A Simple Question in Physics

[John Mytton]

Are you sure they are being shot in the head? Firing squads aim for the heart in many cases. Looking at old photos it is about 50/50. They often put a mark there as a target. It is said the heart shot kills quicker than a head shot. In the film the rifleman closest to the camera is not pointing the rifle at the head but at the chest.
    How the head moves as a standing person collapses is largely due to how the knees and the waist go limp. When the knees give out the torso falls back which causes the head to rock forward. When and if they bend at the waist the head rocks forward. The timing of the knees vs the waist varies and and has a huge effect on the head movement. Because the way the body crumples when shot I don't think footage of standing victims falling is of much value, but I don't think this firing squad is aiming at the head anyway.

By plotting the resulting matter being expelled from the area from the top of the man's torso, I agree with you and that why I never referenced to the man being shot in the head but for the sake of argument we are still dealing with the same force or potentially six time as much force being applied to the man's upper body and in no way do we see the man being violently flung backwards.

Whereas in the first GIF above I uploaded, the first man is definitely struck in the head.



JohnM

[Chris Bristow]

I was talking about your post from 5:40 AM when you showed a group of men being shot and said they were "shot in the head"

[John Mytton]

I was talking about your post from 5:40 AM when you showed a group of men being shot and said they were "shot in the head"

The first man closest to the camera in the GIF you referenced is definitely struck in the head and his head's forward movement is about equal to what we see in Zapruder.



JohnM

[Chris Bristow]

Real life isn't Hollywood, these soldiers are all shot in the head with fmj bullets and no one is violently thrown forward, they just fall down and move back towards the shooters.



JohnM

I was talking about your post from 5:40 AM when you showed a group of men being shot and said they were "shot in the head"

[Chris Bristow]

The first man in the GIF you referenced is definitely struck in the head and his forward movement is about equal to what we see in Zapruder.



JohnM

No that is his hat flying off his head. Saw a person get hit by a car once and their shoes flew off due to the force the torso received.

[Chris Bristow]

Just draw a line along the rifle and extend it to the victim. You will see he aimed at the chest. The camera is at almost 90 degrees to the trajectory of the bullet and the direction the rifle is pointing. So the perspective is accurate, the rifleman is aiming at the chest.

[John Mytton]

No that is his hat flying off his head. Saw a person get hit by a car once and their shoes flew off due to the force the torso received.

There is many more shooters as compared to men being killed and I agree that the first shooter closest to the camera appears to be firing a little low but the rest seem to be all firing at the men's heads. Btw the kinetic energy of an 11 gram bullet is a little different to a 1000+ kg car.



JohnM