What is a Rail Gun?
Although the concepts of rail guns have been around for nearly thirty years, the finer details on producing efficient, effective, and economic rail guns either have been unattainable with the collective knowledge of scientists of that era or have been limited by the materials. However, before I explain the matters of efficiency and effectiveness, it is important to have a basic knowledge of what a rail gun is and what a rail gun is not. For instance, contrary to the beliefs of some people, a rail gun is not a coil gun, or gauss cannon. A Gauss cannon is a barrel wrapped with a coil or coils of some conductive wire. A current is then run through sections of these coils inducing a magnetic force. The magnetic force travels down these sections of coil, thus propelling a magnetic slug out of the barrel [1].
The rail gun, or more simply, railgun, utilizes a magnetic field powered by electricity to accelerate a projectile. Although the basic ideas underlying the construction of a rail gun are simple, the firing of a typical rail gun projectile results in a tremendous repulsive force. The result is that the rail gun must be serviced after nearly every shot, making them less practical than conventional projectiles. They also require a very large power supply, able to provide a million or so amperes of current, making the creation of portable rail guns difficult. A rail gun consists of two firmly anchored parallel metal rails, connected to an electric power supply. A projectile capable of conducting electricity is placed in between the rails, completing the circuit. Being electrically charged, the metal rails behave as electromagnets, creating a magnetic field that circulates around each rail. One field moves clockwise around its rail, the other clockwise, creating a magnetic field in between
A rail gun is a weapon system currently in use on naval ships (too bulky to be carried by individual soldiers). It uses electromagnets to magnetically propel a projectile (generally a slug… non explosive, though not always the case) at alarminly high velocities. This gives the projectile a large kinetic impact force and the high velocity gives it a VERY good accuracy. Rail guns can be employed against sea targets and reenforced ground targets. Edit: for further clarification, it functions on the same principle as electromagnetic monorail trains… the magnets attract the object, then as the object passes the current in the loop for that magnet is reversed, changing the polarity and causing the magnet to go into “repelling” mode…
