one were shooting antimatter bullets, though, at least up to a factor of two and ignoring kinetic energy which is trivial in such a senario. mmm... antimatter bullets....

[Kalrog]

Yeah, I'm kidding. It is just that the constant velocity of light that is always quoted "c" is ONLY the speed of light in a vacuum. The fastest that a bullet could possibly go is limited by the rate of expansion of gunpowder - roughly 6000fps I think.

[FightinAggieCHL]

If he were shooting anti-matter bullets, people in China would have died from the gunshot.

Actually, if it were anti-matter, the moment the anti-matter had come into contact with actual matter (ie, anything) it would have set of a chain reaction, rearranging all of the molecules on the planet into a massive ball of gamma radiation and antihydrogen. Thus eliminating all life, and the planet as we know it.

For these reasons, it would be tough to fire a bullet made out of anti-matter out of a gun.

[txmatt]

If he were shooting anti-matter bullets, people in China would have died from the gunshot.

Actually, if it were anti-matter, the moment the anti-matter had come into contact with actual matter (ie, anything) it would have set of a chain reaction, rearranging all of the molecules on the planet into a massive ball of gamma radiation and antihydrogen. Thus eliminating all life, and the planet as we know it.

For these reasons, it would be tough to fire a bullet made out of anti-matter out of a gun.

Um, I don't know what you're shooting but a 230 gr. bullet in my .45 has a mass energy equivalent of 1.34E15 J or about a third of a megaton of TNT. Not exactly an end of the world thing, but certainly non-trivial. I'm not even going to touch the gamma death ball thing as that makes no sense whatsoever. Not that an anitmatter bullet makes sense, but aside from some bullet handling and delivery issues, it is at least physical.

As to the topic at hand, I had a great experience with my CHL class. No one else showed up, so it was just the instructor and myself, so all the dumb questions were mine (and no one else was there to be annoyed by my new to me 1911 jamming repeatedly-at least I knew how to safely clear it, though). The three months it took to get my CHL after turning in the paper work gave me plenty of time to work out the feeding/ejection issues.

[txinvestigator]

If he were shooting anti-matter bullets, people in China would have died from the gunshot.

Actually, if it were anti-matter, the moment the anti-matter had come into contact with actual matter (ie, anything) it would have set of a chain reaction, rearranging all of the molecules on the planet into a massive ball of gamma radiation and antihydrogen. Thus eliminating all life, and the planet as we know it.

For these reasons, it would be tough to fire a bullet made out of anti-matter out of a gun.

Um, I don't know what you're shooting but a 230 gr. bullet in my .45 has a mass energy equivalent of 1.34E15 J or about a third of a megaton of TNT. Not exactly an end of the world thing, but certainly non-trivial. I'm not even going to touch the gamma death ball thing as that makes no sense whatsoever. Not that an anitmatter bullet makes sense, but aside from some bullet handling and delivery issues, it is at least physical.

As to the topic at hand, I had a great experience with my CHL class. No one else showed up, so it was just the instructor and myself, so all the dumb questions were mine (and no one else was there to be annoyed by my new to me 1911 jamming repeatedly-at least I knew how to safely clear it, though). The three months it took to get my CHL after turning in the paper work gave me plenty of time to work out the feeding/ejection issues.

When one teeny, tiny molecule of anti-matter came into contact with a teeny, tiny molecule of matter, both particles would cease to exist and HUGE amounts of energy would be released.

[KD5NRH]

What would we do if N could only have 1 value ever?

Celebrate.

...and if they'd just standardize the values of common variables like X and Y, I'd have aced my algebra classes.

[FightinAggieCHL]

If he were shooting anti-matter bullets, people in China would have died from the gunshot.

Actually, if it were anti-matter, the moment the anti-matter had come into contact with actual matter (ie, anything) it would have set of a chain reaction, rearranging all of the molecules on the planet into a massive ball of gamma radiation and antihydrogen. Thus eliminating all life, and the planet as we know it.

