There's only so much momentum in the world. Our pilot starts with none, momentum being the product of mass and velocity. Then suddenly, it seems, there is momentum where once there was none. The CO2 sprays backwards with a sizable momentum, and nature compensates, propelling the wagon forward and assuring the two add up to zero. Thanks conservation of momentum.

LINKS GOOD ON 2006-12-14

Nature conserves spinning. Here a person stands on a turntable capable of turning parallel to the ground. He is holding a spinning wheel perpendicular to the ground and at first he does not spin. However, when he rotates the wheel, making it spin parallel to the ground, the turntable starts spinning in the opposite direction of the wheel to maintain (conserve) the zero horizontal spinning we started with. As he turns the wheel over the turn table changes direction again, the wheel's spinning always canceling out that of the man holding it. This is a grossly simplified description of what physicists call the conservation of angular momentum.

LINKS GOOD ON 2006-12-14

No this isn't a violation of the conservation of energy. The first ball bearing speeds up at the last moment just before striking the magnets--dramatically increasing its kinetic energy. It is this energy which is transferred to the projectile. I keep hearing this referred to as a Gauss gun though I'm not sure the use of permanent magnets and internal collisions quite qualify it for this title as it is generally reserved for a coil gun whose operation varies in these respects.

LINKS GOOD ON 2006-12-14