The concept of a rail gun is simple: two parallel bars connected to a power source produce an electric field. This electric field can be used to propel a projectile along the bars. If enough amperage is provided, the projectile can achieve velocities of up to 4 km/s. The U.S. Army has been interested in the potential of electromagnetic guns for quite some time. In 1988 the University of Texas Center for Electromagnetics began work on a 9 MJ range gun, which would be designed to launch 2-4 kg projectiles at velocities of up to 4 km/s. Design features of this range gun included up to 230 MJ stored energy, 6 kV and 3 MA peak output ratings, and a 9 shot repetitive fire capability. In the early 1990's, the U.S. Army, along with the Marine Corps, showed much interest in the Cannon Caliber Electromagnetic Gun System (CCEMG). This project seeks to demonstrate an elecrtomagnetic gun system designed from a system/mission prospective. The CCEMG showed a 3 times increase in energy and power density over the range gun system. The U.S. Army plans to produce electric tanks by the year 2015 with electromagnetic guns mounted on them. The all-electric tank would include electric vehicle drive and suspension and electric armaments. In this concept, the flywheel energy can be used as a flywheel battery to provide power for vehicle acceleration and regenerative braking, and will also produce electrical power for the electromagnetic armaments. This is the perfect example of how physics is still impacting the world in which we live. A rail gun in it's simplest form is a pair of conducting rails separated by a distance L and with one rail connected to the positive and one the negative side of a power source supplying voltage V and current I.... ... middle of paper ... ...an use the right hand rule. Since all the angles involved are 90 degrees, the resultant force has a magnitude resulting from the simple multiplication of the magnitude of i and B and the value of L. (|F|=L|i||B|) To determine the direction, lay your right hand along the path of the current through the projectile, with your fingers pointing in the direction the current is travelling. Next, curl your fingers in the direction of the B field. Your thumb will now be pointing in the direction of the applied force. Bibliography 1. Jengel and Fatro's Rail Gun Page. http://home.insightbb.com/~jmengel4/rail/rail-intro.html 2. Pappas, John. University of Texas Center for Electromechanics http://www.utexas.edu/research/cem/ 3. MIT students. Amateur Rail Gun Production Journal http://www.railgun.org 4. United States Patent and Trademark Office http://www.uspto.gov/
Firearms: A Global History to 1700 provides a knowledgeable narrative on why there were such stark differences between the militaries of Europe and Asia, as well as other societies in and around the Oikoumene. This monograph will appeal to anyone interested in learning about the development of firearms and its close relationship with
Melton, Jack W. and Lawrence E. Pawl. “Basic Facts Concerning Artillery.” Civil War Artillery. 2009. 17 January 2010. .
The primary long gun of the Union Army was the M-1861 Springfield Rifle. The 1861 Springfield was a .58 Caliber, muzzle loading, single-shot rifle. The 1861 Springfield rifle used the 500 grain .58 caliber bullet and 60 grains of powder. It had a muzzle velocity of 950 Fps and was accurate up to 300 yards with a maximum range of 500 yards. The 1861 Spring...
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
The Union created the .52 caliber breech loading Billinghurst-Requa batter. It used a light carriage to mount 25 rifled barrels side by side and when loaded and primed, the barrels fired in a sequence. Some of these guns were used in battle but saw very little action. These two weapons show that weapon technology was at a new height during this era.
War has been a recurring part of America’s history for the past hundreds of years. From the 1700s to the present, America has gotten into numerous situations and turmoil, which eventually lead to the wars we currently study and know about today. Technological advancements in warfare were necessary and a great obligation during times of war. This was pursued with drastic improvement. From the transformation of the use of smoothbore muskets during the Civil War to the industrial revolution leading to weaponry innovations post civil war, the nature of warfare dramatically changed. These developments proved to be proficient in battle. In the midst of these hundreds of years, while many technological advances demonstrated to be efficient in battle, the machine gun was one of the most significant advancements in technology that changed the face of warfare through its transformation of operations and strategy.