For these reasons, it would be tough to fire a bullet made out of anti-matter out of a gun.

Um, I don't know what you're shooting but a 230 gr. bullet in my .45 has a mass energy equivalent of 1.34E15 J or about a third of a megaton of TNT. Not exactly an end of the world thing, but certainly non-trivial. I'm not even going to touch the gamma death ball thing as that makes no sense whatsoever. Not that an anitmatter bullet makes sense, but aside from some bullet handling and delivery issues, it is at least physical.

As to the topic at hand, I had a great experience with my CHL class. No one else showed up, so it was just the instructor and myself, so all the dumb questions were mine (and no one else was there to be annoyed by my new to me 1911 jamming repeatedly-at least I knew how to safely clear it, though). The three months it took to get my CHL after turning in the paper work gave me plenty of time to work out the feeding/ejection issues.

When one teeny, tiny molecule of anti-matter came into contact with a teeny, tiny molecule of matter, both particles would cease to exist and HUGE amounts of energy would be released.

Exactly, so see? It does make sense, if you're in to that whole anti-matter deal. I'm not sure it would be conceivable to handle and deliver an anti-matter anything. Supposedly, scientists are trying to figure out a way to use anti-matter as a source of energy, but I'm not entirely sure on how that would work either. You'd probably have to suspend it in an electromagnetic field in a vacuum to keep it from touching anything. It shouldn't be too hard, with the exception that anti-matter protons have a negative charge, so the field would have to be backwards from normal.

[txmatt]

Exactly, so see? It does make sense, if you're in to that whole anti-matter deal. I'm not sure it would be conceivable to handle and deliver an anti-matter anything. Supposedly, scientists are trying to figure out a way to use anti-matter as a source of energy, but I'm not entirely sure on how that would work either. You'd probably have to suspend it in an electromagnetic field in a vacuum to keep it from touching anything. It shouldn't be too hard, with the exception that anti-matter protons have a negative charge, so the field would have to be backwards from normal.

What didn't make sense was the gamma death ball and the destroying all life on earth and the molecule rearranging that was suggested. The energy put out by matter-antimatter annihilation is just mc^2, proportional to the mass (i.e. all mass is turned into its energy equivalent.) So for a .45 230 gr. bullet this would be 2/3 of a Hiroshima-type bomb. (earlier I forgot to take into account the mass that the bullet interacts with, not just the bullet itself, hence 2/3 instead of 1/3)

But alas, I give up. I would like to point out though, that antimatter interacts with ordinary matter all the time every day. Positrons are created and then annihilate with an electron and emit two 511 keV gamma rays... not exactly an earth shattering event, is it? That's much lower energy than the cosmic rays we are bombarded with continuously. I don't know about trying to use antimatter as a source of energy... I seriously doubt it could be created for less energy than it gives out.

[Liberty]

All this still doesn't tell me where can I find these antimatter bullets. The clerk at Wallyworld just looks at me like I'm crazy. Are these another "for LEO use only"?

[FightinAggieCHL]

You have to go to Academy for them. They are under the imported firearm section.

And according to several theories of anti-matter, if it comes into contact with everyday matter, it will rearrange the molecules of the normal matter, and create more anti-matter. When it does this, it releases a massive amount of gamma radiation, and expands the amount of the anti-matter exponentially. Of course, this is all assuming a chain reaction is started. Everyday interactions can be explained by simply stating that the reaction is not stimulated in any manner, similar to the everyday nuclear reactions that occur in various rocks and minerals in the Earth. These don't cause Hiroshima-type explosions because the quantity is limited, and there is not enough of an interaction to continue the reaction. In the case of suddenly injecting 230 grains of anti-matter into a matter-dense environment is theorized to be able to set off a chain reaction large enough to destroy the Earth, or at least part of it.

[blw1213]

I have a headache.

[dukalmighty]

thank god i didn't have to pass any algebra questions to get my chl or i'd be carrying a super soaker,