pre-1800s cannons

Counterpoise Trebuchet



The first weapons created that resembled cannons were trebuchets. Trebuchets were created in China in 300BC. Large groups of men would pull on a rope to release a missile (these were called traction trebuchets) but eventually the people were replaced with a large, fixed or pivoting, counter balance. These types of trebuchets are called Counterpoise trebuchets (Middle-ages). They were  first brought to England in 1216 during the Siege of Dover. They were used on the walls of the Castle of Dover but when the constable refused to surrender and order was given to start creating an even more powerful trebuchet. This trebuchet was called the Warwolf, which came to be known as the most powerful and most famous in history. Trebuchets used everything from burning tar to dead mutilated bodies. Since they were used in the middle-ages they didn’t have many explosives like we do now and they used whatever could be found.





Pot-de-fer

Later on in 1326 a cannon called the Pot-de-fer was manufactured. It was a primitive cannon made out of iron and was the first cannon to be made out of metal. It looked like a bottle with a narrow neck. It was loaded with powder and an iron arrow-like bolt. It was believed that the bottom of the bolt was wraoed in leather to build pressure but that was never confiremed was never confirmed (Wikipedia). The cannons were set off by a small hole where a red-hot wire would be inserted to set off the explosion. These cannons were used by the French in the Hundred’s Years War. In Italian they were known as vasi or vasii which meant pot or vase. This was because of the cannons physical, vase-like appearance.   



Cannons in the 1800s



Armstrong Gun

•  The practice of riffling or casting lines inside a cannons barrel, as it gave the cannon gyroscopic stability which improved accuracy(Ruffell). One model known as the Armstrong Gun was one of the earliest riffled cannons. They shot either shots (solid projectiles used to penetrate armour) or shells (an explosive projectile). They could break through the ships side and explode on the inside of it increasing damage and casualties. The cannon was firat manufactured in Europe in 1855 by the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich .  Armstrong Guns were used by the British troops during the Taranaki in 1860.



Canon obusier de 12

• Canon obusier de 12 (also known as the 12-pounder napoleon) was developed by France in 1853. It was a smoothbore cannon using either cannon balls, shells, or canisters which made it more versatile.They had a short, tighter barrel (Museumstuff)so the projectile fit well but it still kept its accuracy. The new weapon "revolutionized field artillery". This cannon was mainly used in the United states in the American Civil War. Over 1,100 of these cannons were manufactured by the North, and 600 by the South. At Gettysburg, 142 out of the 360 federal guns used were Napoleons.





Cannons in the 1900s - Modern Day

 
• Another type of cannon like weapon used in the 1900s are mortars; they are weapons that fire shells at low velocities, short ranges, and high arching trajectories. They consist of three parts: a barrel, a base plate, and a bipod. When the round slides into the tube towards the bottom, the primer hits the firing pin and ignites the initial charge inside of the fin assembly. Then the fuse assembly is compressed and expands a gas ring that goes around the body. The gas ring is what traps the gas from the charges inside of the round to force it up and out of the tube. They are generally smaller than most field artillery. Mortars are used at short ranges because they can send projectiles over obstacles by lofting them at a lower velocity (Pike).

Howitzer

• Common type of cannons in the 1900s were howitzers. A howitzer is a muzzle loading type of artillery that has a relatively short barrel and sends shells into the air so they descend at a steep angle. They are usually categorized in groups called batteries. Howitzers were used primarily in the first World War. They works similarly to a gun and are sometimes put on armored vehicles or tanks. One type of howitzer is Big Bertha, manufactured by Alfred Krupp in Essen Germany (Spartacus). They were so big they had to be transferred in five parts.
• Although Big Bertha is no longer used other, more automatic types of mortars and howitzers have been manufactored and used today.



Big Bertha



Development of Cannon Types

Trebuchets were very popular in Western Europe during Medieval Times. When trebuchets were first invented that used manpower along with a counter weight to hurl stones up to three-hundred pounds. They were called Traction trebuchets and were considered to be one of the earliest siege weapons. Later they became slightly more automatic and were called Counterpoise trebuchets. This new design eliminated the use of humans to power the trabuchet. Eventually however trebuchets were replaced with catapults which in turn became obsolete after the rise of gunpowder. During sieges trebuchets were usually grouped in batteries or placed on ship to attack the walls of an enemy castle or port (Factoidz).

