Reserach and Background Info

Cannons are a large heavy gun usually mounted on a carriage, used for firing heavy projectiles. The word Cannon comes from the English word canon meaning large tube. They come in many shapes and sizes but they all have the same general functions.






Europe:
The ancestor to all cannons are the bamboo fire lances. Used in Europe made of iron forge and bell foundry, replacing those of bambo, leather, wood or stone it could throw any object. The first cannons were made out of stone and so were the cannon balls weighing up to 450 lb or more.

China:
China used the first cannons in there fight against the Mongols. On the Great Wall of China there are about 3.000 cannons.

English:
Bronze cannons are the best because the cannonballs would fit closely without packing. These were developed by the English and they also started to name them. Later they designed much better cannons that were easier to use and it took less people to operate them.




French:

The French developed carronades that enable a ship to have a heavier broadship because they were lihter and could be used on upper decks.








Asia:
The biggest connons constructed was the Indian Jaivana Cannon, largest wheel-mounted cannon and, the Dardanelles Gun which took 200 men to operate these two cannons.

Russians:
In 1586, the Russians waas devlop the Tsar Cannon, which is the largest howitzer ever made.

Present/ US Navy: The US Navy was able to develop and test succesfully. It is a new radical protoye weapon operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren. They are hoping they can scale it up to 64-mega levels, enabling them to fire heavier projectiles at targets 200 miles away.





Websites:

http://webster.com/dictionary/cannon

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

http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/cannon.htm#C

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/01/us_navy_railun_test_video_success/



Science:

Boyle's Law:
States that if the temperature remains the same, then the volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure.

Equation:



Pressure & Volume:

The goal of this experiment is to propel the nerf ball as far as possible, so the pressure needs to be as high as possible. Using Boyle's law if pressure is at its highest then volume needs to be at its lowest.

http:www.sdm.scot.nhs.uk/gas_laws/