What's a good way to classify railguns?












2














Most weapons and artillery are split by bore diameter, e.g. naval rifles of 203mm, 406mm etc.



Railguns and coilguns probably won't be classified the same way, I think. Cause if multiple models use a 25mm slug or what have you, but they perform differently, what's a good way to separate them?



Muzzle velocity? Like a 2km/s railgun versus a 5km/s one? Or input energy? That then puts forth what's a "realistic" number to power a railgun? Output energy/impact energy have the same problem.










share|improve this question






















  • I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
    – user6760
    2 hours ago
















2














Most weapons and artillery are split by bore diameter, e.g. naval rifles of 203mm, 406mm etc.



Railguns and coilguns probably won't be classified the same way, I think. Cause if multiple models use a 25mm slug or what have you, but they perform differently, what's a good way to separate them?



Muzzle velocity? Like a 2km/s railgun versus a 5km/s one? Or input energy? That then puts forth what's a "realistic" number to power a railgun? Output energy/impact energy have the same problem.










share|improve this question






















  • I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
    – user6760
    2 hours ago














2












2








2







Most weapons and artillery are split by bore diameter, e.g. naval rifles of 203mm, 406mm etc.



Railguns and coilguns probably won't be classified the same way, I think. Cause if multiple models use a 25mm slug or what have you, but they perform differently, what's a good way to separate them?



Muzzle velocity? Like a 2km/s railgun versus a 5km/s one? Or input energy? That then puts forth what's a "realistic" number to power a railgun? Output energy/impact energy have the same problem.










share|improve this question













Most weapons and artillery are split by bore diameter, e.g. naval rifles of 203mm, 406mm etc.



Railguns and coilguns probably won't be classified the same way, I think. Cause if multiple models use a 25mm slug or what have you, but they perform differently, what's a good way to separate them?



Muzzle velocity? Like a 2km/s railgun versus a 5km/s one? Or input energy? That then puts forth what's a "realistic" number to power a railgun? Output energy/impact energy have the same problem.







weapons energy railguns






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 3 hours ago









armorhide406

1338




1338












  • I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
    – user6760
    2 hours ago


















  • I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
    – user6760
    2 hours ago
















I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
– user6760
2 hours ago




I think velocity such as mach 10 etc
– user6760
2 hours ago










4 Answers
4






active

oldest

votes


















2














Gauss




The gauss, abbreviated as G or Gs, is the cgs unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (or "magnetic induction") (B). It is named after German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.1[2] One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter. The cgs system has been superseded by the International System of Units (SI), which uses the tesla (symbol T) as the unit of magnetic flux density.[3] One gauss equals 1×10−4 tesla (100 μT), so 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss.




I would say the best way to rate a railgun is by its Gs output.






share|improve this answer





















  • Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
    – armorhide406
    3 hours ago










  • Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
    – Monty Wild
    1 hour ago



















0














[ammunition diameter] by [exit velocity]



Essentially, you notate the diameter of the weapon's accommodation, and then notate how fast it can get a slug of that size going. That latter would probably be a range of velocities, given that different lengths of slug will take different energy inputs to accelerate.



Also consider if you want to be able to shoot to wound instead of shooting to kill. Chemical propulsion doesn't allow for that, but a railpistol might.






share|improve this answer





















  • Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
    – Monty Wild
    1 hour ago



















0














Ammunition diameter x ammunition length x launch velocity, also including muzzle energy for those who don't want to work it out for themselves. They'll almost all be Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) so that need not be mentioned unless different in some way, e.g.:



5x50mm 5km/s 98kJ Steel



This could be a man-portable crew-served tripod weapon or vehicle mounted railgun firing steel flechettes



Or, a more terrifying ship-launched:



50x1000mm 7km/s 919MJ DU Guided



Which would be a depleted uranium flechette with a guidance package used for bunker busting.



Or a tank-launched:



20x400mm 4km/s 19.2MJ DU



That pretty much gives all the information that anyone with any knowledge of ballistics would need to work out the terminal effects of the round and its flight performance.






share|improve this answer































    0














    As with artillery there should be some sub-types, say howitzer 88mm is quite different from a 88mm anti-air gun.



    Same logic can be applied to railguns, but with the main metric being for example impact energy.



    Let's say a navy 2MJ railgun with range 100 km, or a 50kJ man-portable one with penetration of 2000 plate steel at 5 km, etc.






    share|improve this answer








    New contributor




    aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.


















