Star Knight missile salvo experiment - Page 3 - Scifi-Meshes.com

Brain · 06-11-2008, 05:53 AM

I just finished reading 'At All Costs' and there was a line in there about not wanting to let a stray 95-ton missile hit an inhabited planet at 50% light speed. Ouch.

nyrath · 06-11-2008, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eoraptor

not bad at all, though I am reminded of the third law of thermodynamics "For every action..."

so what is keeping the ships in place against the back blast of their own missles?

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it is Newton's third law of motion, not the third law of thermodynamics.

The answer is in Newton's second law. It says that Force equals Mass times Acceleration. Re-arranging: Acceleration = Force divided by Mass.

So say that the missile has a mass of one, and launching gives it a force of ten. So it's acceleration is 10 / 1 = 10. That's why it shoots out like a bat out of hell.

By Newton's third law, an equal force of ten is applied to the Star Knight. It has a mass of about 100,000. So it's acceleration is 10 / 100,000 = 0.0001. The Star Knight moves in the opposite direction, but the acceleration is so tiny you can't see it.

nyrath · 06-11-2008, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brain

I just finished reading 'At All Costs' and there was a line in there about not wanting to let a stray 95-ton missile hit an inhabited planet at 50% light speed. Ouch.

Ouch indeed.

If I am doing my math correctly, that would do about 1.3 x 10^21 joules of damage. This is about the same as a 310 gigaton nuclear warhead, or 118 earthquakes that were 9.5 on the Richter scale.

Berkut · 06-11-2008, 06:22 PM

may 2007, necro

star_creations · 06-11-2008, 06:53 PM

You know all, i am no expert on the third law of thermodynamics and such...but I do know one thing...that animation is GREAT!....I loved it.

Gargoyle · 06-12-2008, 07:55 AM

The animation is really great! I was not aware though that they use impellers for all motion, I always thought this was only the case for faster than light travel.
I'd love to see more of this, though!

BTW the third law of thermodynamics is that the "change of entropy within a system is always >= 0".

Major Diarrhia · 06-12-2008, 08:15 AM

Sweet sweet animation. I must have more.

06-12-2008, 07:55 AM	#26 (permalink)
Gargoyle SFM Nugget Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 75	The animation is really great! I was not aware though that they use impellers for all motion, I always thought this was only the case for faster than light travel. I'd love to see more of this, though! BTW the third law of thermodynamics is that the "change of entropy within a system is always >= 0".
Gargoyle SFM Nugget Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 75	USS Independence WIP - Thread “With the first link the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably. The first time any man’s freedom is trodden on, we are all damaged.” Judge Eron Sati, ST TNG ‘The Drumhead’

06-12-2008, 08:15 AM	#27 (permalink)
Major Diarrhia SFM Guru Join Date: May 2006 Age: 26 Posts: 827	Sweet sweet animation. I must have more.
	My slightly improved and famous Enterprise Reference Pack. - 2/6/08

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06-11-2008, 05:53 AM	#21 (permalink)
Brain SFM Nugget Realname: Brian Matthews Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Florida Age: 47 Posts: 6	I just finished reading 'At All Costs' and there was a line in there about not wanting to let a stray 95-ton missile hit an inhabited planet at 50% light speed. Ouch.

06-11-2008, 06:22 PM	#24 (permalink)
Berkut SFM Guru Realname: Bogdan Join Date: May 2006 Location: Mississauga, Canada Age: 20 Posts: 645	may 2007, necro

06-11-2008, 06:53 PM	#25 (permalink)
star_creations SFM Guru Realname: Lee Jacob Join Date: Mar 2008 Age: 32 Posts: 265	You know all, i am no expert on the third law of thermodynamics and such...but I do know one thing...that animation is GREAT!....I loved it.

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