How does a bullet kill someone?
Bullets can kill several different ways. It can penetrate the heart, or the brain, or it can tear vital structures apart (the lungs, the aorta, etc.) How a bullet does so much other damage, though, is what makes it so effective as a weapon. When a handgun bullet is fired, it is moving at (sometimes,) up to 1200 feet per second. When that bullet impacts against the body, all that energy is immediately transferred TO the body. Because the human body is made up mostly of water (close to 95%,) that energy is converted into something called hydrostatic force. It has an effect on the human body’s structures that is very similar to dropping a boulder into a pond; imagine those huge rippling waves of energy tearing through your body and you’ll understand how such a tiny piece of lead can do so much damage.
