Do you think this will work?

Question

This is sort of like an idea for a plasma gun.
you get a paintball gun, instead of co2, you refill the canister with a dense inert gas like xenon.
You get a high voltage source, like a car ignition coil or flyback transformer (if you dont know what these are, google and youll find answers immediately). Basically, these things take a small voltage (7-12volts) and output it at one terminal, using the ground as the other. The output is usually several hundred thousand volts, enough to arc over terminals and other metal objects.
At the tip of the barrel fit a end of a wire connecting to the transformer. Do not let the wire touch the barrel itself, just close to it.
My hypothesis is that when the xenon has rushes out of the barrel, the high electric output will excite the xenon into plasma, and the ouwards force will carry the plasma over some distance.

Answer 1

You will get an arc at the tip of the barrel, nothing more. The gas may carry some electric charge, but not enough to produce a visible effect outside the gun. In order to get a high-energy plasma, you have to put a lot of energy into it. That requires high current in addition to high voltage. A plasma arc welder is probably something like what you're thinking of, but even with hundreds of amps they don't project the plasma very far.

Answer 2

Maybe, consult your local physicist before you get yourself killed. I have seen a fusion reactor up close, and I was told that when matter is changed into plasma the amount of heat is (I do not remember what the order of magnitude was) enough to eat through any known material. The only way that the conversion of the particles to plasma is acheived is my using a magnetic heating and containing system, since any insulating material would be melted away by the presence of the amount of thermal energy required to start and maintain the experiment. Also, the physical barrier has a large volume relative to the plasma, so when the heat equalizes between the solid matter and the plasma, the heat transfer results in dividing the amount of extracted significantly to reduce the hazard, although the plasma almost immeadiatly cools.

It may be feasible with tremendous power requirements met and the correct equipment, again, I think you should consult a physicist. And if you are not familiar with physicists, understand that Physics professors got into their field most of the time because they thought that it was interesting. It will probably not be too hard to find a physicist at a university who will at least give you his or her first impression on how to do it or the feasibillity and why or why not it works based on our current knowledge of physics (our refering to society and the scientific community in general, assuming knowledge is mostly consistent).

Answer 3

Give it a shot. When I met one of the Ghostbusters, his plasma gun was more complicated than yours.

Answer 4

no