What is the scientific study of projectiles called?

The scientific study of projectiles is termed ballistics. This field encompasses the design and analysis of projectiles and their motion, as well as the forces acting on them during flight. Ballistics is critical in many disciplines, including military applications, forensic science, and engineering, focusing on understanding how projectiles behave when fired, including their speed, trajectory, and the effects of external factors such as wind and air resistance.

While aerodynamics is related and deals with how objects move through the air, it does not specifically focus on projectiles alone. Forensics involves the application of scientific methods in criminal investigations, which may include the study of projectiles under specific circumstances but is not limited to that subject. Trajectories refer to the path that a projectile follows, which is actually a part of what ballistics studies, but it does not encompass the entire scientific field. Therefore, ballistics is the precise term for the comprehensive study of projectiles.