My capricious ass just got an idea for a short debut match RP involving a literal fucking railgun and one of my yet-to-be-completed characters, Minami Misaka. The idea is that Minami gets matched up against an opponent that she knows she doesn't need to take seriously, and Minami decides to have some fun at her opponent's expense. Minami (while possibly intoxicated) could sneak a (non-lethal) railgun in with her and (non-lethally) shoot her opponent with it at the beginning of the match---which would then result in Minami being summarily disqualified.
If anyone is interested in running this short RP idea with me sometime in the future, please contact me through site messages (site PMs) or Discord (if you're in the LAW Discord server, you should be able to ask around and get my Discord handle).
NOTE
The abject destruction shown in the GIF above is wildly incommensurate with my actual idea. It would be technically infeasible to make a portable railgun with that level of destructive power, and I have no desire to RP anyone's character getting wantonly vaporized by a projectile moving at mach 3+.
The abject destruction shown in the GIF above is wildly incommensurate with my actual idea. It would be technically infeasible to make a portable railgun with that level of destructive power, and I have no desire to RP anyone's character getting wantonly vaporized by a projectile moving at mach 3+.
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In terms of realism, a character making a railgun is within the realm of possibility. Theoretically, if one has two metal rails, a capacitor bank, a means to charge said capacitor bank to a sufficiently high voltage, and a means to insert a metal projectile in between the rails, one could make a railgun. A sufficiently intelligent character with a little bit of technical knowledge should be able to figure out how to make a railgun, albeit likely one that is portable and not the "obliterate literally everything in its path" kind that one might find on certain naval vessels. Thus, it can be sufficiently realistic for a character to make a railgun, at least in an RP setting where nitty-gritty engineering details can be handwaved away to an extent.
If you are curious about some of the technical challenges/considerations of building railguns, please refer to the spoiler below. Regardless of the technical challenges/considerations, though, I believe the associated difficulties can be surmounted by a sufficiently intelligent and technically knowledgeable character in a fictional RP setting.
Technical Details Pertaining to Railguns (totally irrelevant here, but possibly interesting to fucking nerds)
A typical approach for making a railgun involves the use of a large, high-voltage capacitor bank . A circuit is used to charge the capacitor bank to a high DC voltage, thus storing a lot of energy in the capacitor bank. The high voltage is then applied across a set of two metal rails by connecting the terminals of the capacitor bank to each rail, one rail per terminal.
When a piece of metal is inserted between the metal rails, the circuit is completed. This results in a massive amount of current flowing through the rails and the inserted piece of metal, which will become the projectile. The aforementioned current creates a magnetic field around the railgun. And, since current consists of moving charge and moving charge traveling through a magnetic field experiences a force, the metal projectile is propelled forward along the rails.
When a piece of metal is inserted between the metal rails, the circuit is completed. This results in a massive amount of current flowing through the rails and the inserted piece of metal, which will become the projectile. The aforementioned current creates a magnetic field around the railgun. And, since current consists of moving charge and moving charge traveling through a magnetic field experiences a force, the metal projectile is propelled forward along the rails.
Additional Details (totally irrelevant here, but possibly interesting to super fucking nerds)
There are a number of circuit architectures for boosting DC voltage---boost converters and those voltage multiplying architectures that use switching, diodes, and capacitors in a ladder-esque architecture come to mind. The easiest way to get one of these circuits would be to harvest the boost converter circuit from a disposable camera .
When dealing with high-voltage capacitor banks, it is common to use what is called a "bleeder resistor" to ensure that the capacitors will gradually discharge when not in use. This is a safety measure that helps prevent unfortunate situations where someone ends up touching charged capacitors and gets shocked. However, bleeder resistors can prevent capacitor banks from being charged up to the maximum voltage: if one's voltage boosting circuit has a sufficiently high output impedance, the bleeder resistor might siphon off enough current that the capacitor bank does not charge to the open-circuit voltage of the voltage boosting circuit.
Another consideration is that the rails will experience a force pushing them apart when the railgun is operated (there is a magnetic field and the rails carry current). I do not know how salient this would be when one's railgun is at a scale that can be portable, but this is definitely a consideration for large-scale railguns.
Additionally, while I do not know how pertinent this effect would be in practical settings, theoretically, one might consider inductance and back EMFs. Any time magnetic fields are being established due to current flow, there is inductance. Inductance resists changes in current, which could theoretically have an effect on the transient behavior of a circuit. Furthermore, because the projectile would be moving forward, the area of the loop enclosed by the circulating current would be changing. This results in a changing magnetic flux through the area enclosed by the loop, thus inducing a voltage that opposes changes in current flow (i.e. a back EMF).
Another thing to potentially consider is that sufficiently high voltages can cause dielectric breakdown of the air, resulting in premature discharge of the capacitors---a situation that is, at least in regards to the diction used, analogous to the circumstances of your conception. The voltage at which dielectric breakdown occurs, however, is dependent on the separation between conductors.
When dealing with high-voltage capacitor banks, it is common to use what is called a "bleeder resistor" to ensure that the capacitors will gradually discharge when not in use. This is a safety measure that helps prevent unfortunate situations where someone ends up touching charged capacitors and gets shocked. However, bleeder resistors can prevent capacitor banks from being charged up to the maximum voltage: if one's voltage boosting circuit has a sufficiently high output impedance, the bleeder resistor might siphon off enough current that the capacitor bank does not charge to the open-circuit voltage of the voltage boosting circuit.
Another consideration is that the rails will experience a force pushing them apart when the railgun is operated (there is a magnetic field and the rails carry current). I do not know how salient this would be when one's railgun is at a scale that can be portable, but this is definitely a consideration for large-scale railguns.
Additionally, while I do not know how pertinent this effect would be in practical settings, theoretically, one might consider inductance and back EMFs. Any time magnetic fields are being established due to current flow, there is inductance. Inductance resists changes in current, which could theoretically have an effect on the transient behavior of a circuit. Furthermore, because the projectile would be moving forward, the area of the loop enclosed by the circulating current would be changing. This results in a changing magnetic flux through the area enclosed by the loop, thus inducing a voltage that opposes changes in current flow (i.e. a back EMF).
Another thing to potentially consider is that sufficiently high voltages can cause dielectric breakdown of the air, resulting in premature discharge of the capacitors---a situation that is, at least in regards to the diction used, analogous to the circumstances of your conception. The voltage at which dielectric breakdown occurs, however, is dependent on the separation between conductors.