The Pot-de-fer was the first metal cannon(Hyper History) and its simple design made it easy to create other cannons based on the basic principle of this early cannon. After the Pot-de-fer not many cannons used iron arrows anymore because it was easier to generate more power and impact with a round stone or cannon ball. The Pot-de-fer was used by the French during the Hundred Years War in a raid on Southampton and in the battles in Perigord, Cambrai, and Quesnoy (Wikipedia).

The Armstrong Gun from the 1800s was designed by sir William Armstrong in England. Initially the Armstrong was only a 6 pounder, 9 pounder, or 12 pounder. The demand was more for larger weapons so a 20 pounder and 40 pounder were made which found homes in either the Royal Navy or in New Zealand (Word lingo). In 1864 an Armstrong Gun was imported to the confederacy and was stationed at Fort Fisher her in Wilmington. Its purpose was to help guard the entrance to the port of Wilmington (Ncstrories). The cannon was taken after the fall of Fort Fisher to the union on January 15, 1865. It was placed in the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, where it is still on display today.

The Canon obusier de 12 was one of the several smoothbore cannons developed in the 1800s by the French (Museum stuff). Some modifications were made to the original cannon design which led to the outcome of this particular cannon. This cannon was mainly used in the American Civil War where both the Confederacy and Union being were well equip with these cannons.

The Mortar has been used since the 15th century and were primitive and unwieldy and usually too heavy to move. They usually fired at impractically slow speeds. The first portable mortars were first seen in the American civil war and were mostly used to defend the Union railways and supply lines(Associated Content). In World War I the mortar's design was adjusted so it could be carried and operated by one person. This made them very popular which made them go into mass production and distribution.

The original Howitzer had a shorter tail which cause it to have less stability than other weapons and reduced the amount of gun powder that could be used. The howitzer had an advantage over other weapons because the angle of the cannon was not a fixed angle and could be easily adjusted. In the 1800s Howitzers became mobile enough that they could be used in the field. Howitzers were popular in the American Civil War, the War with Mexico, and the Spanish-American War (Wikipedia).

Social Impacts of Cannons

Before the 1800s most cannons were used as siege weapons to capture forts of castles. For example trebuchets were used in the Siege of Dover in 1216 to take over the Castle of Dover. Eventually the trebuchets came out on top. Eventually the Many trebuchets and cannons in this time period helped enormously when taking over buildings or forts but we not as practical after the rise of gun powder can to be and other bigger more powerful weapons took over.

During the 1800s gun powder became more popular and cannons were used a lot more especially in the American civil war. Many cannons were manufactured by the Union and the Confederacy. The north had an advantage over the north since they made hundreds more cannons than the south which could have been a factor contributing to their victory.

In the 1900s through Modern-day weapons became much more sophisticated than those of previous centuries. Cannons are more like enormous guns and most are placed on top of armored vehicles. The mortar which is one type of cannon that has been modernized and still used was popular and cause a lot of damage in World War I. They were generally used to “take out enemy machine gun posts, suspected sniper posts or other designated features.  Larger mortars were occasionally used to cut enemy barbed wire, generally in situations where field artillery could not be used.” (First World War)

Ethics of Weapon Development

Question: Is it moral for societies to develop weapons of mass destruction for any reason?

           

      I don’t think I am all on one side or the other because I can think of pros and cons for both sides of the argument. On one hand I think that it is wrong for a government or society to create weapons like nuclear bombs, when they know they will kill thousands or even millions of people who for the most part are just innocent citizens. One the other hand I understand that if it were to get to the point where nuclear weapons have to be used it is probably a grave situation where there is no other option. If we were talking about cannons I think since they are usually used in combat situations not just randomly, both sides know what they are doing and they are knowingly killing other men and it is their choice; not that I believe in having to use violence to fix every conflict. When people are creating these types of weapons they probably don’t realize the kind of destruction they are helping to cause and it is definitely something that everyone should think about.



