A rail gun uses electromagnetic forces to accelerate a projectile to very high velocities The basic mechanism of acceleration is relatively simple and can be illustrated in the following example

A rail gun uses electromagnetic forces to accelerate a projectile to very high velocities The basic mechanism of acceleration is relatively simple and can be illustrated in the following example. A metal rod of mass 20.0 g and electrical resistance 0500 1 rests on parallel horizontal rails that have negligible electric resistance. The rails are a distance L = 800 cm apart. (Figure 1) The rails are also connected to a voltage source providing a voltage of V = 500 V. The rod is placed in a vertical magnetic field. The rod begins to slide when the field reaches the value B = 0.123 T . Assume that the rod has a slightly flattened bottom so that it slides instead of rolling. Use 9.80 m/S^2 for the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity.