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: The first thing I thought of when I saw your coins was..if you can shrink
: metal.. can a magnetic field be used to compress a berylium reflector
: sphere with a plutonium core? ie a nuclear bomb. Traditonal explosive
: lenses are used to initiate the core now. Can a magnetic field generate
: the forces comprable to an exlposive lens? I know it can contain nuclear
: fusion ie tokomak . How many Kv would be required and could a field be
: reliably modulated to produce a uniform comression wave on a shperical
: structure.
: Thinking outside of the box.
:
Hi Stan,

Interesting questions! The quarter shrinker really doesn't shrink metal, it reshapes it. As the quarter is reduced in diameter, it increases in thickness so that the volume (and thus the density) remains the same.

I suspect that it is not possible to use magnetic forming instead of explosives, since the magnetic compression force is not spherically symmetric, nor is the energy density comparable to that which can be achieved by shaped charges. The "shrinking" force is strongest in the center portion of the coil, dropping off rapidly toward the edges, and is directed radially (not spherically) inward. The peak force is about 20 microseconds from the time the triggered spark gap fires, and the peak force lasts for only a few microseconds (if the coil were to survive... which it doesn't).

I'm not sure I can answer the other questions even if I knew the answers... :^)

Best regards,

-- Bert --