| Ballistics (gr. ba'llein, "throw") is the science that
deals with the motion, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially
bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and hurling 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, by rifling in a barrel, by gravity, by temperature, or by air particles.
Firearm ballistics information is used in forensic science.
Ballistics is sometimes subdivided into:
- Internal ballistics, the study of the processes
originally accelerating the projectile, for example the passage of a bullet through the
barrel of a rifle;
- Transition ballistics, the study of the
projectile's behavior when it leaves the barrel and the pressure behind the projectile is equalized.
- External ballistics, the study of the passage of
the projectile through space or the air; and
- 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).
A ballistic missile is a missile designed to operate primarily
in accordance with the laws of ballistics.
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