      Your Answer





      StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
      return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
      StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
      StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
      });
      });
      }, "mathjax-editing");

      StackExchange.ready(function() {
      var channelOptions = {
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "579"
      };
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
      createEditor();
      });
      }
      else {
      createEditor();
      }
      });

      function createEditor() {
      StackExchange.prepareEditor({
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
      convertImagesToLinks: false,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: null,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader: {
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      },
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      });


      }
      });














      draft saved

      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function () {
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f135150%2fwhats-a-good-way-to-classify-railguns%23new-answer', 'question_page');
      }
      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      4 Answers
      4






      active

      oldest

      votes








      4 Answers
      4






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      2














      Gauss




      The gauss, abbreviated as G or Gs, is the cgs unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (or "magnetic induction") (B). It is named after German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.1[2] One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter. The cgs system has been superseded by the International System of Units (SI), which uses the tesla (symbol T) as the unit of magnetic flux density.[3] One gauss equals 1×10−4 tesla (100 μT), so 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss.




      I would say the best way to rate a railgun is by its Gs output.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
        – armorhide406
        3 hours ago










      • Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago
















      2














      Gauss




      The gauss, abbreviated as G or Gs, is the cgs unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (or "magnetic induction") (B). It is named after German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.1[2] One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter. The cgs system has been superseded by the International System of Units (SI), which uses the tesla (symbol T) as the unit of magnetic flux density.[3] One gauss equals 1×10−4 tesla (100 μT), so 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss.




      I would say the best way to rate a railgun is by its Gs output.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
        – armorhide406
        3 hours ago










      • Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago














      2












      2








      2






      Gauss




      The gauss, abbreviated as G or Gs, is the cgs unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (or "magnetic induction") (B). It is named after German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.1[2] One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter. The cgs system has been superseded by the International System of Units (SI), which uses the tesla (symbol T) as the unit of magnetic flux density.[3] One gauss equals 1×10−4 tesla (100 μT), so 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss.




      I would say the best way to rate a railgun is by its Gs output.






      share|improve this answer












      Gauss




      The gauss, abbreviated as G or Gs, is the cgs unit of measurement of magnetic flux density (or "magnetic induction") (B). It is named after German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss.1[2] One gauss is defined as one maxwell per square centimeter. The cgs system has been superseded by the International System of Units (SI), which uses the tesla (symbol T) as the unit of magnetic flux density.[3] One gauss equals 1×10−4 tesla (100 μT), so 1 tesla = 10,000 gauss.




      I would say the best way to rate a railgun is by its Gs output.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered 3 hours ago









      Xavon_Wrentaile

      3,381821




      3,381821












      • Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
        – armorhide406
        3 hours ago










      • Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago


















      • Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
        – armorhide406
        3 hours ago










      • Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago
















      Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
      – armorhide406
      3 hours ago




      Durr. But then as mentioned, what's a good range of "realistic" numbers a future society would have on their power output? I mean, if you know. I'm about to go do some googling
      – armorhide406
      3 hours ago












      Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
      – Monty Wild
      1 hour ago




      Useless. That doesn't tell anyone what the round will do. Gauss is only of interest to weapon designers, not to their users.
      – Monty Wild
      1 hour ago











      0














      [ammunition diameter] by [exit velocity]



      Essentially, you notate the diameter of the weapon's accommodation, and then notate how fast it can get a slug of that size going. That latter would probably be a range of velocities, given that different lengths of slug will take different energy inputs to accelerate.



      Also consider if you want to be able to shoot to wound instead of shooting to kill. Chemical propulsion doesn't allow for that, but a railpistol might.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago
















      0














      [ammunition diameter] by [exit velocity]



      Essentially, you notate the diameter of the weapon's accommodation, and then notate how fast it can get a slug of that size going. That latter would probably be a range of velocities, given that different lengths of slug will take different energy inputs to accelerate.



      Also consider if you want to be able to shoot to wound instead of shooting to kill. Chemical propulsion doesn't allow for that, but a railpistol might.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago














      0












      0








      0






      [ammunition diameter] by [exit velocity]



      Essentially, you notate the diameter of the weapon's accommodation, and then notate how fast it can get a slug of that size going. That latter would probably be a range of velocities, given that different lengths of slug will take different energy inputs to accelerate.



      Also consider if you want to be able to shoot to wound instead of shooting to kill. Chemical propulsion doesn't allow for that, but a railpistol might.






      share|improve this answer












      [ammunition diameter] by [exit velocity]



      Essentially, you notate the diameter of the weapon's accommodation, and then notate how fast it can get a slug of that size going. That latter would probably be a range of velocities, given that different lengths of slug will take different energy inputs to accelerate.



      Also consider if you want to be able to shoot to wound instead of shooting to kill. Chemical propulsion doesn't allow for that, but a railpistol might.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered 2 hours ago









      G. B. Robinson

      1697




      1697












      • Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago


















      • Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
        – Monty Wild
        1 hour ago
















      Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
      – Monty Wild
      1 hour ago




      Without length, you can't know the potential penetration.
      – Monty Wild
      1 hour ago











      0














      Ammunition diameter x ammunition length x launch velocity, also including muzzle energy for those who don't want to work it out for themselves. They'll almost all be Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) so that need not be mentioned unless different in some way, e.g.:



      5x50mm 5km/s 98kJ Steel



      This could be a man-portable crew-served tripod weapon or vehicle mounted railgun firing steel flechettes



      Or, a more terrifying ship-launched:



      50x1000mm 7km/s 919MJ DU Guided



      Which would be a depleted uranium flechette with a guidance package used for bunker busting.



