Matter Interrupters---trying to invent a weapon for WW-1 era sci fi.

[HOG]

A question.
How would you stop the beam /ray /whatever from affecting the atmoshere which its passing through. If its constantly breaking up the molecules until it reaches its target then
a the power or power loss must be phenominal
b would the user have to have a seperate air supply as the surrounding air becomes a vacuum
c how would you stop the aircraft your in from rising as the air surrounding it becomes less dense

cheers 
Gary

[Mossie]

A question.
How would you stop the beam /ray /whatever from affecting the atmoshere which its passing through. If its constantly breaking up the molecules until it reaches its target then
a the power or power loss must be phenominal
b would the user have to have a seperate air supply as the surrounding air becomes a vacuum
c how would you stop the aircraft your in from rising as the air surrounding it becomes less dense

cheers 
Gary

It's pretty similar to lightning, albiet working in a different way.  The flash you see is the air around the charge being heated to phenomanal levels & if it hits you, there's nothing much left.  Lightning can be re-created in lab conditions, although it needs a huge amount of power to generate even a fraction of the energy created in nature.  So it's possible, you'd just need to factor in the energy into the story.

[Daryl J.]

So it's possible, you'd just need to factor in the energy into the story.

Thus the materials from outer space or at least materials modified with outer space product.   

And yes, due to energy loss,  there would be a definite range and 'caliber'.   


Additionally, due to air expansion, the munition may need to be droppable in order to get the attacking machine safely out of harm's way.    Perhaps what we need is more in the way of a limpet mine blended with a guidance system.    The aircraft attaches a charge of some kind to the opposition and then drops the matter interrupter.  After a few feet of drop, an opposite charge is created which draws the mine to its target.   After a set amount of time, it discharges.   Attacking aircraft need to be out of the area to avoid the concussion.

Or, taking a different tack, the attacking aircraft could shoot  strongly charged materials that stick to the frame of the target.   The weapon would then discharge creating a lightning like circuit involving enough heat to burn fabric and/or ignite inflammables.    One would still need a super energy source which would take the practicals and return them to the fanciful.

Hmmm.....thinking cap on...



Daryl J.

[Doc Yo]

 It would have been a bit late for the Great War, but there was a fellow working on 'Death-rays' in the
early '20s...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Grindell_Matthews

There was also a good article in Fortean Times a few years back. I'll take a look to see if the article
is archived at their site.

[sagallacci]

How about a beam tuned more to disrupt the inter-atomic bonds by messing with the atoms' electrons. An IONIZER! A lot less energy needed (relatively) and no radiation problems. If it is "tuned" correctly, it can selectively effect electron shells/energy states for varying levels of disintegration which may also help with through the atmosphere performance. I'd recommend an inobtainium sub-etheric occilator, likely working in the K or L band, which would also improve the rate of atmospheric attenuation. You'd need silver-plated wave guides, or gold if you're worried about tarnishing.
I'll leave it to others to ponder the effects around the target when it is abruptly converted to a cloud of ions. 

[Zen]

A matter disruptor?

Hmmmm the problem with beam weapons is propagation through the atmosphere tends to absorb the energy and disperse the remaining beam.

But something that breaks down atomic bonds between atoms is going to create tunnels of said broken down matter, which will re-bond once the beam is off.

[sagallacci]

A simple ionized trail in this case. Is atmospheric nitrogen mono-atomic? If so, the only major bit of reaction would be with O2.