The Naked Scientists
Toggle navigation
Login
Register
Podcasts
The Naked Scientists
eLife
Naked Genetics
Naked Astronomy
In short
Naked Neuroscience
Ask! The Naked Scientists
Question of the Week
Archive
Video
SUBSCRIBE to our Podcasts
Articles
Science News
Features
Interviews
Answers to Science Questions
Get Naked
Donate
Do an Experiment
Science Forum
Ask a Question
About
Meet the team
Our Sponsors
Site Map
Contact us
User menu
Login
Register
Search
Home
Help
Search
Tags
Member Map
Recent Topics
Login
Register
Naked Science Forum
On the Lighter Side
New Theories
Plasma weaponry
« previous
next »
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
Plasma weaponry
3 Replies
3963 Views
0 Tags
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Focused_science
(OP)
First timers
3
Activity:
0%
Plasma weaponry
«
on:
25/02/2014 20:41:48 »
There are many theories on how plasma can be harnessed, but mine is based on a zero gravity environment. First deuterium-tritium would be fused in an electromagnetic chamber (as plasma is a (in current research) a super heated charged gas, it could like on the sun follow the 'lines' of an electromagnetic field). Because of this the plasma would be safely contained within this generator.
Next a centrifugal force (spinning the electromagnet) would narrow the field until finally it was hit by an emp type blast, firing the plasma like a bulet from a gun.
this is only a theory, please comment on how it could be improved. My main worry is that as the plasma inevitably stretches out it loses too much energy per area to do damage, if anything the centrifuge idea would improve just the reactor.
«
Last Edit: 25/02/2014 20:44:39 by Focused_science
»
Logged
sebology
Jr. Member
11
Activity:
0%
Re: Plasma weaponry
«
Reply #1 on:
26/02/2014 19:32:58 »
You probably wouldn't need a blast to create the bullet.
If you had a ring of plasma going round in a donut held by electromagnets, turning off the magnets would disrupt the ring for the leading point to fly out like if a conker was flung round on a string and suddenly let go, it flies out in a straight line. The donut of magnets could then be quickly restarted accelerating the plasma around the ring again to maintain the main body. The bullet could then be further accelerated by another set of electromagnets arranged in a straight line like a barrel, for the plasma bullet to approach conventional bullet like speeds.
This arrangement wouldn't actually need to zero gravity because the magnetic forces are so strong that gravity would have very little effect.
Logged
alan hess
Sr. Member
123
Activity:
0%
Re: Plasma weaponry
«
Reply #2 on:
01/03/2014 08:02:46 »
Not to be a wet blanket, but unless you can shape these into the form of a bullet they would have very poor aerodynamic ability, and therefore speed and distance would be affected.
Logged
ScientificSorcerer
Sr. Member
381
Activity:
0%
Thanked: 3 times
Re: Plasma weaponry
«
Reply #3 on:
11/03/2014 02:06:39 »
I always envisioned a plasma "bolt" would be like a regular bullet that is essentially a capacitor, and when the bullet hits a target it would discharge a high current or voltage into the intended target.
Actual glowing plasma bolts seem like a contradiction because plasma is what happens when you "discharge" something. because your "energy" ball has no power source then the plasma will "discharge" any energy within the bolt in about half a second. That means you have to keep the charge inside your bolt until it hits a target.
Like a capacitor, the capacitor works by holding an electrical charge inside sheets of metal then when you attach it to a circuit like a light bulb, it "discharges" it's energy.
Imagine this, a vortex gun that shoots out rings of smoke
And you charge that smoke with a negative charge (with an ionizer circuit) then shoot the ring. now you have a negatively charged gas bolt, when it hits a target it will negatively charge that target.
Now if you shot another bolt at the same target except this bolt is positively charged then it will shock the target like a van de graff generator. It will be far from lethal though, it might just make the target say "ouch!"
you could make the weapon more effective by making the gas used flammable, the flammable gas would be ignited by the static bolt of lightning that will arc between the target and the second, positive ring bolt, potentially burning off your targets eyebrows. but still far from lethal.
The problem with using gas is that you can't get a lot of "charge density" An arrow would most likely be able to carry the most charge by turning the shaft of the arrow into a bank of capacitors or one long capacitor. and the head of the arrow would be split into 2 points, (for the 2 electrodes) when the arrow hits a target it will discharge a high current and voltage into the target, killing it by stopping its hart.
You could make an electric crossbow "bolt" that will be completely lethal.
It would be more useful to big game hunters then to soldiers, unless you fancy a crossbow for battle.
But there still remains the enigma of "ball lightning" which is very mysterious and has been know to kill people, this "ball lightning" is more along the lines of what your talking about so you might look into the scientific research into the subject, it defies all logic and has never been recreated so good luck with that one.
Logged
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
« previous
next »
Tags:
There was an error while thanking
Thanking...