The trajectory of a cannonball makes a parabola, in better words an upside down U. The parabola shows us the starting point of a cannonball and the point where it hits the ground, should be on the X-axis. Physics tells us that the best angle to do this is at a 45 degree angle. The trajectory is mostly caused by velocity and gravity buit is not highly affected by air resistance.
The types of ammunition vary from cannon to cannon. The most common types of ammunition are high explosive, armour piercing, and target practice. High explosive ammunition is the kind that is either chemically or energetically unstable. Meaning that it will exlpode at a certain heat and pressure. There are all kinds of high explosive ammunition but i am not going to go through them all. But i will say that they are all composed of more than one different chemical compound. One MAJOR type of ammunition for Cannons is iron or lead cannonballs. The reason for this being that they are easy to put in the cannons barrel because it is shaped like a ball therefre it is easily slid into place and shot out.
These cannons played a big roll in the economic and political climate of those days because there was alot of fighting and wars back then. DIfferent people and places were fighting over all sorts of things such as land territory, natural resources, and so much more. These people needed heavy artillery such as these cannons to fight against each other and win what their fighting for. Although there can only be one winner, meaning they had better and heavier artillery.
Cannon- 17th century
17th Century Cannon
This cannon, which was made in the 17th century, is cast in bronze. It also is made of wood and paint.But going back to it being made of bronze. It was made like this so that stone, iron, or lead cannonballs fit closely without being pushed together. The cannon was either vertically or horizontally rotated about its long axis while the boring tool was put into one end by gearing. Each and every cannon needed 2 gunners, 6 soldiers, and 4 officers of the artillery. The reason they need these people will be explained in the next few sentences. The right gunner loaded the cannon with powder, while the left gunner went to fetch more powder to keep on hand to be prepared for when the officer gave the order for the next fire. 3 soldiers stood on each side of the cannon, to ram and sponge the cannon, and hold the ladle. The second soldier on the left was required to provide 50 rounds. The way to operate this cannon may seem complicated but back then the people were taught and trained on how to work the procedures. 1. Beore loading the cannon, it was sponged to remove all sparks, filth and dirt. 2. The powder is then added, the a wad opf paper, then hay. 3. The cannonball is inserted. 4. After ramming the cannon was aimed at 45 degrees, with the officers permission though. Thats all the directions needed to fire a cannon. The materials needed are botefeux, a priming iron, a mire, a sponge, a wad screw, a lantern, a ladle, a primier, a rammer, and a quoin of mire. As far as i know this cannon does not have a name.
18th Century Cannon
18th Century Cannon- Carronade
This cannon is named the Carronade. It was invented by General Robert Melville, bbut bult by the Carron Iron Company in Scotland. It was first used by the Royal Navy. This particular cannon was used on quarterdecks and fortcastles. It was designed as a short range naval weapon that has a low muzzle velocity. It has a nickname of the Smasher, because its lower muzzle velocitys round shot was intended to create many more of the deadly wodden splinters when hitting an enemy vessel. The short barrel and short range increaed teh risk of starting a fire. This type of cannon was usually mounted on a lug underneath a barrel. It also had a very unusual high center of gravity.There were irregularities with the size of the cannonballs which caused a large gap between the barrel and the balll meaning there was a loss of projectile power. With a 42 pounder Carronade you would only need four to five men, but depending on weight the number of men varies. This cannon is fired the same way as many others. I will not go through all the steps for they are the same as the 17th century cannon except theire is opnly one guy on each side and there is one officer of the artillery. Although it had many errors this cannon was initially very successful.
19th century Cannon picture
19th Century Cannon
The yellow on this cannon means that it is used for training only. Also the barrel of the gun has no thickening, unlike French guns from this era. This cannon was the smallest calibre of field guns used by Russia in the 1870's. Both versions of this cannon are horse drawn therefore helping with the issue of weight. In world war I these guns were not used though because the Russians had better artillery. Meanig if it was not used then then it was not used later on in wordl war II. This type of cannon was npot seen anymore after its use in the Finnish Civil War of 1918. Did not require more than 5 men although it could not have less than 3. To shoot this cannon all you do is load the cannonball and gunpowder in the gun barrel and fire. No further instructions were required. The elevation was 20 degrees, this meaning that it was the type of cannon that was shot for long distances because the closer to the ground the further it rolls. These cannons DO use gunpowder. I do not know the name or creator of this cannon.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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This information is very insightful. I especially liked the Chemistry portion you wrote. It explains it well but it is also easy to understand. The paragraphs were a good length and it felt as if there was a lot of time put into this process.
ReplyDeleteI think that your blog is really good. There is great information in it and it easy to understand! and remember just start out as friends lol Great work!!!!
ReplyDeleteI like all the information that you put into each of the paragraphs. They explain the cannon very well but the only thing that might make it better is a topic sentence that draws the reader more into all the great information you have.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, i like your blog because it was very informational including on how the cannon was designed, and used. I especially like your chemistry proportion. Good Job!
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