Distance and height of cannon projectiles
For the mathematical investigation, I want to focus on angles and trigonometry and differentiation, since these areas are the ones interesting me the most in the SL syllabus, and connect it to war history, and weapons used in wars, which are some of my other interests. I take history on higher level in the IB, and war has always been one of my interests.
The cannon has improved over the past 1000 years and has been an effective way for an army to shoot a projectile from a long range into an enemy fortress or behind enemy walls. But did the angle of which the cannons were fired at have any effect on how far the projectile would move, and were the soldiers steering the cannons aware about the angle that would move the projectile the furthest and be the most accurate.
Under the wars that occurred in the 19th and 20th century, there is a high possibility that the soldiers arming and shooting the cannon did not go through the appropriate training in how to optimize their accuracy. An example for this is the American civil war, where the soldiers could have used the “trial and error” methodology i.e. shoot once from a certain angle, see where it lands, and modify the angle according to distance from target. I started thinking about how the awareness of the correlation between speed and shooting angle could affect the efficiency of the army, since they would have to shoot less and by that safe time and money. By that investigate how different cannons with different velocities, could be an advantage for the soldiers. Furthermore, using calculus, I will investigate the maximum distance of various cannons used in the war. The question I want to explore is therefore if applying trigonometry a...
... middle of paper ...
...r should do is to look at the curve of the cannon they are operating and find out what angle would be optimal for hitting an enemy at a certain distance.
Graph 3: The effect of the angle on the distance, using the equation found earlier shown on three different cannons, with three different velocities
Works Cited
Model 1841 6-Pounder (Gun) Towed Field Gun. Military Factory, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. .
Poduct Rule for Derivatives. HMC, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. .
Projectiles. Plymouth University, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. .
Range of an Artillery Shell. Physics Factbook, n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. .
I have written this science research paper to compare ballistics of a .270 and a .30-06. This paper will also make my decision on which one I will purchase next. If I fire the .270 and the .30-06 rifles into a 2x4, then I will be able to determine from the ballistics which caliber rifle is better. For my experiment, I fired two rounds of ammunition into a 2x4 with each gun. Both rifles were fired at a range of 50 yards away, into the wind, while using 150 grain shells. The rounds for the .270 used soft tips, but the .30-06 used sharp tips.
For almost as long as civilizations began they have been fighting against each other. Often times these wars come down to who has the better military equipment. When one army creates an elite war machine another army is sure to soon copy or improve it. For example the U.S. Army Signal Corps purchased the first ever military aircraft in 1902 (Taylor). Two years later the Italians were also using aircrafts. The trebuchet catapult is no exception; it was one of the most destructive military machines of its time (Chevedden, 2000). A trebuchet works by using the energy of a falling counterweight to launch a projectile (Trebuchet). In this research paper I intend to explain the history and dynamics of a trebuchet catapult.
Melton, Jack W. and Lawrence E. Pawl. “Basic Facts Concerning Artillery.” Civil War Artillery. 2009. 17 January 2010. .
The Battle of Antietam was filled will weaponry that was state of the art at its time. Smooth barrel and rifling barrel cannons where employed on both sides which helped to contribute to the high death toll; terrain was also instrumental at key locations on the battlefield. Such key locations were the cornfield North of Sharpsburg, Dunker church, Sunken Road, and Burnside bridge all of which contributed to bot...
Ballistics is the scientific study of the dynamics of projectile and bullet trajectory. Crime members utilize equipment that will allow to match individual characteristics to a known object in order to make a comparison. Just like the Locards exchange principle “when two objects come in contact, evidence is always left behind”. When a weapon has been shot, the barrel of the gun will leave marks on the bullet. With the marks left behind, one can scientifically prove the kind of weapon used, trajectory and estimate the distance between criminal and victim.
All in all, the Trebuchet was a fearsome weapon of mass destruction during the Middle Ages, a force to be reckoned with. Trebuchets only lost favor when cannons emerged, and the primary benefit of the cannon that the trebuchet lacked was not in fact power, but rather mobility. Smaller, more maneuverable cannons rapidly overran the position of the trebuchet in most armies across the world.
Marshall Cavendish, Corporation. "Tactics and Weapons on Land." History of World War I 3.(2002): 808-827. History Reference Center. EBSCO. Web. 30 Oct. 2011.
...nd projectile motion among others. Even though the catapult and its physics are ancient, it has changed the way warfare is waged in the present.
The objective of this paper is to discuss the article: Lengthening Chambers and Forcing Cones; American Gunsmith Book of the Shotgun, By Michael R. Orlen. I will cover my thoughts on this article, and briefly go over lengthening shotgun chambers and forcing cones.
5. Popenker, Max R. "Modern Firearms - MachineGuns." Max R. Popenker, 1999-2010. Web. 10 May 2012. .
Humans have always tried to produce inventive and original designs for weapons all over past, which attack an enemy from a good amount of distance. One of the most successful of these weapons being catapult. A number of steps were taken before the catapult was designed, the sling was shaped to overcome the limitations of the weak human arm, hunters and soldiers developed the bow and arrow to advance in aim and velocity. In the long run, with the design of the catapult key improvements in power and precision were achieved. The catapult was first designed by the Greeks around 400 BC. After much upgradation, their catapults were able to throw 60lb rocks five football fields away. The catapult was the first practice of field artillery, which was
World War II had many battles in it. Each battle Artillery was always a key factor whether defending or taking the offensive. One of the Battles, was the Battle of the Bulge. It really paved the way for how modern artillery is conducted. Artillery tactics were improvised and pushed to send rounds down range and eliminate the enemy in extreme conditions and terrain never before implemented on the battle field. During World War II the Battle of the Bulge became a huge factor in new developments and techniques, and incorporating munitions that we use in today’s modern artillery. Techniques such as Time on Target missions, Observer teams, Fires Direction Center was also refined thus changing the artillery tactics and techniques.
These kinds of weapons were impractical for military use, but attracted many people to the arms race for weapons that could sweep the battlefield. “They had limitations in practice, among them slow re...
First the energy of conservation. The setting of the trebuchet before firing is shown in Fig 1. A heavy counterweight of mass (M) (contained in a large bucket) on the end of the short arm of a sturdy beam was raised to some height while a smaller mass (m) (the projectile), was positioned on the end of the longer arm near or on the ground. In practice the projectile was usually placed in a leather sling attached to the end of the longer arm. However for simplicity, we shall ignore the sling and compensate for this omission by increasing the assumed length of the beam on the projectile’s side. The counterweight was then allowed to fall so that the longer arm swung upward, the sling following, and the projectile was ultimately thrown from its container at some point near the top of the arc. The far end of the sling was attached to the arm by a rope in such a way that the release occurred at a launching angle near the optimum value ( most likely by repeated trials) for the launch height. The launching position is shown in fig.2 where we have assumed that the projectile is released at the moment the entire beam is vertical. In the figures: (a)=height of the pivot, (b)= length of the short arm, (c)= length of the long arm, while (v) and (V) are the velocities of (m) and (M), respectively, at the moment of launching.
Thus, the value of center of pressure for the bomb body has been calculated for various boattail lengths and angles of attack.