Senior Theses
Publication Date
5-2013
Document Type
Thesis (Open Access)
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Physics
Department
Physics
Faculty Advisor(s)
Tianbao Xie (Thesis Advisor)
Donald Schnitzler & Joelle Murray (Committee Members)
Subject Categories
Physics
Abstract
A modified magnetic railgun has been built and investigated. Permanent magnets were used to supply the magnetic field and a car battery was used to provide the current. The projectile has been successfully shot out. An alternative way to create a magnetic field is running a large current through the rails. Preliminary calculations revealed that the current will need to be enormous in order to provide a satisfactory magnetic field. For such a large current a huge capacitor pool would be necessary. Strong permanent magnets are available and allow us to bypass the difficulties of simply using the current in the rails.
Recommended Citation
Wu, Yangfan, "Constructing and Testing a Permanent-Magnet Railgun" (2013). Senior Theses. 7.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/physstud_theses/7
