Railgun
are often the preferred form of railgun armature but "plasma" or "hybrid" armatures can also be
used. A plasma armature is formed by an arc of ionised gas that is used to push a solid, non-
conducting payload in a similar manner to the propellant gas pressure in a conventional gun. A
hybrid armature uses a pair of "plasma" contacts to interface a metallic armature to the gun rails.
Picture 2. Forces affecting a railgun
Source: https://science.howstuffworks.com/rail-gun1.htm
A railgun consists of two parallel metal rails connected to an electrical power supply. When a
conductive projectile is inserted between the rails (at the end connected to the power supply), it
completes the circuit. Electrons flow from the negative terminal of the power supply up the
negative rail, across the projectile, and down the positive rail, back to the power supply. This
current makes the railgun behave as an electromagnet, creating a magnetic field inside the loop
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