      Or a tank-launched:



      20x400mm 4km/s 19.2MJ DU



      That pretty much gives all the information that anyone with any knowledge of ballistics would need to work out the terminal effects of the round and its flight performance.






      share|improve this answer




























        0














        Ammunition diameter x ammunition length x launch velocity, also including muzzle energy for those who don't want to work it out for themselves. They'll almost all be Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) so that need not be mentioned unless different in some way, e.g.:



        5x50mm 5km/s 98kJ Steel



        This could be a man-portable crew-served tripod weapon or vehicle mounted railgun firing steel flechettes



        Or, a more terrifying ship-launched:



        50x1000mm 7km/s 919MJ DU Guided



        Which would be a depleted uranium flechette with a guidance package used for bunker busting.



        Or a tank-launched:



        20x400mm 4km/s 19.2MJ DU



        That pretty much gives all the information that anyone with any knowledge of ballistics would need to work out the terminal effects of the round and its flight performance.






        share|improve this answer


























          0












          0








          0






          Ammunition diameter x ammunition length x launch velocity, also including muzzle energy for those who don't want to work it out for themselves. They'll almost all be Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) so that need not be mentioned unless different in some way, e.g.:



          5x50mm 5km/s 98kJ Steel



          This could be a man-portable crew-served tripod weapon or vehicle mounted railgun firing steel flechettes



          Or, a more terrifying ship-launched:



          50x1000mm 7km/s 919MJ DU Guided



          Which would be a depleted uranium flechette with a guidance package used for bunker busting.



          Or a tank-launched:



          20x400mm 4km/s 19.2MJ DU



          That pretty much gives all the information that anyone with any knowledge of ballistics would need to work out the terminal effects of the round and its flight performance.






          share|improve this answer














          Ammunition diameter x ammunition length x launch velocity, also including muzzle energy for those who don't want to work it out for themselves. They'll almost all be Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) so that need not be mentioned unless different in some way, e.g.:



          5x50mm 5km/s 98kJ Steel



          This could be a man-portable crew-served tripod weapon or vehicle mounted railgun firing steel flechettes



          Or, a more terrifying ship-launched:



          50x1000mm 7km/s 919MJ DU Guided



          Which would be a depleted uranium flechette with a guidance package used for bunker busting.



          Or a tank-launched:



          20x400mm 4km/s 19.2MJ DU



          That pretty much gives all the information that anyone with any knowledge of ballistics would need to work out the terminal effects of the round and its flight performance.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited 1 hour ago

























          answered 1 hour ago









          Monty Wild

          23.6k360145




          23.6k360145























              0














              As with artillery there should be some sub-types, say howitzer 88mm is quite different from a 88mm anti-air gun.



              Same logic can be applied to railguns, but with the main metric being for example impact energy.



              Let's say a navy 2MJ railgun with range 100 km, or a 50kJ man-portable one with penetration of 2000 plate steel at 5 km, etc.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.























                0














                As with artillery there should be some sub-types, say howitzer 88mm is quite different from a 88mm anti-air gun.



                Same logic can be applied to railguns, but with the main metric being for example impact energy.



                Let's say a navy 2MJ railgun with range 100 km, or a 50kJ man-portable one with penetration of 2000 plate steel at 5 km, etc.






                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





















                  0












                  0








                  0






                  As with artillery there should be some sub-types, say howitzer 88mm is quite different from a 88mm anti-air gun.



                  Same logic can be applied to railguns, but with the main metric being for example impact energy.



                  Let's say a navy 2MJ railgun with range 100 km, or a 50kJ man-portable one with penetration of 2000 plate steel at 5 km, etc.






                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  As with artillery there should be some sub-types, say howitzer 88mm is quite different from a 88mm anti-air gun.



                  Same logic can be applied to railguns, but with the main metric being for example impact energy.



                  Let's say a navy 2MJ railgun with range 100 km, or a 50kJ man-portable one with penetration of 2000 plate steel at 5 km, etc.







                  share|improve this answer








                  New contributor




                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer






                  New contributor




                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.









                  answered 1 hour ago









                  aleck

                  1




                  1




                  New contributor




                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.





                  New contributor





                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






                  aleck is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                  Check out our Code of Conduct.






























                      draft saved

                      draft discarded




















































                      Thanks for contributing an answer to Worldbuilding Stack Exchange!


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.





                      Some of your past answers have not been well-received, and you're in danger of being blocked from answering.


                      Please pay close attention to the following guidance:


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function () {
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fworldbuilding.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f135150%2fwhats-a-good-way-to-classify-railguns%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                      }
                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      Popular posts from this blog

                      數位音樂下載

                      When can things happen in Etherscan, such as the picture below?

                      格利澤436b