“Well, copper and gold melt at just under 2000 degrees F., and aluminum at 1200 degrees F. Tungsten is over 6000 degrees. I suppose you could use a copper projectile, but obviously not aluminum or gold.”
Yes, but the conductivity and the melting point both come into play. The higher the resistivity, the more easily electricity is going to get converted into heat. So, tungsten can resist melting more easily, but it will also get hotter from the same amount of power. Those factors might end up negating each other for practical purposes here, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless someone tried it.
“Yes, but the conductivity and the melting point both come into play. The higher the resistivity, the more easily electricity is going to get converted into heat. So, tungsten can resist melting more easily, but it will also get hotter from the same amount of power. Those factors might end up negating each other for practical purposes here, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless someone tried it.”
I would comment on the above but I don’t have the time or the energy.
“Those factors might end up negating each other for practical purposes here, but I wouldn’t know for sure unless someone tried it.”
The closest actual experience I’ve had with such a device was 40 years ago when I made a gun that shot liquid mercury. It wasn’t exactly a rail gun since it used permanent magnets with the current passing through the mercury at a right angle to the magnetic lines of force. Of course in those days we didn’t have the super magnets that we have today.