Quote:
Originally posted by Stratos:
Here's some info on a rail gun project at Auburn University, including what it is and how it works.
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For those of you out there that aren't electrical engineers/physicists/mathmaticians ......
A 'rail gun' is a device that accelerates an object with an electro-magnetic pulse. In this case the object is a projectile. Other ways of firing projectiles include: stored mechanical energy (bows, catapults, your arm ...), gravity (trebuchette), chemical (your average firearm, rockets), and stored kinetic energy (BB guns, paintball guns).
Anyway, the projectile is 'fired' with an electro-magnetic pulse. It is not nessissarilly a 'super' weapon. A .45 cal bullet travelling 480 feet per second still hits you the same wether fired from a Colt M1911 or a rail gun (though one small enough to be hand held doesn't exist). It's a mass x velocity thing. It does allow for much greater energy effiency and much higher muzzle velocities than current chemically launched projectiles. This basically means you can get greater destructive effect, longer ranges, and such with smaller projectiles.
Weapons aren't the only use for rail guns though. They have great potential for mag-lev (magnetic levitation) trains, air craft catapults and other uses. The "Linear Induction Motor" for the Batman and Robin: The Chiller roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure is a rail gun.
Also, someone mentioned the MOAB is the Daisy-cutter. Not quite right. The MOAB (Massive Overhead Air Burst - NOT Mother Of All Bombs!!) and Daisy-cutter are both fuel-air type bombs. They are non-nuclear large yield weapons. The MOAB has a greater yield than the Daisy-cutter does.
And to address, the million round gun, it's a defensive stand off proctection weapon for incoming missiles and aircraft. They are used on ships. They protect the ships by placing a "cloud of steel" in the flight path of the incoming threat. For other weapons of this class, check out CWS (Seawiz) or Phalanx.
EDIT: And NO! A rail gun is not a laser. Lasers are light based technology. While light is a type of electro-magnetic wave, lasers do not use electro-magnetic induction to accelerate objects. They accelerate and focus light.
[ 11-03-2003, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: Night Stalker ]