[AtlPhilip]

I think her explanation of the rail gun is probably one of the worst examples of Journalism I have ever seen/heard. Absolutely painful to watch.

 

[AtlPhilip]

They have it right. After the acceleration caused by the ignition of the propellant, the round loses velocity as it travels down the barrel.

F = (P x A) - Friction

A = F / M

V = 1/2 A x t^2

A bullet continues accelerating until the frictional force exceeds the force caused by gas pressure. Generally, until it leaves the barrel, at which point F = 0

 

[AtlPhilip]

this was interesting...
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2003/MichaelTse.shtml

Yes, right up until he penned this tripe...

"Remember, guns don't kill people. Bullets do. To paraphrase Chris Rock in Bigger, Blacker and Uncut, if bullet prices were raised to $5,000 each, there would be a drastic decrease in murders"

 

[AtlPhilip]

Since there is no gunpowder, what's up with the muzzle flash? Gas compression and release as it exits the barrel?

Not all railguns operate purely an electromagnetic field. Some use a thin layer of conductive propellant attached to the rear of the projectile, similar to the experimental designs for a caseless cartridge.

The key difference between this type of gun and a traditional firearm is that the propellant is often made of metal. The massive power dump causes the propellant to vaporize into a gas. This is the same process used by chemical propellants, except that the propellant is inert.

The other possibility is that the amount of energy being dumped creates a cloud of ionized gases or even a plasma cloud. Either could look very similar to a fireball as they exited the barrel.

 

[AtlPhilip]

I'm working on one that uses gravity to warp spacetime in front of the bullet allowing it to travel at a much higher rate than allowed by traditional mechanics.

 

[AtlPhilip]

For those interested in how rail guns work, this video demonstrates the basic concept of one design.