[Issue 62] [Other] Science Behind: Railgun

[Quarks 2,255]

RU1. XP/BP battles. Railgun, Railgun, and more Railgun. The most used turret in the entirety of Tanki. The charging beam sends fear through every light hull in the vicinity. On Double Power, all scurry from the powerful beam that is able to blow through any tank in a straight line almost instantly. But more importantly, Railgun is scientifically accurate when followed up by a design that is surprisingly precise, especially considering how “accurate” Firebird and Freeze were in comparison to what they were based on.

 

 

Aesthetics

 

A railgun is defined by the two rails on either side of the projectile in which energy is built up. At first glance, our TO Railgun does not seem fit the most basic criteria for a railgun. In fact, when I first started investigating, I thought that our beloved Railgun might actually be a laser, making the initial name of Fear Machine more accurate. However, through further “research” (aka googling images), I found the actual design of a mounted navy railgun. It had almost the exact same design of the TO Railgun; a singular barrel with a muzzle on the outside, presumably with the dual rails on the inside. It seems as if the first test has been passed, but the design means very little to the actual science. If you really wanted to compare designs, Railgun looks rather similar to the cannon from Legend of Korra (see spoiler).

 

 

 

 

This is the spirit cannon. It sort of resembles a Railgun. And yes, I am a complete nerd, judge me as you want. Still a good show.

 

 

 

How Railguns Work

 

As mentioned, the defining parts of a railgun are the dual rails; these are, in fact, not rails, but conductors that look very similar to rails and shall still be called rails for the rest of the article. The parallel rails conduct a simple yet powerful loop current (around one million amperes). The loop is completed by a middle, sliding armature (in this case, the component that holds the projectile) which conducts the electricity from one rail to another. This makes the rails behave as an electromagnet. The armature is then moved forward due to Newton’s Third Law of Motion (which states that 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'.) and the current made pushes electromagnetic force backward, thus creating forward force. As it approaches the “muzzle”, it has a velocity of around Mach 5, and is able to fire the round in the armature easily 3 km/h. It has a muzzle energy of 5-50 MJ. Basically, it is equivalent to something 5 metric tons (5.5 tons) traveling at 509 km/h (319 mph). This can turn you into mush faster than you can say “bacon”.

 

 

By CarpetSharx7 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47915740

 

 

Using the massive amount of kinetic energy achieved, the single, metal projectile basically demolishes everything that it comes across. This projectile can easily replace an explosive round, considering the kinetic energy makes any explosive useless and it is way cheaper to make the metal projectile. That means railguns are cheaper to fire than conventional military artillery, in case you were wondering. And yes, the projectile is also smaller, about one-fifth of current artillery ammunition sizes.

 

In Comparison

 

“BRYYY, I’m bored with physics, I don’t want to feel like I’m in school, this is an MMO. Talk about something interesting for once.”

 

Projectile Speed

 

Yes, I understand that was a massive information dump. It is important, considering that it will be needed to understand all the comparisons, because to compare something, you need to understand it. So then, how does our amazing Railgun compare to its real world equivalent? For starters, we can look at Railgun projectile speed in the game. Our resident geniuses of Fen-Harel and Goldnug established in their magnum opus, saying that in-game bullets that aren't Twins, Ricochet, Striker, or the fancy new artillery travel instantly from point A (where it is fired) to point B (where it makes contact). However, I have noticed a slight lapse in time between the actual firing and when the projectile actually makes contact with what you hopefully aimed for. This slight delay, though impossible to measure, I hypothesize is the speed of Railgun, considering that it hits Mach 5 on average (highest recorded is mach 7), that the slight waiting could be the projectile traveling at Mach speeds. Or it could be the time it takes the server to process the information. Either or, I might be looking into it too deeply.

 

Penetration Power

 

Next, we have one of Railgun’s more distinctive features: penetration power. Allowing for the amazingly rewarding double kill, this ability based on real science. A real railgun can create a 10-meter diameter crater that is 10 meters straight down on solid ground and has penetration power of 40 feet. That’s right, a real life, full size, railgun can shoot through solid metal for 40 feet. Though in TO, the Railgun is much smaller and is on a smaller vehicle, the loss of power from hull penetration is too much. Yes, damage should be lost, but losing 24% power at M3 is too much loss, much less losing ~49% in power at M0. It is so unlikely for a real life railgun to lose that much power. Moreover, the 0% drop in power at M4 is also impossible. Energy will be transferred in connection, it has to, due to the conservation of energy. So while penetration power is real, the extremes TO goes to is not scientifically correct.

