Plasma-powered cannon
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For a gun which fires only plasma and not a solid projectile, see Plasma weapon.
A plasma cannon (also called an electrothermal accelerator) is an experimental projectile weapon, which accelerates a projectile by means of a plasma discharge between electrodes at the rear of the barrel, generating a rapid increase in pressure. It functions similarly to other types of firearms, except that it uses a plasma discharge instead of a chemical propellant (e.g. black powder or nitrocellulose).