Wow. That's a lot of taxpayer dollars to R&D yet another weapon we don't need. I guess it's just another case of my country preparing for the last war, instead of the next one.
Er, um, I mean...metal GEARrrrr!
It's not a railgun. It's a gauss gun. A railgun is another name for coilgun, where electromagnets form a ring around the barrel and activate in sequence to accelerate a magnetic projectile out and away. If you're in the world of Battletech, I honestly don't know why the railguns are called 'gauss rifles'.
To put it into simpler terms, a Railgun uses electromagnets(Magnets created with electricity) down each side to propel ammo.
A Gauss gun (Coilgun) uses a series of electromagnetic coils that are turned on in sequence, pulling the ammo into that coil, before that coil is shut off and the next coil activates, so on so forth, giving the bullet high momentum.
This is just a cool device. In this, the first ball hits the cylindrical magnet, the impact of which causes the end ball on the other side of the magnet to shoot off, hitting the next magnet, so on until the final ball hits the can. This is neither a Railgun nor a Coilgun, however it is most similar to a Coilgun.
It seems that the RG and the CG are identical, from your description because it looks like you're saying that
both use electromagnets
both have the magnets in series
the mentioned magnets activate in sequence to accelerate a projectile
I don't see any difference in how you describe, except the gauss is more descriptive. Also, a railgun=coilgun (I think).
This is an example of multiplying momentum and newtonian-cradle type physics which I believe is what a gauss gun is.
Yeah but that show was awesome it still is and it cracks me up whenever I remember huell sitting there alone thinking ''damn what is taking him so long''
I don't know what this is, but it's definitely not a railgun or a gauss rifle/gun (gauss rifle=gauss gun). I think it's called a magnetic linear accelerator or something fancy.
Anyhow, here's how they all work...
-
This device basically is a Newtons Cradle with an extra bit of fun which is the magnets maintaining and transferring energy through the contacting parts and accelerating while in the "air". This allows the magnets to have a high force on them most of the time while keeping (and adding) to their initial energy which allows them to keep getting faster, as opposed to a single magnet on each end of the track on which it accelerates really slowly (or not at all).
(gauss and rail in reply)
Gauss rifle=coilgun=mass driver
This works by having a MAGNETIC PROJECTILE in a barrel and it is attracted by magnets in a line and shoot of in the distance causing immense damage. Or more specifically...
A gauss rifle has electromagnets along the barrel. These electromagnets activate for a very specific amount of time after a very specific amount of time in order to maximize the acceleration of the projectile. It must be extremely precise because otherwise a magnet could still be active when the projectile's passed it which attracts the projectile back towards it which slows the velocity.
Railgun=railgun
A railgun uses an ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE BUT NOT NECESSARILY MAGNETIC PROJECTILE. When electricity flows through a loop it creates a B field (a magnetic field). But what causes the acceleration? Not the B field interestingly enough. The equation is F=IL [cross] B.
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfadd/1360/29MagFlds/Images/FigP29.20.jpg
The cross product of the direction of current flow*"length" of projectile with the B field causes a force in a certain direction. In the picture, the force would be directed to the right. Passing a massive current through a loop like this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun#/media/File:Railgun-1.svg
causes a huge force on the projectile. In theory, a railgun is much simpler because you simply can apply the current for an infinite amount of time because the circuit automatically breaks itself when the projectile leaves.
Another pic
http://i.imgur.com/lRUuf5Z.jpg
Check this out. It gets good around 0:28
Er, um, I mean...metal GEARrrrr!
A Gauss gun (Coilgun) uses a series of electromagnetic coils that are turned on in sequence, pulling the ammo into that coil, before that coil is shut off and the next coil activates, so on so forth, giving the bullet high momentum.
This is just a cool device. In this, the first ball hits the cylindrical magnet, the impact of which causes the end ball on the other side of the magnet to shoot off, hitting the next magnet, so on until the final ball hits the can. This is neither a Railgun nor a Coilgun, however it is most similar to a Coilgun.
both use electromagnets
both have the magnets in series
the mentioned magnets activate in sequence to accelerate a projectile
I don't see any difference in how you describe, except the gauss is more descriptive. Also, a railgun=coilgun (I think).
This is an example of multiplying momentum and newtonian-cradle type physics which I believe is what a gauss gun is.
Check my later replies.
Anyhow, here's how they all work...
-
This device basically is a Newtons Cradle with an extra bit of fun which is the magnets maintaining and transferring energy through the contacting parts and accelerating while in the "air". This allows the magnets to have a high force on them most of the time while keeping (and adding) to their initial energy which allows them to keep getting faster, as opposed to a single magnet on each end of the track on which it accelerates really slowly (or not at all).
(gauss and rail in reply)
This works by having a MAGNETIC PROJECTILE in a barrel and it is attracted by magnets in a line and shoot of in the distance causing immense damage. Or more specifically...
A gauss rifle has electromagnets along the barrel. These electromagnets activate for a very specific amount of time after a very specific amount of time in order to maximize the acceleration of the projectile. It must be extremely precise because otherwise a magnet could still be active when the projectile's passed it which attracts the projectile back towards it which slows the velocity.
A railgun uses an ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE BUT NOT NECESSARILY MAGNETIC PROJECTILE. When electricity flows through a loop it creates a B field (a magnetic field). But what causes the acceleration? Not the B field interestingly enough. The equation is F=IL [cross] B.
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfadd/1360/29MagFlds/Images/FigP29.20.jpg
The cross product of the direction of current flow*"length" of projectile with the B field causes a force in a certain direction. In the picture, the force would be directed to the right. Passing a massive current through a loop like this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railgun#/media/File:Railgun-1.svg
causes a huge force on the projectile. In theory, a railgun is much simpler because you simply can apply the current for an infinite amount of time because the circuit automatically breaks itself when the projectile leaves.
Another pic
http://i.imgur.com/lRUuf5Z.jpg