Question: Discuss the ethics behind and the impact of the weapons that were used in A Long Way Gone.

The ethics behind the weapons in the book play a huge role in the story of A Long Way Gone.  They give weapon to children to go out and fight in a war which I believe is just ridiculous. I understand that it was a way to get more soldiers and make their army look less threatening but they are compromising the lives of their country’s children to fight a war. They are sacrificing the innocence of these young boys by giving them extremely dangerous and destructive weapons. These child soldiers are being deprived o their childhood and brainwashed to conform to the ways of the army.

Elements of Our Cannon

Design Plan: Our design is to have one canister as the base and the other serving as the combustion chamber. We will cut the shape of the top canister so it will be more stable. The combustion chamber will be attached by tape and be fixed at a 45 degree angle. The ignition hole will be on the bottom half of the right side. We think that the ethanol will set more in the top of he canister so if we but the hole lower that gas won't escape. We will just have to put the splint higher into the canister when we are ready to fire that cannon.

Launch Angle: We decided to have our launch angle be a fixed angle at 45 degrees because we believed that with this angle we would be able to get the ball to go far and high without it being too much of either. It also gives the ball some time in the air to travel farther because it won't be traveling too close to the ground.

Gas Law Used: Gay-Lussac's law says that the pressure of a gas is directly proportional to the kelvin temperature if the volume is held constant. In other words when the temperature goes up the pressure goes up and vise-versa. With our cannons the volume will be held constant because that canister's volume does not change. At time of ignition the hot splint will ignite the ethanol gas and the temperature in the canister will rise very quickly so the pressure has to do the same. This causes the nerf ball to be shot into the air.

Math Component/ Formula and Expected Results: We used the range formula  of R= (V_o²sin 2q)/g. R is the range of the nerf ball, the V is the initial velocity (estimated), q is the launch angle, and g is gravity which is always 32.2 meters per seconds squared. We estimated our initial velocity to be 10 meters per second and multiplied it by sin 2(45) and divided that by 32.3. The answer came out to be about 3.1 meters but after we converted to feet it was 10.2 feet.

How Does The Reaction Happen? The balanced chemical formula for this reaction is  C₂H₅OH + 3O₂ ® 2CO₂ + 3H₂O The CO₂ in the reaction build pressure in the canister and causes the nerf ball to be shot from the cannon. Difficulties in Construction: Our group really didn't have any difficulties in the actual construction process since we had though out and sketched the design several times. We worked well together and I dont' think I would change anything about the way that we constructed our cannon.

Construction Tools/Materials and Procedure

Materials:

• two tennis ball canisters with tops
• an 18 inch piece of tape

Tools:

• scissors
• marker
• protractor
• compass

Procedures:

1. Draw and cut a circle into the side of one of the tennis ball canisters so the hole is big enough to fit the other canister on it.

  

2. Lay the second tennis ball canister on the hole you cut out in the first canister.

3. Use the protractor to measure a forty-five degree angle with the canisters.

4. Cut the tape down the middle so you can have more tape avaliable.

5. Secure the top canister onto the bottom one with the tape.

6. Tape one of the lids from either canister to the bottom so it is on the flat surface and connected to the canister like the images shown below:

7. Use the sharp metal end of the compass to put the ignition hole on the bottom right side of the combustion chamber.

The final result of your cannon should look just like this:

 

 

Math Component

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.

Use this formula to solve the problem:  h = -16t²+v₀t+h₀

Quadratic Model:  -16t²+192t+32

1.     How high does the cannonball go? ___608 feet___ (Remember you are looking for a specific part of the vertex.)

2.     How long is the cannonball in the air? __12 seconds_ (Remember you can use the quadratic formula.)

I solved this problem using mostly my graphing calculator. I typed in the function into "y =". Then I found the maximum point in the line using "2ND TRACE". This value is the answer for how high the cannonball went. I found how long the cannon ball was in the air by looking at the table and seeing when the line gets to 32 a second time because the first was when the cannonball was fired so the second is when it lands. The x value is the same as the t or time.