Hey there guys!
So here's the deal. You have a true Flintlock smoothbore and a percussion muzzleloader. Both are .58 caliber.
Both have the same amount of BP or charge. They are both fired from the same position, at the same time, and from the same angle. Therefore, the same amount of Kinetic Energy is imparted to each breech to launch each RB, respectively.
Due to the fact that the percussion ML has a rifled barrel, its round ball is located 250 yds. away. It is able to remain airborn for this distance due to its higher velocity and flatter trajectory, because of its rate of twist and rotational motion which assures greater accuracy. The smoothbores round ball is located only 70 yds away.
Questions:
How does the Kinectic Energy not get imparted to the smoothbore ML as it did the rifled ML?Where did this Energy go?
Sense one is already aware that range in this situation is directly related to horizontal muzzle velocity. The question is posed in this manner.
The test question was posed in this manner, as well.
If the KE doesn't go towards the linear propulsion of the RB, to which other forms of energy does it get converted?
This question is legitimate for both muzzleloaders as the kinetic energy in both cases gets converted to thermal, rotational, and translational energy.If you read this over carefully you will find that it is completely non-sensical in terms of what the actual question is.
So, what's so nonsensical?
I'm simply asking a question. I'm presenting a problem and asking questions as best as I can remember they were asked of me many years ago.
Thus far, I can't see any major problems with the scenario, other than the fact that both most probably should have been fired from a percussion muzzleloader. However, that's not my fault. In the original question, I distinctly remember there being two different muzzleloaders, one a smoothbore flintlock and one a percussion rifle.
Based upon what's been stated thus far, that wouldn't have made much difference, anyway...
As far as I'm concerned, the original question was supposed to have been one based upon differences in energy transformations with regards to smoothbores and rifled muzzleloaders.
However, there was at least one variable that was missing from the scenario and that was the range of the smoothbore round ball.
However, I do remember that it was far short of the rifled round ball.
As it stands right now, the only explanation for that particular discrepancy is barrel deflection.
If we were to arrest this situation immediately, we could still account for all energy transformations. To that extent, we could answer all asked questions.