| Issue |
Emergent Scientist
Volume 1, 2017
International Physicists' Tournament 2016
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Article Number | 6 | |
| Number of page(s) | 6 | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/emsci/2017006 | |
| Published online | 03 October 2017 | |
Research Article
The Gaussian cannon
Chalmers University of Technology,
Göteborg, Sweden
* e-mail: akean@student.chalmers.se
Received:
2
August
2017
Accepted:
4
August
2017
This report studies different properties of a Gaussian cannon. The cannon’s firing velocity is measured for a varying number of steel balls, varying input velocity and different geometries of the cannon. By measuring the attractive force from the magnet on the balls a mapping of the potential energy for the firing process is acquired. It is found that the firing of a Gaussian cannon can be modeled as successive collisions between the magnet and its neighboring balls, and between successive balls. To reach the highest possible ejection speed with a trigger ball that is released from rest, a chained cannon should be used. The optimal number of balls on each individual cannon depends on magnetization energies and coefficients of restitution.
Key words: Gaussian cannon / cannon / magnet / dynamics / chain
© Å. Andersson et al., Published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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