Introduction
The railgun concept involves propelling a conductive object along 2 conductive rails under the influence of magnetism and electricity. The direction of propulsion is due to an electromagnetic field called the Lorentz force.
In this experiment, the movement of charged particles in the electric field is the flow of charge on the copper wire. The magnetic field is caused by very strong neodymium magnets.
Step One:
The first step is to prepare the metal strips and magnets. Place magnets along the length of the metal strips so they match up with the corners of each metal square plate. Once you're done, stick the metal plate on top of the magnet. For this build you will need three square metal plates, so you will place twelve of the smallest magnets on each metal bar or track. After that place the wooden strip in the middle of a row of metal plates. Take some more magnets and place them equidistant on either side of the wooden bar to secure it to the sheet metal base.
Step Two:
With the basics done, we can now move on to the actual railgun elements of the piece. We need to install the most important rails first. Take a piece of fluted wood and glue it to the main strip of wood on the base. Next, place the smallest magnetic ball in the center of the rail. When you release the ball it should be pulled along the track by the magnets already in place and stop somewhere near the middle or one end of the track.
Eventually, you should be able to find a car that often only parks at the far end of the track.
Step Three:
However, this railgun isn't powerful enough for our liking. To increase its strength, take some bigger magnets and place them on either side of the end of the rail (like we did earlier). You can use some taller magnets or triple the existing smaller ones.
When you're done, place the projectile over the newer, more powerful magnet again. Now, when we release the magnetic ball, it should hit with more force and launch the projectile.
The target can be anything, but preferably something that absorbs energy and deforms. For example, you might want to consider making a target out of small spherical magnets.
Step Four:
At this point, our DIY rail gun is basically completed. Now you can start experimenting with heavier projectiles with different materials and different targets. For example, the current setup should be powerful enough to launch a 0.22 lb (100 g) lead ball with enough power to wreak havoc on relatively soft targets. You can stop here, or keep increasing the power of your railgun by adding increasingly powerful magnets to the end of the railgun. If you enjoyed this magnet-based project, we're sure you'll love some of the others, too. How about making some models with magnets?
Buy magnets in Fullzen. Have Fun.
Post time: Dec-30-2022