Lightning

[Cy]

I'm back with another strange question. and agian I hope this is the right topic area. I'm wondering if there is any way to cast a lighning bolt. big or small. if so, does anyone know the basic components needed for such a device? what I'm trying to do is create a weapon in my story that shoots a bolt of lightning. but I need some basic idea of how the thing would work so that I know how I should design the look of the weapon. Thanks for being here!

[[Tycho?]]

You could probably find this out by looking up static electricity, spark, voltage or potential difference. You'll also need to know a bit about current (amperage), resistance, conductivity, electical ground and electric insulators. Seriously, you need to know about this stuff to talk about lightning guns, look it up on wikipedia.

 

Anyway, electricity moves when there is a potential difference, which is when there is an excess of positive or negative charge. Since like charges repel and opposite charges attract, a large amount of say negative charge in one place will try to move where there are fewer negative charges and more positive charges.

 

An example:

You have two conducting rods, with the tips of the rods being a small distance away from each other. To get a spark, you would want an excess of one type of charge on one of the rods, and a difficiency of that type of charge on the other rod. When you add more (lets say negative charges) to one side, and take negative charges away from the other side, you create a potential difference. If this difference is large enough, the negative charges will travel through the air to the other rod, in order to equalize. (the air "breaks down" when it allows current to flow across it. You should look that up as well).

 

Now on to the actual device. In order to make a spark (lightning is basically a VERY large spark) you need an excess of charge. The trouble is, that when you put your excess of charge somewhere it will discharge along the path of least resistance. For a lightning gun to work, the electricity will have to move from your gun, through the air, into your target, an into the ground. You have to make that particular path the one easiest for the electricity to travel through. Other wise your gun will just shoot straight towards the ground, or to a piece of metal sticking out of the ground. And I dont know a good way to make that happen, particularly over any kind of distance.

[Molotov]

Try a laser to ionize a path in the air and a giant tesla coil to produce the electrcity.

[Cy]

Thanks. that gives me an idea. but it looks like I got a lot of research and learnig to do. never was quite good at that sort of thing.

[[Tycho?]]

Try a laser to ionize a path in the air and a giant tesla coil to produce the electrcity.

 

Oh yeah, actually I've read something like that. Use a laser to ionize a path of air to the target, then throw a big current down there. Thats actually a viable way to make a lightning gun.

[Cy]

alright then, if you guys think that's realistic in some way then that's what I'll do. but would there be any sort of ammunition for the gun that you'd have to carry separate and reload?

[Molotov]

Capacitors or batteries.

 

Though a handheld unit is probably not possible with todays technology.

[BhavinB]

Look up Paschen's curve and the dielectric constant of air...then you can grasp just how much a voltage difference you'll need to create a sizeable 'bolt'.

[danny8522003]

Could you not use water as the conductor instead of ionising the air?

 

I.e. shoot the water at someone and put a current through it..

[5614]

There is a type of taser gun which uses what is effectively a water gun to transport the current to the target.

 

What is the aim of this? To send a current to a body or to make a big spark?

 

For example if you just want a spark then make a tesla coil

 

If you just want to shock a remote body then maybe use water. Or another method is to shoot 2 metal wires which will both hit a body at the same time and obviously they conduct electricity well.

 

Or do you just like the idea of something hand held which makes a big spark?

[Cy]

Well I was originally going to use just laser guns. but I thought it was too typical. plus I thought having big lightning bolts blasting across a battlefield looked really cool. now I'm trying to come up with not only an excuse as to why they have those kinds of weapons, but also how those weapons would work.

 

As realistic as the water thing might be, it just doesn't have the fearful effect I'm trying to capture. but I do like the tesla coil. with some sort of laser projector thing to give the energy a current to follow. makes sense to me. and I consider myself among the average and majority of intelligence. so it should be accepted well enough.

 

But I'm wondering if there would be any reason for the "tesla rod"(the barrel of the gun) to be super long. like an old musket. 'cause that looks cool too.

[Molotov]

Some of these might make it possible.

http://lees.mit.edu/lees/posters/RU13_signorelli.pdf

[5614]

You've got to be careful of where the spark will go. If you set it up incorrectly the spark could just as easily shock you or just jump straight to the ground as opposed to going towards a target.