Building of Cannon

Purpose: Our propose for this whole blog was to test out the gas laws and how they contribute to  many things, one being the firing of cannons.

Materials/Tools:

-2 Tennis ball cans

-18 inches of tape

-A protractor

-Scissors

-Compass

Procedure/Builder's Notes:

On the morning of building our cannon, we had our mind set on a precise design. We had worked on the design the previous day and found it pretty well-planned only to be proven wrong later that day.

1.  My group and I had decided to cut one of the tennis ball cans in half, so we can use it as a way to support the other tennis ball can that would be the part of the cannon shooting the tennis ball. The tennis ball can that would be cut would also contain a hole big enough that it would be able to have the the barrel go through it. 

 

2. We then had gathered our materials which had consisted of two tennis ball cans, a strip of 18  inches of tape, and our basic building materials (scissors, protractor). Since one of the tennis ball cannons would be cut in half, the scissors would help us cut the can.

3. We then precisely cut off the bottoms of the cans.(the bottoms would later be used as a standstill to keep the cannons upright)After we had cut of the bottoms we cut one of the cans in half.(The half would play as a support unit for our barrel.)

4. Before cutting the circle that would be placed in the middle of the can(cut in half), we simply used a compass to get the perfect measurement of the circle. We traced it and then cut the circle.We then tried to assemble our cannon.

  

We had tried many ways to assemble it.

5.While building our cannon we had discovered that our design did not work, so we had to work around what we had already. We had decided that we would still have a decent angle measurement if we had just turned the already cut piece of the can sideways. So we drew it out to see how it would possibly work.

6. This had shown to be a better method and it was more reliable, but to be sure we took one of the bottoms that we recently removed and placed it behind the half of can. (In the image above you can see our new creation.)

7. We finally had placed a hole towards the end of our cannon using the sharp edge of an compass. That hole will later be useful when is comes to firing our cannon.

Final Product!

Conclusion: Please stay tuned for the results. Since weather conditions haven't been very well, we have not been able to fire our cannons. But rest assure, soon as we do fire them I will update. Thanks for reading!(:

-Starr Lopez

Weapons of Mass Destruction

What is a weapon of mass destruction? By definition a weapon of mass destruction is a weapons that are created to harm living things, and man-made structures. To be a weapon of mass destruction, it must meet four qualifications.
* uses projectile motion to launch the ammunition
* destruction of natural landmarks (mountains, rivers, etc)
* destruction of man-made objects (buildings, railroads, etc)
* the killing of humans and other wildlife
Cannons are weapons of mass destruction because they meet all four qualifications.

Cannons have made big impacts in History. An example of one of these impacts is the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bomb was first tested in attempt to make Japan surrender in World War II. After the bombing, more than 70,000 people had been killed because of the explosion and several important buildings were destroyed.

To me, weapons of mass destruction are wrong and inhumane to begin with. I would never support the production of these weapons. They are wrong in many ways beginning with the death of many living things and the destruction of land.

Math Component

A cannonball is shot upward from the upper deck of a fort with an initial velocity of 192 feet per second.  The deck is 32 feet above the ground.

Use this formula to solve the problem:  h = -16t²+v₀t+h₀

Quadratic Model:  -16t²+192t+32

1.     How high does the cannonball go?    608 feet     (Remember you are looking for a specific part of the vertex.)

2.     How long is the cannonball in the air?   12.17 seconds  (Remember you can use the quadratic formula.)

Steps for finding th height:

·         Plug in our know units into the formula :

                h=-16t²+192t+32

·       Find the value of t. t represents time, use the formula t=     -b/(2a).

·         Now plug in the units from the equation above.

                t=(-192)/(2*-16)     Solve.

                t= 6 seconds

·         Now that you have the time, you can simply substitute it back into the original equation in the first step.

                  h=-16(6)²+192(6)+32  

                  h=-576+1152+32

                  h=608 feet.  

Steps for Finding the time in the air:

·         Plug in the known units into the formula:

                 h=-16t²+192t+32

·         Plug your units into the quadratic formula which is:

                            -b ±√b²-4ac  

                                     2a

·         Plug in our know units:                   -192±√(192)²-4(-16)(32)

2 (-16)

·         When you solve what is inside the square root symbol and you should end up with this:   

                                            -192±√38912

                                                    -32

·         Find the square root of what is in the inside the square root:

                                             -192 ± 197.3

                                                    -32

·         Now divide -32 into the top numbers and you recieve:

                                               6  ± -6.17

·         Since we are solving for time; you obviously can’t have a negative time, so you must solve for the answer which is positive. And that answer should be:

                                            t=12.17 seconds

 

English Component

A Long Way Gone
   My personal opinion of weapons of in general is that they are inhumane. They are a way to hurt others and are found to be destructive. Some are less powerful then others, but in truth they are all created to do harm.
   In "A Long Way Gone : Memoirs of a Child Soldier", we are introduced to the long journey (physical and psychological) of Ishmael Beah. His exposure to the war, and most importantly his exposure to the kinds of weapons used. The use of weapons such as guns and bombs had only increase the numbers of death. Though they were not as inhumane as the use of an atomic bomb, they still were wrong. Ismael was forced into the war because of the lack in numbers of soldiers and because in that time he was to either contribute some way or leave and fend for himself. When he did fight, he was forced to use all these weapons in order to survive and not be killed. I believe that he should have never been forced into a war he didn't start. More importantly I do not believe anyone should be forced into war. Death by weapons in immoral and to be honestly true I don't support war. As for the war going on in Sierra Leone at the time, children should have never been involved and never exposed to the harsh, violent, destructive, weapons.

