The World-War II battleship U. S.S Massachusetts used 16-inch guns whose barrel lengths were 15 m long. The shells each of mass 1250 kg when fired, had a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s. Assuming a constant force, determine the explosive force experienced by the shell inside the barrel. Start from a fundamental principle.

The explosive force experienced by the shell inside the barrel is 23437500 newtons.

Explanation:

Let suppose that shells are not experiencing any effect from non-conservative forces (i.e. friction, air viscosity) and changes in gravitational potential energy are negligible. The explosive force experienced by the shell inside the barrel can be estimated by Work-Energy Theorem, represented by the following formula:

(1)

Where:

- Explosive force, measured in newtons.

- Barrel length, measured in meters.

- Mass of the shell, measured in kilograms.

, - Initial and final speeds of the shell, measured in meters per second.

If we know that , , and , then the explosive force experienced by the shell inside the barrel is:

The explosive force experienced by the shell inside the barrel is 23437500 newtons.

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