I am interested in knowing the specifics of a mass driver. I know the work by firing a succession of electromagnets, but nowhere can I find the specifics. Mainly, how does the energy put into the magnets relate to the velocity of the projectile and then how long would the gun have to be to attain a certain speed. I’m in over my head on this one.
Hear ya go. The first link looks the most useful, but the second one might be fun.
http://www.sover.net/~geoffk/railgun.html
http://waami.avmz.uni-wuppertal.de/www.eskimo.com/~billb/amateur/capexpt.html
I heard a mass driver converted energy to mass, and then drove that mass to some target. As far as I know, they are the realm of science fiction and very expensive government research projects.
From the sound of what’s described by the earlier questioner, he or she means a magnetic rail gun.
Yes, upon further research, I figured out I did mean a rail gun/coil gun. sorry, like I said, I’m in over my head.
Damn! I thought this thread would be about the automobile crazies here in Boston!
Hey, the Big Dig makes possible for the first time the Bottomless Pothole… Wait, what?
In fact, JCHeckler, what the OP is referring to is what’s properly termed a mass driver or coil gun. I don’t know what sci-fi you’ve been reading, but none of the good authors would even mention an idea as silly as converting energy into the projectile itself. A railgun is also an electromagnetic device for accelerating a (normal) mass, but it works on a different principle than a coil gun.
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Big Dig? You mean that big, overpriced pit that is rebuilding the only roads in the Commonwealth? 'Cuz after all, the state line is roughly shared with Suffolk County. We know that Bristol County isn’t in Massachusetts anymore, since the Big Pit is taking the money that could/should be used to fix the Government Center (and all the other collapsing) Overpass in Fall River. Not that 3-ton cement tiles falling onto an interstate highway during the evening rush hour is necessarily a bad thing, it just gets irritating after the other “safe” bridges and viaducts start shedding their concrete onto the roads below, too. The wood planks that replaced the concrete tiles are really attractive, too… Jim Kerasiotes (sp?) and his billion-dollar cost overruns can bite me.
Not that I’m bitter, though…
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Grrrr… I had to drive over to Charlestown today. Friggin’ A! Everything from South Station well into Charlestown is screwed up by this Big Dig. Major roads are randomly rerouted with jersey barriers everywhere. If you don’t know where you’re going already, it’s useless. And that massive new bridge they’ve got, with ramps and overpasses everywhere is not exactly helping the situation yet. What did this all cost? 10.8 BILLION dollars? I so much prefer riding my bike. Even if that’s an incredibly risky endevour.
On a side note, maybe we should have a Boston area Doper get-together. Email me if you’re interested.