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A Long Way Gone Portion:

In the book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah, he was part of the civil war that is going on in the African country of Sierra Leone. In the book he becomes a child soldier for the military. The book doesn’t specifically mention the use of cannons, but I’m sure that they used artillery in some other parts of the civil war. Also, the book says that they used machine guns, G₃s, and AK-₄₇s, and these can be considered “cannons” in their own right. Thus proves that cannons still to make history in wars, revolutions, and rebellions today, even if they are being used by child soldiers.

Procedures:

Materials:
18in. of Duck Tape
2 Tennis Ball Tubes

Tools:
Sicciors
Protractor
Ruler
Marker

1. Before you begin building, you must first plan out the cannon and gather materials.

2.  Measure the tennis ball tube 4 inches above the bottom of the bottle . Then after the first mark draw a second mark  about 4 inches of the first mark. Then take the first tennis ball tubeand cut the bottom of the bottle off where the first mark from the bottom starts and then cut the second mark which is at the top of tennis ball bottle off. 

                                                    

3. Then take the Second tennis ball tube end 4 inches above the bottom of the bottle. Cut the tennis ball tube along the first mark along the circumference of the cannon. Then, poke a hole about 1/2 cm (on the first tennis ball tube), three inches from the bottom to act as the place for a flame to ignite the ethanol .



4. After you cut the two bottles you should have a top bottom, middle part , and half of the end of the first bottle on bottom. Put them all together.Remember to cut the wire on the second tennis ball tube end becuase you will  we need it later on on you should only the wire on top of it, you dont need to inclube plastic.

5. Tap these pieces together with duct tape to hold them in place. You should tape along places were gass would escape.(not the opening of the barrel)

6. After taping the pieces together, measure the cannon so that it is 45 degrees higher then the table. Once you  mark  45*, insert the last part of the teenis ball cannon  ( the base of one of the tubes you cut earlier) and tape it onto the end of the cannon.

7.Finally, take the piece of wire that was left and bend in into a "U". Position it so that it is an uppside-down "U" under the cannon. Make sure that the cannon is still 45*. Then tape the wire to the underside of the cannon, and you will then have your finished product.

Math Part:

Cannon Blog: Math Component

Initial velocity equation: (speed (ft/sec))cos(launch angle)

Use the quadratic model h = -16t²+v₀t+h₀ to solve the following problem.

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. 

Quadratic Model: h= -16t²+192t+32

Since the parabola is symmetrical, the midpoint of the x in the parabola is the x in the vertex, and the y of the vertex will be the highest point of the parabola, which in this case, will result in the highest point of the cannon.

The parabola is symmetrical, so the midpoint of the x in the parabola is the x in the vertex. The y of the vertex is going to be the highest point of the parabola. This is the highest point in the cannons trajectory.  

The zeroes of this parabola is 0 and approximately 12.16sec

The midpoint of it will be (12.16+0)/2, is 6.08(seconds)

-16(6.08)²+192(6.08)+32 =  607.9(highest point)

The highest point of the cannon is 607.9ft.

-192±√(192)²-4(-16)(32)   =  12.16sec

2(-16)

The cannon ball is in the air forapproximately12.16seconds.

1.     How high does the cannonball go?  607.9ft

2.     How long is the cannonball in the air? 12.16

Group Work/Science Work Part:

What would you do differently:

            If I could do anything different with my cannon project, I would have started earlier on the history part of the blog. Also, I would have put a cap with a small hole half way down our cannon, to increase the pressure so the NERF ball would go further.

Launch angle/choice justification:

We chose a 45 degree angle for our cannon because we believe that 45 degrees is the highest trajectory for our cannon, without it firing strait up.

Expected/actual results:

(Due in March)

Justification for our design:

            We choose our design because we believe that our design is the most efficient design that you can make with the provided materials; because of our reinforced barrel, we can build up higher pressure without an explosion.





 

How pressure, temperature, and volume (gas laws) play a role in our design:

            In Gay Lussacs law, volume is constant and the pressure of the gas is proportional to the temperature. In our project, when we light the ethanol, it creates CO₂ and H₂O while also releasing energy. The energy increases the temperature in the cannon which causes the gas to expand, raising the pressure. This increase of pressure builds in the cannon until it pushes the projectile (a NERF ball) out of the cannon.

Chemical Equations for the combustion of ethanol in oxygen:

C₂H₅OH+3O₂=2CO₂+3H₂O

Difficulties in construction:

            In constructing the cannon we had difficulties getting our cannon to stand upright. Our first try was cutting the lids of tennis ball cans and tapping them on the ends of the cannon barrel, but this did not work. We then decided to take a piece of metal from the end of one of the tennis ball tubes and first cut it. After that we bent it into a “U”. Then we taped this upside down to the bottom of the cannon’s barrel.

Argument on the ethics of Weapon Development:

            Is it ethical to develop weapons of mass destruction for any reason? This question calls into certain ethics like, the killing of innocent people or have that much power. In my opinion, it is not ethical to be developing and making these weapons. They aren’t ethical because they can hurt innocent people such as women and children. Also, it is not ethical because people should not have that much power; we should not be able to wipe out thousands of people at once. So therefore, we shouldn’t develop such weapons under any circumstance. If you start the development and you start competing for power, such as during the Cold War, then tension will grow and the weapons will advance until something triggers them and it destroys us all. The only pro of the development of super weapons, cannons, and other weapons is that you can use it as deterrence against unfriendly nations, but after a while they will develop their own.

Economic Impact of Cannons:

Chinese “Fire-spurting lances”

            Chinese “Fire-spurting lances” were developed in China during the Song Dynasty. China was the first country to invent gunpowder and they developed it into a weapon that, used during the acquisition of land, allowed for many victories.

Trebuchet

            “The first trebuchets used man power to build torsion. The first ones used a one handed crank, but later during the crusaders’ siege of Lisbon, two handed trebuchets were used. Further on in its history, the counterweight trebuchet was development. The trebuchet was the most efficient siege weapon, comparing it to the other weapons of the time such as catapults or ballista” (Welcome).
Howitzer gun

             The howitzer cannons encompass a wide range of cannons but for example the 12-pounder Napoleon, was a howitzer.” It was developed in France for Napoleon in the 1850s. This maneuverable and effective cannon was used by both sides during the civil war and helped in battles” (pieces, mid-1863 nearly ).
Griffen gun

            “The Griffen gun or, 3-inch Ordnance gun, was invented by John Griffen and manufactured by the Phoenix Iron Company of Phoenixville. It was extremely accurate and, was popular during the American Civil War by both Union and Confederate forces.” (Phoenix Iron Works).

Kaiser Wilhelm Gun

            “The Kaiser Wilhelm gun or Paris gun was developed by Krupp for the German Empire to use during WWI. It was a, super heavy field cannon with a huge range. It was used to shell Quai du Seine and Paris. In the Paris shelling alone 250 people were killed 620 people wounded. It was very effective in the acquisition of land” (Paris Gun - Wikipedia, the free ).
M1 Abram

            “The M1 Abrams was developed after the failed MBT-70. It was developed by Chrysler Defense. The M1 Abram went into service in the 1980s. Since then it has served in the Gulf War, Iraq War, and Afghanistan War. It is still in service today as the US’s main battle tank; it is also maneuverable and accurate.  If used strategically on the battle field, the M1 Abrams can attain land with ease." (History of the M1 Abrams)