Spud Gun Science Fair Project

[SwissSpudGunner]

So I need some ideas to turn my spud gun into a science experiment. I have a combustion cannon. I use hairspray as a fuel.The gun is made out of schedule 40 PVC, PVC primer and cement. Here it is.

2) The spud gun uses 1.5-in.-dia. pipe for the barrel. It is connected via a 1.5 x 4-in. bushing and a coupler to a 10-in. length of 4-in. pipe (the combustion chamber) That pipe is linked to a cleanout adapter and endcap (which is removed to add fuel).

3) A grill igniter is wired to a pair of machine screws that extend through the combustion-chamber wall.

That's it. Hope you can Help.

-SwissSpudGunner

[djt]

Since usually science fair experiments are supposed to be more controlled, i would upgrade to metered propane. With that you could do something with amount of fuel vs. velocity or distance. You could also do something with ammo shape and distance/accuracy.

[schmanman]

How about everything djt said, but testing ammo penetration instead?

[pyrogeek]

Then you can make a comment in your project about how you are after deep penetration. And just act all confused when someone points it out, then call them a pervert.

[pyromanic13]

I amde a thread on this... do a search. (I'll save you some trouble) I tested how to make good body armor useing Dilatant substances... I even wrote up a procedure and pasted it one here..

[King_TaTer]

first of all, welcome to the forums swissspudgunner. I think maybe for your science fair project you could demonstrate shooting nonharmful projectiles into the air and/or at a target to demonstrate the power and the physics involved.

[boilingleadbath]

There is at least one thread here which discusses the construction of home-made cronographs. (see if you can find them... I don't feel like it)

I'm sure you can think of something interesting to do with those numbers. Maybe you could do a repeat of the latke tests?

[SwissSpudGunner]

thank you everyone. your input is very helpful. if you think of anything else i would be very thankful if you could share it with me. thanks again.

-SwissSpudGunner

[redneck2882]

did you test the penitration because im thinking about testing it for mmy science fair

[Technician1002]

Build a magnetic chronograph and use a sound card to record a series of shots. Find the best fuel air ratio. Repeat for different mass projectiles to see if lighter projectiles benefit from rich or lean mixtures compared to heavy projectiles. Does a heavy projectile benefit from a rich mix for a slower burn and a light projectile from a leaner burn?

First have a hypothesis, then design an experiment to prove your theory, run the experiment, analyze the result, and write a conclusion to your study.

Science fairs are designed to encourage scientific reasoning. Use that, or yoru project won't gain many points.

[SpudBlaster15]

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[warhead052]

Uh, I hope you guys realize this was last posted in 2006... Talk about bumping.