Gauss Rifle- Magnetic Acceleration

What is a Gauss Rifle?

The Gauss Rifle is also called the Gaussian gun. The gauss rifle science project given here is a simple one as it makes use of a simple experiment that relies on a magnetic chain reaction to release a steel marble at a speed that is higher. This project is very easy to build and is easy to understand.

Looking for other study material?

Gauss rifle is a type of projectile accelerator consisting of one or more coils used as electromagnets in the configuration of a linear motor that accelerate a ferromagnetic or conducting projectile to high velocity.

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How to make a Gauss Rifle?

In this experiment, you will see a steel ball rolls towards a magnetic taped plastic rail. Once the magnet gets hit by the ball another one shoots on the side that is opposite at a speed that is quite higher. To prepare this project you just need some simple materials like straight rail, wood, plastic, and more. Here is a detailed explanation of the project.

Materials Required:

• Wooden Ruler
• Two dowels
• Copper pipes
• Clear adhesive tape
• Glue
• Strong cylindrical magnets
• Nine steel balls

Procedure:

1. Place the first magnet on the wooden ruler at the 2.5-inch mark. If you are not using the ruler, then you need to measure the distance and ensure you are placing the magnet at the marked point.
2. Tape the ruler temporally on the table so that magnets don’t jump and attach together.
3. Keep four magnets on the ruler with a 2.5-inch distance between each of them.
4. On the right-hand side of each magnet, place two steel balls. Make sure the ball doesn’t roll down from the ruler.
5. Now, it’s time to fire! Set the steel ball on the left-most magnet and push-roll to the magnet.
6. When the gauss rifle fires the ball on the right shoots away from the gun and hit the target with sustainable force.

Observation:

When you release the first ball to the left-most magnet. It hits it with a considerable amount of force and generates kinetic energy. This energy carried from the ball is transferred to the magnet and then the ball on the right releases. Now the third ball is moving with kinetic energy and repeats the process until the last ball shoots with greater force.