Steam cannon

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Leonardo da Vinci first proposed the idea of a steam powered cannon that would launch a projectile using only heat and water. Some sources say Archimedes was the original source of the idea.

The device would consist of a large metal tube, preferably copper as it is the best conductor of heat, which would be placed in a furnace. One end of the tube would be capped and the other loaded with a projectile. Once the tube reached a high enough temperature, a small amount of water would be injected in behind the projectile. In theory, Leonardo da Vinci believed, the water would rapidly expand into vapor, blasting the projectile out the front of the barrel.

The viability of the concept has been explored, with mixed results, by both the television series MythBusters,^[1] and students at MIT.^[2]