bstonecannonIBEC5

Friday, February 4, 2011

Hold Your Fire!

Attention! The launch of our cannon has been postponed until the spring due to the low temperatures. We arn't lauching our cannon with low temperatures because the pressure will not be as great as it will be with higher temperatures. The effect of Boyle's Law is to be held responsible, as temperature decrease so does the pressure. Please continue to follow and comment! Thanks B)

Math Component

Math Component

Step 1: Identify the equation. Use the projectile motion formula:

h= -16t²+v₀t+h_0.Now plug in the initial velocity of 192feet per second for v₀t and 32 feet as the h₀.

It should look like this: h= -16t²+ 192t+32. We are looking for the cannon ball’s highest point(vertex) and how long the cannon ball is in the air (use the quadratic formula).

Step 2: Identify the variables and then find the vertex by using

a= -16

b= 192

c= 32 Now plug and chug. = 6

Step 3: Now plug in 6 as “t” to find the highest point the ball will go.

h= -16(6) + 192(6) + 32. Your answer should be: 608 feet as the cannon ball’s maximum height.

Step 4: To find the cannon ball’s time in the air, use the quadratic formula and plug in “a”, “b” and “c” from step 2.

x= -b ± √ b²-4ac/ 2a

x= -(192) ± √ (192)²-4(-16)(32)/ 2(-16)

x= -192 ± √ 38,912/-32

Step 5: Your answer should be positive since time cannot go backwards. So x= 12 is the correct time.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Ethics of Weapon Development

The progression of weapon development is a mixture of good and bad events. The bad events of weapon development are the first time exposure toward this and this results in an increase of deaths. On the good side it allows that country to expand in needs of survival. In order to protect oneself from this new threat, a new defensive plan has to be developed. As posted in my previous blog, during the Fall of Constantinople in the 1450s the citizens back then invented cannons. In order to protect themselves they needed to build a better fort in order to survive. The progression of weapon development allows that area to thrive and invent new things. I believe because of weapon development it is why we have the many dangerous weapons that we have today.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

What is this WMD? :

· WMD stands for Weapons of Mass Destruction.

· WMD is a weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to a large number of humans and other life forms

· Can cause great damage to man-made structures, natural structures or the ecosystems

· Comes in form of large-scale weaponry

In such cases all types of cannons can be classified as a Weapon of Mass Destruction given it has an adequate range and damage power.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiological_weapon

Types of WMD:

4 types of weapons

· Chemical

· Biological

· Radiological

· Nuclear

1. Chemical weapons are devices using formulated chemicals to cause death or harm to human beings.

a. 4 types of chemical mixings

i. Blister Agents

ii. Nerve Agents

iii. Blood Agents

iv. Choking Agents

2. Biological weapons are devices using disease-causing biological agents, ex: bacteria, fungi and viruses. to harm or kill any living organism

3. Radiological weapons are devices designed to spread radioactive material with the intent to harm or disrupt a city or nation. Ex: Dirty bombs and Salted bombs

4. Nuclear weapons are an explosive device that uses explosive reactions to release enormous amounts of energy Ex: “ Little Boy” and “Fat Man” both nuclear weapons from World War II on Japan

Q: Is it moral for societies to develop weapons of mass destruction for any reason?

A: I believe it is moral for societies to develop WMD because it is a form of self-assurance and protection. Now, if someone uses these weapons for territory purpose without any sign of threat, that is a different story. These weapons should ONLY be used as a backup plan, but not as a use of weakness. These weapons are too powerful to be used open-handily.

Social Impacts

Blasting Into Gunpowder:

During the 15^th century bigger guns had started to become developed and were taking place of their prior siege engines, trebuchet. These siege engines were great before gunpowder was introduced. The Fall of Constantinople in the 1450s demonstrated the new era of siege weapons. Cannons were now being produced bigger for even greater distance and power.The result of the production of these bigger and badder cannons was to build thicker walls and have round towers. Castles were starting to be built with curving sides to help with the deflection of a cannon ball. Castles built prior to the exposure of gunpowder had to build an earthen bank behind a castle’s curtain wall to absorb

some of the shock of impact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trebuchet

Rising For the Greater Good:

With the rapid evolution of castles resulted in the “castle period” from 1492 until the 16^th century. This castle to the right is the Fortaleza Ozama located in the Dominican Republic. It was the first castle to be built in the Americas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fortalesa_crop.jpg

Chemistry Component

Angle of Trajectory:
Before we constructed our cannon we came to the conclusion that the angle of our cannon should be at 45°. We decided on the 45° because it seemed like the logical angle to max out our height and distance.

The Gas Law- Boyle’s Law: As for the design of our cannon we decide to take in Boyle’s Law that states that volume and pressure are inversely proportional. So, if the volume on our cannon is decreased the pressure will increase or vice versa. Providing the cannon with a small combustion chamber was ideal to maxing out our maximum distance. We had to be careful because with a chamber that is too small the oxygen inside will become the limiting reagent instead being excess. Ethanol had to be the limiting reagent in order to have a decent reaction.

Steps Toward A Balanced Equation:

The formula for combustion reactions is C_xH_x + O₂ → CO₂ + H₂O . The chemical formula of ethanol is C₂H₅OH. As shown to the right, the chemical equation for this reaction is C₂H₅OH + O₂ → CO₂ + H₂O. The next step will be to balance this equation.

A Completed Balanced Equation:
C₂H₅OH + O₂ → 2CO₂ + 3H₂O

Economic Impacts

Both the Pumhart von Steyr and the Mons Meg cannon are classified as superguns. The making of these superguns typically consisted of iron bars forged together and held in place by iron rings. These superguns were developed to help increase the effect of the projectile. To improve on this, master gunners would add larger amounts of powder loads and thus caused the cannon to explode and cause deaths to the gunners and possibly the king. The manufacturing of superguns only had a moderate success in the countries’ economy. The loss of a cannon could grow very expensive due to the materials needed to be created and its financial costs were very pricey.

The RML 17.72 inch gun is a rifled muzzle-loading gun. This type of cannon requires its projectile to be loaded through the muzzle, “rifling” grooves were cut on the inside of the barrel to cause the projectile to spin rapidly when shot. The use of this cannon was average due to the rapid progression of guns at the time around 1877-1906. With only 15 RML 17.72 inch guns made at a price of £16,000 it allowed for a slight economical increase for the United Kingdom and Italy.

The Mallet’s Mortar was a British siege mortal that had little in not any impact on the economy in the United Kingdom. With only 2 built at a price of £4,300 per Mortar this cannon had little effect for the UK, it was built for the Crimean War but it was never used.

Little David was an American 36 inch caliber mortar used in the testing of fire for aerial bombs during World War II. Its only purpose was for testing only, so it had no inherit affect on the United State’s economy.

The BL 16 inch Mk I naval gun was designed as a warship-mounted cannon used in naval warfare. Unfortunately the cannon never made it out of design, so this cannon didn’t affect the UK’s economy whatsoever.