To his credit he came up with the famous 1862-model Revolving Battery Gun, that is now referred to as the Gatling gun. The 1862-model was one of the first reliable Revolving guns, but still had a few problems that needed to be fixed. Richard was not the first to manufacture a multi-fire weapon, but his was the first multi-fire gun used in war because of its fast, rapid fire, and ease to use. Major General Ben F. Butler purchased 12, 1862-model gatling guns for $1000 each and used them successfully at the battle of Petersburg in 1863. In 1865 Gatling's improved model, the 1865-gun was tested by the Ordnance Department. One of the changes between the improved Gatling gun and the old one, was that the new
“Volley Guns” (Chivers, 2010, p.26) or also known as “Organ Guns” (Ellis, 1975, p.10) were first attempts at increasing firepower by adding several barrels at the firing itself, rather than simply attempting to increase the rate of fire. “Gunsmiths had long ago learned to place barrels side by side on frames to create firearms capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession. These unwieldy devices, or volley guns, were capable in theory of blasting a hole in a line of advancing soldiers” (Chivers, 2010, p.26). An example of such weapons can be seen on July 28, 1835 when Giuseppe Fieshi unleashed terror on King Louis-Phillipe in Paris, France. He fired his 25 barrel “volley gun”, killing 18 of the king's entourage and grazing the King's skull. The weapon was ineffective however. Four of the barrels failed and another four ruptured. Two other barrels had exploded inside, grievously wounding Giuseppe. (Chivers, 2010, p. 27)
Weapons like the Gatling gun, rifled musket and the minié ball gave firearms more range. The range for a foot soldier increased from 50 to 100 yards, and even up to 500 yards or more, levels which are five to ten times greater than what a firearm was able to reach during the Napoleonic Wars. Because of the lethality of these weapons, it is estimated that 625, 000 soldiers were killed during the American Civil War. The Gatling gun was used by the Union forces, and it is considered an early rapid-fire weapon and a precursor to the later machine gun. The Gatling gun was also used in the Anglo-Zulu War and in the Spanish-American War in the attack on San Juan Hill, which shows the continuation development of rapid-fire weapon. The Maxim gun, a faster precursor of the machine gun, was not invented until 1884. The Civil War also saw the use of ammunition called the minié ball. This would expand as it moved down the barrel of the rifle and helped the bullet spin so that range and accuracy were improved. The technological advance and lethal rifles also transformed the combat tactics, which greatly helped in achieving victories during the American Civil War and Modern Warfare as
What I would like to find out is who designed the first ever gun, how was it used, and was it affective? I also want to know which guns were used during important parts of history? There are numerous questions for each stage of history for different types of guns. For example when did the U.S. army first start using the flintlock muskets? How were these muskets improved over time? What was the ammunition that they were using in this time period? How was it made and was it difficult to make? What I how to achieve is a...
The Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun is better known as the 'Ma Duce' to those who have had the pleasure of firing this heavy barrel machine gun. In 1919 John M. Browning developed the M2 .50 cal as an anti-aircraft weapon. The M2 was first introduced into the United States Military in 1933 and is used by many militaries through out the world today. Since 1933 there have been little changes made to this weapon system. The BMG (Browning Machine Gun) is a crew served, belt fed, air-cooled, recoil operated machine gun capable of firing in single shot or fully automatic.
In the "zeroing a rifle" section we required that the line of sight to the target was horizontal. What if this is not the case? The picture below shows the path a typical bullet will take when shot at a target that is not at the same elevation as the shooter, or upward angle. If a shooter shoots at a target whos line of sight to the target is not horizontal and the line of sight distance (or slant range (Rs)) is equal to the zero range of the rifle and he aims directly at the target, the shooter will shoot over the target. (See diagram) To correct for this, the shooter must compensate for the zeroing of the rifle. This is done by finding the horizontal range to the target (Rh). One can use trigonometry: Rh = Rs cos(a).
example of the uses of electric cars in everyday life. From the article “Electrical Engineering”,
I started drawing a gun. No, I started drawing a pistol. The exact pistol from the movies I watched called, “Terminator.” I then drew a bullet coming out of the pistol. This was called a projectile. Though I did make the bullet in a form called a parabola. A parabola is a projectile in motion in which it starts and ends in an arch shape, like a cannon and its cannonball being fired out from its barrel, which leaves a “parabolic path.” At the end of where the bullet was going to land, I...
Useful for the military, projectile motion can now be used for a number of weapons; which is when an object (like a bullet or cannon) is thrown-projected- and mov...