The first thing is the barrel of the cannon which gets its name from the original structure design of early cannons. Cannon barrels were originally made by welding iron rods together in the form of a circle then reinforcing the welding by putting iron hoops around the rods, hence the name barrel. In order to make the barrel work effectively it should be narrower at the tip and slightly wider at the base. The length of the barrel also helps maximize the distance travelled by the cannon ball.
Info from: http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/cannon.htm
Images From: http://www.military.co.il/asg/shells_b.jpg & http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/images/cannons.jpg
The second is the shape of the cannon ball. In the modern world, artillery cannons do not exist anymore but there is a military vehicle that has very similar physics behind it. This vehicle is the tank, more specifically, a tanks main gun. The main gun of a tank is basically an advanced cannon. The bullets of a tank, or its cannon balls, are shaped much like the bullets of a gun. They are made to be heavy, but not too heavy, to increase velocity when fired from the tanks cannon.
Info from: http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/cannon.htm
The angle that the barrel is at is also very important to make sure the cannon ball reaches its maximum distance. After about ten minutes of experimentation with “The Cannon” projectile motion simulator I have determined that the optimal firing angle is 45 degrees. This makes sense seeing on how it is exactly between 0 and 90 degrees.
Simulator: https://www.msu.edu/~brechtjo/physics/cannon/cannon.html
I have been told that baffles are also important yet I have not yet determined what they are for or what they do. I will continue to research cannon design to find out the importance of baffles in order to come up with an efficient cannon design for Monday.
My Design
To be honest I still have not come up with a complete design for my cannon but I have some ideas for building it. For starters it will be mounted at a 45 degree angle to help increase the total distance traveled. The barrel will be long, but not too long, because the cannon ball will not travel through it. I am not sure if the same physics principles as a regular cannon apply to it, so I’m thinking about 3 or 4 pop cans. As for the cannon ball I will shape it like the bullet of a tank, weight it, and possibly add wings. I am not yet sure how I should shape my baffles because I still do not know their function, but I will come up with something after further research.
Excellent work! Great effort!
ReplyDelete