Works Cited:

"Tsar Cannon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Cannon>.

"Dardanelles Gun." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelles_Gun>.

"Double-barreled Cannon." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 29 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-barreled_cannon>.

Irby, Richard E. "Double Barrel Cannon." About North Georgia. Web. 29 Jan. 2011. <http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Athen's_Double_Barrel_Cannon>.

"Canon Obusier De 12." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 21 Jan. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_obusier_de_12


"M777 Howitzer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M777_howitzer>

"Railway Gun." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 Feb. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_gun>.

Chemical Equation for the Combustion of Ethanol in Oxygen

The explosion will be caused from the reaction of ethanol in oxygen and it will be the force that shoots our cannonball.
Chemical formula for Ethanol:C₂H₅OH
Chemical formula for Oxygen: O₂
When these two compounds are put together, they react and form CO₂ and H₂O

C₂H₅OH + O₂  CO₂ + H₂O

Sadly this equation is not yet balanced. We must place coefficients in front in order to balance the final equation.

C₂H₅OH + 3 O₂→ 2 CO₂ + 3 H₂O

C=2 - C=2
H=6 - H=6
O=7 - O=7

Now your chemical equation is nice and balanced.

History of Cannons

Pre- 1800's
By definition a cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. In the Pre-1800's Cannons were used as a way to protect people from attack and also helped people lead attacks and conquer cities/ states. They proved to be a useful asset to military groups seeking power from back then before the 1800's to present day .


Tsar Cannon
Created in 1586 by Russian Tsar Feodar and cast by Andrei Chokhov.
Weighs 39.312 tonnes, Length 5.34 m (17.5ft) External Diameter of 1,200 mm(47.2 in)
It was created early in the 19th Century and was one of the world's biggest inventions. It is one of a kind. The Tsar Cannon fired 800kg grapeshot as ammunition. It now resides in the walls of Moscow Kremlin.

Dardanelles Gun

Otherwise known as Great Turkish Bombard

Cannons were introduced to warfare in Western Europe in 1453  and  was itroduced to the Ottoman Empire which they had used to help theTurkish siege of Constaninople. 
The Dardanelles gun was cast in bronze in 1464 by Munir Ali. It had a weight of 18.6t and a length of 518 cm. It was able to fire out stone balls with at least a diameter of 63 cm. (almost 2 feet).The Powder chamber and the barrel are connenected by a screw mechanism and it allows an easy transport the cannon.
The Darndanelles gun was given to Queen Victoria by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1866 as a present. It was then became a part of the Royal Amouries.

1800's- 1900's

The 1800's were an eventful century, Thomas Jefferson was elected not once, but twice; Atomic theory was published, slave importation was outlawed, but it was also a century of which many great cannons were invented.

The Double Barreled Cannon

Invented in 1862  by John Gilleland. It was cast in Athens, Georgia. The two barrels have a divergence of 3 degrees. The cannon was designed to shoot two cannon balls connected by a chain to "mow the enemy down."

When it was first tested it was a failure. With imperfections present the cannons were in a spinning movement in an off-center direction. Witnesses had reported that it had torn up a cornfield and then when the chains broke they had went into different directions.

On the second firing the chain had shot across the horizon. The third firing had knocked down the chimney of a cabin and killed a nearby cow. The firings were considered a success to Gilleland.

The Double-Barreled cannon was used in the Civil War as a way to signal the Conferates if an attack from the Union was approaching. It was used in Jully of 1864 in Monroe, Georgia; but this had proved to be a false encounter. It had disappered in 1891, but then was recovered ten years later.

Canon Obusier de 12

Invented in 1853 by France. It had a 12cm caliber, this itself was known as a great improvement from other previous cannons. This was such an improvement  because it could fire most kinds of ammunition and as for it's new design,it had not been seen before. This cannon was able to fire any type of ball, shell, canister or grapeshot. This cannon is also known as the 12-pounder Napoleon, after Napoleon III. In 1857 America had gotten hold of this weapon and made good use of it in the Civil War.

1900's- Present
Nowadays weapons are found in all different shapes and sizes. We are introduced to so many new forms of weapons every now and then. Some weapons are so advance it blows our mind away, others scare us. But in all fairness weapons are just like us in a weird way. They are evolved versions of themselves the way we have evolved according to Darwin's theory.

M777 Howitzer

Created in 2005 in the United Kingdom.It was created to replace the M198, it's also small and very portable. Because of its small size and the use of titanium, it was easily transported and stored. The M777 Howitzer uses Rocket Projectiles,High Explosives, "copperhead"; for ammunition. IT has also been used in the War in Afghanistan,  the War in Iraq, and the Battle of Panjwaii.

Railway/Railroad Gun
The Railroad gun was used in both World Wars, mostly in Germany. The idea for the cannon was first approached in the United Kingdoms in the 1860s, by  Mr. Anderson, but the idea did not really come around until the 1900s. The cannon was used as a way to counter a northern attack on the Confederate capital, Richmond VA. Ammunition was a form of small tungsten missiles that were lightweight and easy to transport. 

Economic Impact
The building of these cannons did not only contribute to the fighting involved, they also contributed to the nation, economically. The building of cannons had given many people jobs. They were also a way to create economic stability. With the production of cannons, it took money,but it also gained money in return. in the past war was usually a way to conquer land and/or money. 

Social Impact 
Even though cannons helped protect people, it also helped promote violence. They had caused the power of many military's increase. They found it a easy go to to fight. The stronger the force the easier it would be to conquer ad win. Cannons have been used throughout history and probably still will be. Cannons can be used to ways, to hurt and support a nation.