 

Charge Time

 

From one of the most helpful parts of Railgun to one of the most annoying: reload and charge time. In TO, using Railgun means that you are shooting less than every other person on the battlefield (save Shaft and lower modifications of Railguns). While it is a part of the appeal for some people, it is also a real pain when tangling with someone who knows how to use Smoky. This problem is even mentioned on the first page of the “Let’s Discuss: Railgun” topic. At its slowest, it will be shooting in 4.3 seconds. A railgun, as of right now, fires at a maximum rate of 6 times a minute, so approximately one shot every ten seconds. So your complaints of reload time are invalid and be happy TO decide to decrease your reload time. However, charge time is COMPLETELY different. At 1.1 seconds for all modifications, it is an eternity. A real life railgun launches its projectile in 0.2 seconds. Perhaps the smaller TO Railgun doesn’t have the same energy supply, but a 0.9 second difference at max upgrade feels too much. At all levels, it is almost 5x slower than the charge time of a real life railgun. However, the increase in charging time adds an extra layer of challenge for the user and gives a chance for people to respond to the death projectile - hence, I forgive you Tanki.

 

Damage Output

 

At M4, rail does 1600 damage, not including the High Caliber Ammo Alteration. Not enough to even take out an M3 Mammoth in two shots. Really is quite sad, considering that in real life a railgun turns almost everything into a puddle. The comparison is not even close. The kinetic energy this thing packs should be able to turn a wandering Mammoth into shrapnel without any Double Damages and then continue into another Mammoth, destroying it. It should obliterate any tank that is hit, no paint of armor should make a difference. However, if that were to happen, Railgun would be way too overpowered. It would simply turn into a match of Railguns camping and trying to find anything to blow up into a million pieces. Making the game no fun, and since it will be no fun, people won’t play. No players means no money and thus no TO. So it is a forgivable offense, but still, the thought of turning Mammoths into pulp should put a smile on just about everyone's face. (Except for the Mammoth user. That just puts terror in their eyes.)

 

Meaning…

 

“BRY, I just read through a bunch meaningless facts, what now?”

 

Nothing. That’s right, absolutely nothing. You did read through some meaningless facts. In no way will it help you in the game, nor will knowing how a railgun works impact your life in the future, unless you decide to become an electromagnetic engineer or something.

 

“So I just wasted my time.”

 

Depends on how you look at it.

 

---

 

You probably did just take five minutes to read the article, but out of the many, many minutes of your life, I doubt it will make a significant difference. Also, you might’ve learned something new, possibly you were even entertained. That is the whole purpose of the article for me, to learn something and entertain others. And now you can brag to you friends you now know how a railgun works. So enjoy TO, Railgun, and your newfound bragging rights.

 

 

 

[SwiftSmoky 8,445]

:D

[Penguin40 1,714]

Read this many months ago before Bry was ever reporter, but still, good job! Definitely learnt more stuff, and it's fun! Also, you must have done loads of research, good job! :D

[TTK_229 1,080]

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8g7ksARvWdA/maxresdefault.jpg

Why more railgun

[dhusb45 3]

I came here for the physics! Interesting article.

[anuclearbomb 220]

I love the science behind series, maybe you could so Shaft or Hammer for the next article.

Also, aesthetically, the "laser" isn't really realistic, it should look like just smokey or thunder or shaft.

[Quarks 2,255]

Read this many months ago before Bry was ever reporter, but still, good job! Definitely learnt more stuff, and it's fun! Also, you must have done loads of research, good job! :D

Wikipedia counts, right?  Yeah, a decent amount of research went into this one.

[Richdestroy 2]

But... There is something no one knows...
​Railguns theoretically do not have recoils.
And they actually dont have them in real life... Bt i need the recoil for stability xD so its fine :P 

[Penguin40 1,714]

But... There is something no one knows...

​Railguns theoretically do not have recoils.

And they actually dont have them in real life... Bt i need the recoil for stability xD so its fine :P

 

The mere fact that you can state it and you know the fact invalidates your statement "no one knows" and creates a paradox :P

 

Also, again, gr8 job bry!

[Skills.n.Girls 767]

, don't you wish your avatar, do you? :P

[Maximumcap 1]

Railgun is my favourite. Thanks for the article. ;)