I am building an air cannon am trying to figure out what the ideal weight of my projectile is. I have a chamber volume of about 4800 cu/in exiting through a 2" ball valve. The barrel is 15' long 2" dia. The ball is 1 7/8" dia. Given the amount of force applied to the ball, (surface area x 150 psi) at what point does the weight slow its exit velocity? Is it a bell curve? Is this detailed enough? The gun will be fired at a 45 degree angle. Basicall I need to know at what point the weight will start to decrease the distance I can shoot it. Pushing a Ping pong ball with 150psi vs a ball of the same size that weighs 3lbs.
Thanks for any help!
Rich
2007-05-30 18:52:27 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Any weight slows the exit velocity. But you have to consider the ability of the projectile to continue against air drag, which is roughly proportional to its mass divided by its surface area.
See the ref. web site.
2007-05-30 23:54:57 · answer #1 · answered by kirchwey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