Journal Reflection

Although my group’s cannon design was modeled after a regular cannon, the reason for its failure to fire can be linked to its design. Cannons have a design that has remained relatively the same since the first cannons. Because cannon design has remained relatively unchanged, my group decided that it must be an effective design and decided to model our cannon after a regular cannon design. Our cannon did not fire due to a lack of pressure. Our cannon is not made out of the same materials as a regular cannon, therefore, another design, such as the double barrel design, might have resulted in increased pressure leading to a better firing. Although our cannon design modeled an effective design, because of difference in materials it was ineffective in firing the Nerf ball.

Each of the cannons our class made had a different design that manipulated the pressure using Boyle’s gas in a different way. My group reduced our cannons original barrel length to decrease the volume after considering how to increase the pressure. According to Boyle’s law, by reducing the volume, the pressure will increase thereby firing the Nerf ball further. A common design among the other cannons was the double barrel design. Theoretically, the double barrel design should have been the most successful cannon; the design forced the pressure through a small hole increasing the pressure and had a smaller volume in the firing chamber leading to more pressure. When building a cannon, it is important to consider the gas laws to know how to magnify the pressure and launch the object further.