: The chemistry of gunpowder, burn rates, and how chemical energy converts to kinetic energy.

This covers the projectile's flight through the atmosphere. The text utilizes complex physics to predict trajectories: : Drag coefficients ( Cdcap C sub d ), lift, and the effects of air density.

: Calculating the peak pressure within the chamber and how it drops as the projectile travels down the bore.

This describes the short, complex period when the projectile emerges from the muzzle and is still influenced by the escaping high-pressure gases (the "muzzle blast"). : The visible byproducts of combustion.