"- Admit it or not, you use both velocity and mass an in your calculations -- not velocity alone.
Which means you are using energy calculations."
....Velocity and acceleration are two different concepts. There is no mention of acceleration in the formula for energy,...
if I calculate [velocity and mass] I am working out the 'momentum' (p) value.
If I calculate [acceleration and mass] I am working out the 'Force' value.
with momentum being dependent on the force acting on it.
with that, Does anyone then really need to apply an energy formula for hunting bullets?
Momentum and energy are two very different but related (by mass and velocity) concepts.
Given two objects with equal momentum but a 10x difference in mass, which object will have the higher energy (and therefore destructive capability) level?
The correct answer is is that the lighter (by a factor of 10) object will have a velocity 10x greater to achieve the same momentum value and therefore 100 times more energy and destructive capability than the heavier object.
Momentum = m*v
Energy= 1/2*m*v*v
Assume the following for two objects with equal momentum:
Object 1: mass of 1, velocity of 10, momentum = 10
Object 2: mass of 10, velocity of 1, momentum = 10
For those objects:
Object 1 energy = 1/2*1*10*10 = 50
Object 2 energy = 1/2*10*1*1 = 5
Momentum considered alone does not directly relate to a projectile's ability to do work, whereas its energy level does.
It is true that Force = mass * acceleration. But force also tells you nothing about a projectile's ability to do work at a given velocity. The formula for acceleration is:
a=(v1-v2)/(t1-t2)
At any given velocity (1800fps in the example I used with smokinrope), there is no acceleration because v1=v2. Thus:
v1 = v2
v1-v2 = v1-v1
t1-t2 = x
a = (v1-v1)/x = 0/x = 0
f = m*a = m*0 = 0
Therefore, at any given velocity, force = 0, which, like velocity alone, tells you nothing about a projectile's destructive capability.
