The Stupidly Simple Science That Nails Michael Brown's Killer For Murder

[kpete]

7:27 AM PT: Courtesy nosleep4u-a summation-

Shorter version

PD report says MB charged from 35 feet away.
Wilson fired 8 shots.
MB died at 20+ feet away.

15 feet is at most 5 steps for a big person like MB.

5 steps for (A) MB to get up some speed (B) Wilson to judge its a charge and (C) Wilson to fire 8 shots.

Which is impossible. MB would have to have been "charging" like a tortoise.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/20/1323163/-The-Stupidly-Simple-Science-That-Nails-Michael-Brown-s-Killer-For-Murder#20140820072738

[Android3.14]

1. Uh...no.

The mistaken assumption here is that Brown was accelerating forward while Wilson shot all 8 bullets. When a bullet hits a person, it is a collision without a rebound (i.e. the two masses hit, and then continue moving in a direction as a combined mass) or the bullet transfers much of its energy to the target as it travels through the mass and out the other side. In either case, the collision causes momentum of the bullet is transferred to the other mass. Moving targets tend to slow down rather than continue forward in a straight line when struck head-on. It is more plausible that, if Brown charged Wilson, Brown came forward nearly 15 feet, Wilson started shooting, and Brown stopped accelerating forward, probably started to decelerate, and probably started falling to the ground almost immediately while Wilson continued shooting.

[Android3.14]

2. Did some further research

The momentum factor is probably minimal, but the effect of a bullet hitting a person would still cause a person to begin falling, stop accelerating forward. This seems more plausible. That is, if he charged, Brown came forward a particular distance, the officer started shooting, Brown slowed considerably while the officer shot several more times.

[longship]

4. Both are inelastic collisions.

An elastic collision is like a cue ball hitting a pool ball. The cue ball transfers its momentum to the other one without losing energy. (There is no deforming of either of the balls.)

A bullet hitting a person is an inelastic collision because there is deformation by the flesh and bone of the person hit, and also likely by the bullet as well. If the bullet does not exit, it would transfer its momentum to the person shot. Conservation of momentum.

Furthermore, if the bullet passes through a person it is not transferring its momentum to the person, by definition. In fact, bodily reactions to being shot are often not so much momentum as the reaction of muscles due to trauma. Hollywood physics is just not correct.

However, there is something kind of funny about the PD's narrative. It does seem too close for Brown to have been charging Wilson. Anyway, why shoot six (eight?) times? Wilson wasn't trying to stop Brown, he was trying to kill him. Pure and simple.

[wandy]

3. Other than in this story as in the account of a friend(s)............

or anomalous person(s) with inside information have you heard the keyword bum rushed ?

Out side of this story, without looking it up what does bum rush mean?
After looking it up and finding the phrase has more than one meaning.......

Why do you think that every friend(s) or anomalous person(s) with inside information use this phrase in the same way at the point of the story?

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Coroner's report said bullets fired from 1-2 feet away.

[A Simple Game]

6. Link please, everything I read said no powder residue. n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. Here...last sentence in this ABC news report

Baden also stated there was no gun powder residue on Brown's body, concluding he was at least 1-2 feet away from the weapon, but clothing still needs to be examined.

http://www.abc17news.com/news/michael-brown-attorneys-forensic-pathologists-address-secondary-autopsy-in-news-conference/27584718

and this from the same page:
Digging further into the autopsy results, Baden said there was no evidence of a struggle on Brown, but an examination of Officer Darren Wilson would be needed to make a conclusion.

[A Simple Game]

8. OK, thanks, normally it's 3 to 5 feet, but maybe because he didn't have access to the clothes? n/t

[rgbecker]

9. "At least" is key here...could be 2 or 100 feet.