Coil Gun
I started building my first coil gun after something that we covered in A level physics gave me the idea.
The first prototype was made by winding standard equipment wire around a piece of copper pipe; I can't remember if it worked or not but something must have happened because I went on to build the next prototype.
The second prototype was a little more professional, it was made by winding several layers of enamelled copper wire around a piece of oval conduit. Using a 12v battery as a power source and a small piece of 8mm steal as the projectile the first tests were carried out, given that I was triggering the coil by quickly touching the wire to the battery terminal it performed very well. It produced a field big enough to propel the object along the conduit for about a meter.
After these successful tests I started work on the coil gun. You can view details below.
