A railgun consists of two parallel conductors, the "rails," bridged by a non-ferromagnetic conducting armature. The railgun is fired by creating a current loop that flows from some large power source, down one rail, across the slug, and back up the other rail. This current loop induces an enormous magnetic field which, in turn, pushes the armature down the rails with a force proportional to the magnitude of the current, the separation distance of the rails, and the magnetic field.
Rail and Guass
in Armament
Posted
ok you guys are getting how rail guns work wrong.
A railgun consists of two parallel conductors, the "rails," bridged by a non-ferromagnetic conducting armature. The railgun is fired by creating a current loop that flows from some large power source, down one rail, across the slug, and back up the other rail. This current loop induces an enormous magnetic field which, in turn, pushes the armature down the rails with a force proportional to the magnitude of the current, the separation distance of the rails, and the magnetic field.
http://www.railgun.org/physics/