A magnet is placed north pole facing up in a bowl of vinegar. The magnet is one of our super-powerful ones from our catalog. Suspended over it is a heavy piece of copper tube or wire, hanging from a flexible stranded wire alligator clip. The vinegar covers the tube to a depth of about a half of an inch. The tube does not quite touch the magnet, but is free to swing around.
A piece of aluminum foil also rests in the vinegar (this can be a copper wire instead, it is not critical).
When we connect a source of about 30 to 50 volts (some 9 volt batteries connected in series) to the foil and the tube, the tube starts to revolve around the magnet. We also get lots of bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen, but for this project that is just a side effect.
We have created a homopolar motor. Unlike our previous motors, this one does not change the poles of an electromagnet from north to south and back.
As the current flows through the copper wire (or tube in our case), a magnetic field is created around it. This magnetic field interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet at the bottom of the bowl. The arrangement is set up so that the magnetic field in the wire exerts its force at a right angle to the magnetic field of the bottom magnet. This makes the wire circle that magnet.
A piece of aluminum foil also rests in the vinegar (this can be a copper wire instead, it is not critical).
When we connect a source of about 30 to 50 volts (some 9 volt batteries connected in series) to the foil and the tube, the tube starts to revolve around the magnet. We also get lots of bubbles of hydrogen and oxygen, but for this project that is just a side effect.
We have created a homopolar motor. Unlike our previous motors, this one does not change the poles of an electromagnet from north to south and back.
As the current flows through the copper wire (or tube in our case), a magnetic field is created around it. This magnetic field interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet at the bottom of the bowl. The arrangement is set up so that the magnetic field in the wire exerts its force at a right angle to the magnetic field of the bottom magnet. This makes the wire circle that magnet.
that sounds right to me, too
yeah, but why does the rail gun work?
Think of the flat rail gun, as if the outside of the round battery, was unwrapped and laid flat. The magnetic field, interacting with the electricity at a right angle, moves the rod forward.
the likes repel each other which pushes the object away from the magnets while creating velocity.
magicCanadianloser wrote:
yeah, but why does the rail gun work?
By running electric current through the wires, you generate an electromagnetic field. Give it enough juice, and you can launch projectiles miles away.
that would require a bank of capacitors the size of a house though.cowami wrote:
magicCanadianloser wrote:
yeah, but why does the rail gun work?
By running electric current through the wires, you generate an electromagnetic field. Give it enough juice, and you can launch projectiles miles away.
From what i understand, you don't need capacitors for a rail gun. I think the US navy were looking into this.seymorebutts443 wrote:
that would require a bank of capacitors the size of a house though.cowami wrote:
magicCanadianloser wrote:
yeah, but why does the rail gun work?
By running electric current through the wires, you generate an electromagnetic field. Give it enough juice, and you can launch projectiles miles away.
Small hourglass island
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella
Always raining and foggy
Use an umbrella
The technology isnt advanced enough yet to create a viable and practical railgun yet
A current carrying conductor in an external magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to both the direction of the magnetic field lines and the direction of the current. The copper coil is the current carrying conductor, and through its interaction with the external magnetic field provided by the magnet, the projectile experiences a force.Canadianloser wrote:
yeah, but why does the rail gun work?
when I first read this i thought it said caterpillarsFatherTed wrote:
From what i understand, you don't need capacitors for a rail gun. I think the US navy were looking into this.seymorebutts443 wrote:
that would require a bank of capacitors the size of a house though.cowami wrote:
magic
By running electric current through the wires, you generate an electromagnetic field. Give it enough juice, and you can launch projectiles miles away.
The weapons of the future!san4 wrote:
when I first read this i thought it said caterpillarsFatherTed wrote:
From what i understand, you don't need capacitors for a rail gun. I think the US navy were looking into this.seymorebutts443 wrote:
that would require a bank of capacitors the size of a house though.
