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This article has been tagged since August 2006. A coilgun (sometimes erroneously known as Gauss gun, Gauss cannon or Gauss rifle) is a type of magnetic accelerator gun (MAG) or magnetic accelerator cannon (MAC). It uses one or more electromagnetic coils to accelerate a magnetic shell to very high velocities. The name "Gauss gun" comes from Carl Friedrich Gauss, who formulated mathematical descriptions of the electromagnetic effect used by magnetic accelerators. Coilguns work according to the same magnetic principle as the Gauss gun, but their methods vary: both guns use an attractive magnetic force to accelerate the projectile, but Gauss guns use electromagnets while coilguns use solenoids. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
A small cannon on a carriage, Bucharest. ...
A coil is a series of loops. ...
(23 April 1776 – 29 February 1855) was a German mathematician and scientist of profound genius who contributed significantly to many fields, including integral number theory, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, magnetism, astronomy and optics. ...
An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the magnetic field is produced by a flow of electric current. ...
Various solenoid actuators from Trombetta Motion Technologies A solenoid is a loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electrical current is passed through it. ...
Overview
Coilguns are not to be confused with railguns, which are based on different concepts (one is magnetic; the other, electrical), and differ in operation. A railgun uses an electric current to accelerate projectiles down two parallel conducting rails. Both coilguns and railguns are essentially small-scale mass drivers. Coilgun projectiles have reached supersonic speeds, but not as high as those produced by a railgun. // A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy (rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant) into projectile kinetic energy. ...
A mass driver for lunar launch (artists conception) A mass driver or electromagnetic catapult is a method of spacecraft propulsion that would use a linear motor to accelerate payloads up to high speeds. ...
// A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy (rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant) into projectile kinetic energy. ...
Kristian Birkeland is commonly considered the inventor of the electromagnetic coilgun, for which he obtained a patent in 1900. Attempts to turn his invention into a usable weapon failed, and the idea was more or less forgotten for many years. Kristian Birkeland Kristian Birkeland (December 13, 1867 - June 15, 1917) was born in Christiania (Oslo today) and wrote his first scientific paper at the age of 18. ...
1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, but a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ...
Many hobbyists use low-cost rudimentary designs to experiment with coilguns, for example using photoflash capacitors from a disposable camera as the energy source, and a low inductance coil to propel the projectile forward. A photoflash capacitor is a low capacitance, high voltage capacitor used in flash cameras, professional flashes, and solid-state laser power supplies. ...
Kodak Max Outdoor Camera disposible camera. ...
Construction
 Simplified coilgun diagram with three coils, a barrel and ferromagnetic projectile. Each of the coils is connected to a fast discharge energy storage source (capacitor bank) and activated in sequence by a timing device thus producing a strong magnetic field causing the rapid acceleration of the projectile. A coilgun, as the name implies, consists of a coil of wire (or solenoid) with a ferromagnetic projectile placed at one of its ends. A large current is pulsed through the coil and a strong magnetic field forms, pulling the projectile to the center of the coil. When the projectile nears this point, the coil is switched off and a next coil can be switched on, progressively accelerating the projectile down successive stages. In common coilgun designs, the "barrel" of the gun is made up of a track that the projectile rides on, with the driver coils around the track. Power is supplied to the coils from some sort of fast discharge storage device, typically a battery of high-capacity high voltage capacitors designed for fast energy discharge. Image File history File links Coilgun_animation. ...
Image File history File links Coilgun_animation. ...
Various solenoid actuators from Trombetta Motion Technologies A solenoid is a loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electrical current is passed through it. ...
Ferromagnetism is a phenomenon by which a material can exhibit a spontaneous magnetization, and is one of the strongest forms of magnetism. ...
Capacitors: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at bottom left; through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole electrolytic at bottom right. ...
A superconducting coilgun called a quench gun could be created by successively quenching a line of adjacent coaxial superconducting coils forming a gun barrel, generating a wave of magnetic field gradient travelling at any desired speed. A travelling superconducting coil might be made to ride this wave like a surfboard. The device would be a mass driver or linear synchronous motor with the propulsion energy stored directly in the drive coils.
Potential uses Like railguns and ram accelerators, coilguns have been proposed for use in delivering payloads to space. // A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy (rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant) into projectile kinetic energy. ...
A ram accelerator is a gun that utilizes ramjet compression to accelerate a projectile to extremely high speeds. ...
A coilgun has no moving parts other than the projectile, and the only noise produced is by the projectile moving. These properties may make it attractive as a weapon.
Coilguns in science fiction Coilguns are a popular device in science fiction, especially sci-fi role playing and video games, where they go under such names Gauss cannon, Gauss rifle, or Magnetic Accelerator Cannon . Examples are: Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
This article is about traditional role-playing games. ...
For the magazine, see Computer and Video Games (magazine). ...
Gene Roddenberrys Andromeda is a science fiction television series, created by Gene Roddenberry, but produced posthumously. ...
Battle Angel Alita, called GUNNM (銃夢 lit. ...
// The name of the game is illustrated by this in-game shot Crimsonland is an arcade computer game, released in April 22, 2003. ...
Fallout 2 is a critically-acclaimed computer role-playing game published by Interplay in 1998. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
See also // A railgun is a form of gun that converts electrical energy (rather than the more conventional chemical energy from an explosive propellant) into projectile kinetic energy. ...
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