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Hammer weight Physics confusion
- Thread starter Avidrob
- Start date
*If you send the striking ball always at the same speed ( this is your hammer spring which has fixed energy potential ) you would see less motion of the struck ball with less weight and greater motion with more weight.
This is the bit i dont get. The velocity of the striking ball (hammer) is not fixed, its the input energy is fixed, but the velocity is a product of the energy / the mass. so in the pool ball analogy the lighter ball is a going faster, everything else being equal.
All the examples iv read seem to suggest the spring pushes at a constant velocity, but surly the spring pushes with a constant force, and that force will accelerate different weight hammers at different rates?
does this make sense?
Thanks
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yes it does ... but that was NOT the focus of the point trying to be made.
yes the spring with fixed energy would accelerate a lighter ball faster .... Whats important is wrapping your mind around the cause & effect.
If the ratio of energy absorbed by the stationary object is higher ( less striking mass ) there is less left to actually do the work of moving the stationary mass.. greater the striking mass, less is the loss and more left to actually move the stationary..
yes the spring with fixed energy would accelerate a lighter ball faster .... Whats important is wrapping your mind around the cause & effect.
If the ratio of energy absorbed by the stationary object is higher ( less striking mass ) there is less left to actually do the work of moving the stationary mass.. greater the striking mass, less is the loss and more left to actually move the stationary..
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Increasing hammer weight does open the valve wider but with a sacrificial of delay return time, another drawback is more hammer occilation. What I did recently is increased hammer weight, install a small super stiff spring in front of hammer (spring length, half the return valve indenting distance only) and a small hammer free floating disturbance with a light bumb over an O-ring (sure u lose a 10-15 fps for that) gives a single strike hammer without occilating. It's working fine with me on 850 fps on 23grain slug
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I would think it's the same principle that heavy pellets deliver more energy than lighter ones .
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Would you rather get hit by a bicyclist or a train at the same speed?
Joking aside; A heavier hammer can store more energy. The spring behind it inputs that energy into it. At some point, it can have a reverse effect. As in too heavy isn't necessarily better either. Heavier can also increase the dwell time that a valve is opened because it takes more time to close it. Larger slugs can do the same thing because it takes longer for the bullet to exit the barrel.
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This is an older post, not sure the op is still around.
I’ll take a stab but this explanation doesn’t account for any losses.
Energy = force x distance, so the available force is the same for a light vs heavy hammer
The speed of the lighter hammer will be faster than that of the heavy hammer.
Since light hammer is traveling faster, it will impart its energy faster to open the poppet to X lift. The heavy hammer will open the poppet to the same X lift but slower. The speed it opens is half the dwell assuming the closing force remains constant.
The second half of dwell is faster with the light hammer due to it being able to accelerate the lighter mass faster vs the heavy hammer.
So the increase in pellet speed is due to increased dwell.
Now, the op suggested that the heavier hammer would open a valve that the lighter hammer couldn’t. I would have to assume in that case, there is something else going on. I cannot speak to that.
Dave
I’ll take a stab but this explanation doesn’t account for any losses.
Energy = force x distance, so the available force is the same for a light vs heavy hammer
The speed of the lighter hammer will be faster than that of the heavy hammer.
Since light hammer is traveling faster, it will impart its energy faster to open the poppet to X lift. The heavy hammer will open the poppet to the same X lift but slower. The speed it opens is half the dwell assuming the closing force remains constant.
The second half of dwell is faster with the light hammer due to it being able to accelerate the lighter mass faster vs the heavy hammer.
So the increase in pellet speed is due to increased dwell.
Now, the op suggested that the heavier hammer would open a valve that the lighter hammer couldn’t. I would have to assume in that case, there is something else going on. I cannot speak to that.
Dave
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I've had it on the impact where the valve adjuster bounces the valve shut faster with a heavier hammer because it would open so far and bounce off the valve adjuster shutting the valve and it would give you less power than what a lighter hammer was generating so either up the reg pressure or open the valve adjuster farther it would be nice to see a valve travel adjuster on all the air guns I think your able to find tune them easier
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Inertia of a heavier hammer takes more to stop and that's why a heavier hammer can open a valve at higher pressure think of a hammer you swing with your hand a light hammer swung as fast as you can vs a 4 lb mall swung slower which would deliver more power or more of a blow when you hit something inertia or momentum
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