Ballistics (gr. βάλλειν ('ba'llein'), "throw") is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.

A ballistic body is a body which is free to move, behave, and be modified in appearance, contour, or texture by ambient conditions, substances, or forces, as by the pressure of gases in a gun or propulsive nozzle, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles.

A ballistic missile is a missile only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight, whose course is subsequently governed by the laws of classical mechanics. Modern inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), contain a maneuverable orbiting bus that positions and releases ballistic warheads in space using celestial navigation.

History[link]

The earliest known ballistic projectiles were stones and spears,^[1][2] and the boomerang in Australia.

Gun ballistics[link]

Gun ballistics is the work of projectiles from the time of shooting to the time of impact with the target. Gun ballistics is often broken down into the following four categories, which contain detailed information on each category:^[3]

• Internal ballistics (sometimes called interior ballistics): the study of the processes originally accelerating the projectile, for example the passage of a bullet through the barrel of a rifle.^[4][5]
• Transition ballistics (sometimes called intermediate ballistics): the study of the projectile's behavior when it leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized.^[6]
• External ballistics (sometimes called exterior ballistics): the study of the passage of the projectile through a medium, most commonly earth's atmosphere.^[7]
• Terminal ballistics: the study of the interaction of a projectile with its target, whether that be flesh (for a hunting bullet), steel (for an anti-tank round), or even furnace slag (for an industrial slag disruptor).^[8]

Forensic ballistics[link]

Forensic ballistics involves analysis of bullets and bullet impacts to determine information of use to a court or other part of a legal system. Separately from ballistics information, firearm and tool mark examinations ("ballistic fingerprinting") involve analysing firearm, ammunition, and tool mark evidence in order to establish whether a certain firearm or tool was used in the commission of a crime.

Ballistics research[link]

A photo of a Smith and Wesson firing, taken with an ultra high speed flash (air-gap flash). Using this sub-microsecond flash, the bullet can be imaged without motion blur to study external ballistics.

Ballistics can be studied using high speed photography or high-speed_camera's.

Astrodynamics[link]

Astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and Newton's law of universal gravitation. It is a core discipline within space mission design and control.

See also[link]

Look up ballistics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ballistic conduction (related to electron transport)
• Ballistic limit
• Gunshot injury
• Gunshot residue
• Hydrostatic shock
• L.T.E. Thompson
• Microscopes and ballistics
• Peter Bielkowicz
• Physics of firearms
• Stopping Power
• Trajectory
• Vaporific Effect

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ballistics.

• Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners
• Ballistic Trajectories by Jeff Bryant, The Wolfram Demonstrations Project
• Forensic Firearms and Tool Marks Time Line
• International Ballistics Society
• The Bullet's Flight from Powder to Target - Franklin Weston Mann