Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: AZLiberty; All

The orbiting rod already has Kinetic energy equal to about 15000 mph (orbital velocity) plus the potential of being ~300+ miles above the gravity well. Merely adjusting course contributes part of the 9.8 m/s2 gravity component.

Once you noodle out the final velocity it’s all E=MC2

If the mass is 18000 pounds
Velocity 17,500 MPH

The energy delivered will be
184,278,953,567.31 ft/lbs

Which is equal to a rats ass under 60 tons of TNT


951 posted on 05/24/2021 8:12:51 AM PDT by Axenolith (WWG1WGA!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 752 | View Replies ]


To: Axenolith
Which is equal to a rats ass under 60 tons of TNT

That'sa bigga boom.

954 posted on 05/24/2021 8:29:09 AM PDT by numberonepal (WWG1WGA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 951 | View Replies ]

To: Axenolith
Which is equal to a rats ass under 60 tons of TNT
-------------------------------------------------
The Hiroshima bomb was considered 12,000 to 15,000 Ton of TNT.
958 posted on 05/24/2021 8:49:13 AM PDT by Keflavik76 (Don't want to be a brick in Babylons wall.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 951 | View Replies ]

To: Axenolith
Once you noodle out the final velocity it’s all E=MC2

No, that would be for nuclear warheads, for the mass converted to energy during detonation.

977 posted on 05/24/2021 9:46:01 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change with out notice.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 951 | View Replies ]

To: Axenolith

Once you noodle out the final velocity it’s all E=MC2


Not really. Einstein’s equation will tell you how much energy would be produced if a mass was totally converted to energy. That’s not the same as kinetic energy.

If I was not moving and my body mass was converted to energy, that would result in a positive, non-zero number (too big I’m afraid but working on it).

If I wanted to calculate my kinetic energy, that formula is:

KE = 1/2*(m*v^2)
KE in joules (J)
mass m in kilograms (kg)
velocity v in meters/sec (m/s)

But if I wasn’t moving, no kinetic energy.

Assuming a Rod from God that:

Mass 18,000 lbs or 816.46 kg
Velocity 17,500 mph or 7823.2 m/s

KE = 0.5*(816.46)*(7823.2)*(7823.2) = 24,984,679,527 J

From Wikipedia (I know not the best source but probably correct here), an explosion of 1 metric ton (1000 kg) of TNT is 4.184 Gigajoules (not to be confused with 1.21 Gigawatts for the flux capacitor) or 4,184,000,000 Joules.

So 24,984,679,527 / 4,184,000,000 = 5.97 T TNT.

If you want something that penetrates with a reasonable punch, not too shabby. (assuming that they can put these where they want them)

My 1 1/2 cents,


998 posted on 05/24/2021 10:20:10 AM PDT by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 951 | View Replies ]

To: Axenolith

***Which is equal to a rats ass under 60 tons of TNT

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The US Army had (way back in the day) a launcher that fired an atomic round. It was called the Davy Crockett. The round it fired had a yield somewhere between 10 and 20 tons of TNT.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_(nuclear_device)

Warhead equivalents:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W54
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Munition

(side note)
Wasn’t there a speculation a while back that someone had “given” a few devices to unfriendly folks in the Middle East?


1,009 posted on 05/24/2021 10:48:59 AM PDT by Porkchop
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 951 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson