What the heck is a railgun?
The railgun is an electromagnetic device that uses the fundamental concepts of electricity and magnetism. Most other railgun sites on the net go into great detail on the theory involved in railguns, so I will not. If you want to know the theories, here is a great site: http://www.wpi.edu/~gummi/ph1121.html Latest design: click to enlarge This is a simple design that shouldn’t be too difficult to build and fairly inexpensive. I will build a frame out of 2×4 studs, mount the rails to it via 3/8″ lexan (polycarbonate) with stainless bolts. The rails are three separate pieces bolted together so as to avoid having to mill a solid piece of copper. There will be a solenoid to inject the projectile and energize the rails. When I finally build a railgun, I will be sure to post the experimental results. Until then, I will just list some various design possibilities. Power source: – Rectified 120V or 240V (for a small railgun). – Pulse capacitor, 10kV 240uF or 20kV 60uF, either are 12,000Joules.
