Today in physics my professor showed the class a video pertaining to capacitors. It just so happened to also be about a prototype railgun the U.S. Navy has been working on.
Here’s the link:
BAE Electromagnetic Railgun
I also want to comment how flipping huge the projectile was! It’s amazing what scientists and engineers are working on these days!
Amazing. The physics department at my last university had a “home-built” rail gun. It wasn’t quite THAT powerful though.
Anyway, good to see Halo keeping up with the times. Perhaps this could…inspire some of the audio and visual design for Halo 5’s weaponry. 
The Railgun would have to be one of the coolest inventions made by man… probably on the same level as Metal Storm technology. I would love to see it in a compact portable form, much like the Railgun in Halo 4.
The Railgun is badass!
I’ve known that physics departments and the military have been investing in the military for some time now, but what I feel is more interesting is the use of robotics and future soldier systems that are being experimented with.These people are taking huge strides to help make a soldiers job more bearable. Look at what’s happening in with predator, the stryker apc’s and the future soldier systems with just a few google searches and you’ll be amazed at what you find. I’ve seen proof of concept with some documentaries and talks based on this and these are just amazing. I kind of want take the whole Tony Stark idea here because even though these are being funded by the military the civilian applications can be far more beneficial.
We have had coil and railguns for ages now. They are easy enough for your average-Joe to built as well as they are very simple devices.
> We have had coil and railguns for ages now. They are easy enough for your average-Joe to built as well as they are very simple devices.
Very true. I still find the technology fascinating.
I’m just curious how they in Halo 4 managed to make the Rail Gun, Recoilless.
If you send something forward, projectile, doesn’t matter what it is, in one direction, there’s going to be an identical force in the opposite direction.
If you are on a frictionless material and you throw a rock in one direction, you’ll go in the opposite direction yourself.
Unless of course there’s some fancy smancy forerunner tech built into it.
> I’m just curious how they in Halo 4 managed to make the Rail Gun, Recoilless.
>
> If you send something forward, projectile, doesn’t matter what it is, in one direction, there’s going to be an identical force in the opposite direction.
>
> If you are on a frictionless material and you throw a rock in one direction, you’ll go in the opposite direction yourself.
>
> Unless of course there’s some fancy smancy forerunner tech built into it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrbRFovu0Ck
You can see from the first shot it has a pretty hefty kick. I mean it knocked back pretty far and a super soldier was carrying it…
> > I’m just curious how they in Halo 4 managed to make the Rail Gun, Recoilless.
> >
> > If you send something forward, projectile, doesn’t matter what it is, in one direction, there’s going to be an identical force in the opposite direction.
> >
> > If you are on a frictionless material and you throw a rock in one direction, you’ll go in the opposite direction yourself.
> >
> > Unless of course there’s some fancy smancy forerunner tech built into it.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrbRFovu0Ck
>
> You can see from the first shot it has a pretty hefty kick. I mean it knocked back pretty far and a super soldier was carrying it…
Hm, indeed.
Damn I hate those commercials.
So why is it still called “recoiless”?
This post has been edited by a moderator. Please do not purposely bypass the word filter.
*Original post. Click at your own discretion.
> Today in physics my professor showed the class a video pertaining to capacitors. It just so happened to also be about a prototype railgun the U.S. Navy has been working on.
>
> Here’s the link:
> BAE Electromagnetic Railgun
>
> I also want to comment how flipping huge the projectile was! It’s amazing what scientists and engineers are working on these days!
simply put Bad_A-S-S
> > > I’m just curious how they in Halo 4 managed to make the Rail Gun, Recoilless.
> > >
> > > If you send something forward, projectile, doesn’t matter what it is, in one direction, there’s going to be an identical force in the opposite direction.
> > >
> > > If you are on a frictionless material and you throw a rock in one direction, you’ll go in the opposite direction yourself.
> > >
> > > Unless of course there’s some fancy smancy forerunner tech built into it.
> >
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrbRFovu0Ck
> >
> > You can see from the first shot it has a pretty hefty kick. I mean it knocked back pretty far and a super soldier was carrying it…
>
> Hm, indeed.
>
> Damn I hate those commercials.
>
> So why is it still called “recoiless”?
Kickback and recoil are two different things
In the firearms/shooting world, there is no such term as “kickback.” What people call “kick” is actually called recoil. It is the force felt by the shooter, caused by the explosion of the powder and the bullet travelling down and out the barrel.
What’s called a “recoilless rifle” is actually more kin to a bazooka/RPG or a shoulder fired missile launcher. When the projectile is fired, some of the propellant gasses are allowed to escape through a cone out the back of the tube, drastically reducing felt recoil. There’s still a great deal of felt recoil, but not as much as there would if there was no opening in the back (which would make it a cannon anyway.)
As for the Railgun being called recoilless, that’s just what happens when you put game designers in charge of weapons design. No offense to 343 or any other game developer, but they traditionally aren’t too knowledgeable about firearms design, and as a result; things get misnamed, sounds are off, physics is wrong, etc.
> As for the Railgun being called recoilless, that’s just what happens when you put game designers in charge of weapons design. No offense to 343 or any other game developer, but they traditionally aren’t too knowledgeable about firearms design, and as a result; things get misnamed, sounds are off, physics is wrong, etc.
Couldn’t it be that, in the case of the Halo 4 Railgun, the “Recoilless” is a reference to some recoil-dampening system built into the railgun?
> > As for the Railgun being called recoilless, that’s just what happens when you put game designers in charge of weapons design. No offense to 343 or any other game developer, but they traditionally aren’t too knowledgeable about firearms design, and as a result; things get misnamed, sounds are off, physics is wrong, etc.
>
> Couldn’t it be that, in the case of the Halo 4 Railgun, the “Recoilless” is a reference to some recoil-dampening system built into the railgun?
I thought of that after the post was made and was too lazy to go back and edit, but yes. I mean the game does take place 550 years in the future, so technology surely has progressed. Same way the Magnum shoots a round equivalent to the modern .500 S&W Magnum, yet we don’t see Marines in-game breaking every single metacarpi in their wrist/hand. 
At the end of the day, it’s just a game. I just figured I’d clarify some terms for people. I love the Railgun and the Sticky Detonator as weapons in Halo, I just wish they came with more ammo! 
> Kickback and recoil are two different things
Recoil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Recoil (often called dateless, <mark>kickback</mark> or simply kick) is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged.”
Old news bro but I’m glad it’s finally catching on.