Logo
HomeForumCannonsWikiAlbumArchive
SpudFiles
Users  Rules   Search  Search   Chat  Chat   FAQ  FAQ   Memberlist  Memberlist   How-To  How-To   Other  Other
Register  ::  Log in Private Messages


Random Cannon

Recent topics
» el cañón de la combustión
by jackssmirkingrevenge on 11/21/2008 2:40 AM

» Air powered technology
by MrCrowley on 11/21/2008 2:25 AM

» Where did the 100 psi ass
by john bunsenburner on 11/21/2008 1:46 AM

» my first attempt to a des
by jackssmirkingrevenge on 11/21/2008 0:44 AM

» here is my new bb gun
by starman on 11/21/2008 0:27 AM

» Wish me luck guys
by frankrede on 11/20/2008 23:47 PM

» Chatroom Requests
by Ragnarok on 11/20/2008 19:06 PM


Donate

Hi Guest!
As you're not registered, some features could be unavailable. Click here if you want to become a member of SpudFiles
Username:    Password:      Log me on automatically each visit    

Post new topic  Reply to topic
 Calculating Gun Performance « View previous topic :: View next topic » 
Author Message
dapaintballer331
PostPosted: 01/01/2008 1:47 AM    Post subject: Calculating Gun Performance Reply with quote

Private
Private

Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Posts: 6
29.94 Spud Bux

I made a quick physics calculator in PHP.
All numbers given will never be reached because of air drag, but they can give you a rough estimate. This is all for fun.

Part 1: (shooting gun straight up for simple calculations)

Code:
http://gamerssoft.com/?page=spudcalc


Part 2: (using part 1's info to find max distance traveled for angled shots):

Code:
http://gamerssoft.com/?page=spudcalc2

(I can probably re-work my equations to not need so much information, but for now it isn't *that* hard to find distance (just more info needed&I could probably add more possibilities (new landing height, etc)))

I DO NOT have ads, it's all here for fun.

I will probably post the source code once I get it all cleaned up, for those interested in how it's calculated.

Edit:
I'm sure there are better calculators out there, maybe even in this forum. Just thought I'd post what I made. Most of you make replicas, better or worse of other's guns, why not another calculator?

Edit 2:
If you want accuracy, use this. If you are't going to use calculations to try and hit (or not hit) something, then my calculator is fine.
Back to top
jimmy101
PostPosted: 01/01/2008 11:50 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Major General
Major General

Joined: 28 Mar 2007
Posts: 1759
7452.36 Spud Bux

Hmm. For the first calculation;
Quote:
If a projectile's path is perfectly parabolic, air resistance has little affect.

That isn't true. The only time air resistance "has little affect" is when either the projectile has very low drag or very low velocity (or both). In general, air drag has a large affect on the trajectory of a projectile the size of a spud moving at typical spud gun velocities.

For hang times, there is a huge difference between the calculations with and without air drag.

Baseballs and golfballs both have terminal velocities of about 130 FPS. Figure a spud has a similar terminal velocity. When fired straight up the velocity that these shells will hit the ground will never be more than their terminal velocities (~130FPS). But, their muzzle velocities are usually much greater. For a spud from a typical combustion spud gun the muzzle velocity would be in the range of 300~600 FPS. This totally hoses the results from any hang time calculation that ignores air resistance.

Still, it is a nice javascript app.
Back to top
WOW!!
PostPosted: 01/01/2008 12:18 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brigadier General
Brigadier General

Joined: 16 Mar 2006
Posts: 892
490.29 Spud Bux

Its a good start but there are others that are more accurate. Also as Jimmy said air drag as a super big affect on the different projectiles, and also the wind factor, if its blow off course it will mess with the time in turn with you results.

Its a good start.
Back to top
Ragnarok
PostPosted: 01/01/2008 12:31 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lord of Karma
Lieutenant General

Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 2533
6802.86 Spud Bux

jimmy101 wrote:
Hmm. For the first calculation;
Quote:
If a projectile's path is perfectly parabolic, air resistance has little affect.

That isn't true.

I hate to correct you, but what he has said isn't that inaccurate.
If there is no air resistance, a projectile will follow a parabolic arc (assuming constant gravity), so - if something is following something close to a parabolic arc, air resistance must be very low.

However, you are of course completely correct when you say that things do not follow parabolic arcs in reality, and won't come close to it unless they are low drag co-efficent, low velocity or both. For low velocity calculations, the results shouldn't be too far out, but for our purposes, when almost all projectiles are over 100 m/s, the results are going to be come pretty inaccurate.
As an example, I know that one of my cannons fires a spud slug in the region of just under 300 metres (measured and confirmed), with a MV of 180 m/s, 30 degree angle, hang time of about 8 seconds. The calculator tells me my spud will hit over 1.2 km out, which would be enough for me to put a spud well into the next county. That's an error of over 300%, which could even be in to the realm of dangerous if someone places too much faith on the numbers.

It's good Javascript writing, but the maths behind it misses a seriously important element.
Back to top
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic  Reply to topic

Jump to:  



You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


SpudFiles Version 7.0
Template based off DAJ Glass Template by Dustin Baccetti
Photo Album Addon © 2002-2003 by Smartor
Powered by modified phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group