Gauss cannon

The magnetic cannon (Gauss cannon or Gauss rifle) experiment is notable for its cross-disciplinary nature within relevant physics concepts. It is simple, quick, and easy to execute, with a rich supply of mechanics and magnetism to be observed. It has an easy-to-use structure made of a few steel spheres positioned linearly on a rail. Taking these advantages into account, this paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of the Gauss cannon for classroom application using magnetism, kinematics, and energy and momentum conservation principles. The development was based on educational models of energy conservation in the Gauss cannon and was expanded to present a model that uses the principles of linear energy conservation and the potential energy of the magnets. The end result was the acquisition of an ejection velocity equation that could be tested experimentally. It was capable of accommodating more sphere configurations than the two works observed in the literature, and furthermore, it presents a more accurate values.

Keywords:
Physics teaching; magnetic gun; gauss gun; momentum conservation; experiment