RainbowDash has a Top speed of 123.83 MPS, or 7,610 MPH

[CommadorTheCyborgPony 53]

My Bad, 123.83 is her Miles Per Minute! 2.063 is her Miles per Second!

 

From the show you can see a Mach cone forming around Rainbowdash before she does a sonic rainboom.

 

During the first stage (where it is round) she has broken the speed of sound and has created a Sonic Boom with ease. She is now going at speeds above 761 MPH, or the speed of sound.

 

Her speed increases at the cone's angle becomes lower and lower until it is an actual cone at Stage two.

Here her speed is Mach 5 and above.

 

Then the Sonic RainBoom happens in which Her speed nearly doubles to Mach ten, The sonic RainBoom is so powerful it shatters the visible light spectrum. Upon reaching Mach 10 she is going 10x the speed of sound which is 7160 MPH or 2.063 Miles per Second.

 

WHY IS SHE NOT IN THE WONDERBOLTS ALREADY!?!?!

I only did some of these calculations and the rest of the info i got off the internet such as the speed increase rate as her mach cone becomes an actual cone.

 

TL;DR: after her sonic Rainboom RainbowDash is going at Mach 10, 7,610 MPH, or 123.83 Miles Per Second this range of speed is called "High HyperSonic". RainbowDash is going at High Hyper sonic Speeds she REALLY need to be on the Wonderbolts.

 

Discuss away at how mindblown you are!

Edited July 27, 2012 by JayFeather~

[False Perception 482]

Hate to break it to you (no, I don't. I lie!) but this is old news. The science has already been worked out, and she can hit Mach 10.

 

EDIT: Yeah, I just posted this w/out reading your post. I didn't realize you said she can pop M. 10. This really is old though. Like, since her 1st rainboom old.

Edited July 27, 2012 by DoubleFrenzyWithCheese

[Proctra Music 335]

Well the wonderbolts may be more 'skilled' flyers you see. Sure RD can beast to Mach 10, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't have to much control.

[KakeiTheWolf 652]

Per more accurate calculations concerning her first adult Sonic Rainboom, she actually goes about Mach ~4.8, around 3600 mph.

[CommadorTheCyborgPony 53]

Hate to break it to you (no, I don't. I lie!) but this is old news. The science has already been worked out, and she can hit Mach 10.

 

Hate to break it to you (no, I don't. I lie!) but this is old news. The science has already been worked out, and she can hit Mach 10.

 

*Takes about half an hour to do calculations* *Reads This* *Heart Broken* oh, okay...F-F-F-F-F-F-F

..

[Arrow 236]

Hate to break it to you (no, I don't. I lie!) but this is old news. The science has already been worked out, and she can hit Mach 10.

 

EDIT: Yeah, I just posted this w/out reading your post. I didn't realize you said she can pop M. 10. This really is old though. Like, since her 1st rainboom old.

 

Hold on, you can post again! Holy shit!!!

 

Ehrm, sorry, on-topic, I'm not surprised that RD can fly that fast, but as Derpy said the Wonderbolt probably have more skill.

 

(maybe there's an age-limit for joining?)

[None42069 520]

Well the wonderbolts may be more 'skilled' flyers you see. Sure RD can beast to Mach 10, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't have to much control.

 

ಠ_ಠ

Rainbow Dash pulls off the Sonic Rainboom at Mach 10 and has pulled a perfect 90° turn at that speed. I think she can has control.

Also, she can pull it off at will.

[CommadorTheCyborgPony 53]

ಠ_ಠ

Rainbow Dash pulls off the Sonic Rainboom at Mach 10 and has pulled a perfect 90° turn at that speed. I think she can has control.

Also, she can pull it off at will.

 

She also has this move called the Buccaneers Blaze, which is so awesome they cant show it on screen and it creates an explosion.

[Teh Boi 113]

It's magic, I ain't gotta explain shit.

But really, I think we all watched the youtube video. Also, explain the Sonic Rainboom of the wedding.

[Comet Tail 808]

From the show you can see a Mach cone forming around Rainbowdash before she does a sonic rainboom.

 

During the first stage (where it is round) she has broken the speed of sound and has created a Sonic Boom with ease. She is now going at speeds above 761 MPH, or the speed of sound.

 

Her speed increases at the cone's angle becomes lower and lower until it is an actual cone at Stage two.

Here her speed is Mach 5 and above.

 

Then the Sonic RainBoom happens in which Her speed nearly doubles to Mach ten, The sonic RainBoom is so powerful it shatters the visible light spectrum. Upon reaching Mach 10 she is going 10x the speed of sound which is 7160 MPH or 123.83 Miles per Second.

 

WHY IS SHE NOT IN THE WONDERBOLTS ALREADY!?!?!

I only did some of these calculations and the rest of the info i got off the internet such as the speed increase rate as her mach cone becomes an actual cone.

 

TL;DR: after her sonic Rainboom RainbowDash is going at Mach 10, 7,610 MPH, or 123.83 Miles Per Second this range of speed is called "High HyperSonic". RainbowDash is going at High Hyper sonic Speeds she REALLY need to be on the Wonderbolts.

 

Discuss away at how mindblown you are!

 

Please correct the OP

 

lol, objects in Low Earth Orbit go 17,800 MPH, mach 27 (though the speed of sound is a little different in the thermosphere, upper atmosphere above 85 km. The atmosphere makes it impossible to maintain an orbit below ~150 km.) and going at 17,800 mph and mach 27 they travel at 5 miles per second.

 

I somehow doubt 7,600 mph translates into 123.8 miles per second.

 

Also consider this: She was going nearly straight down for quiet a good amount of time. At least 10 seconds. If cloudsdale was 1,238 miles high... Well suffice it to say, the Space Shuttle can't even reach that altitude by a long shot

(Explanation; it takes energy, i.e. fuel to raise the orbit higher. Shuttle doesn't carry enough)

[Proctra Music 335]

ಠ_ಠ

Rainbow Dash pulls off the Sonic Rainboom at Mach 10 and has pulled a perfect 90° turn at that speed. I think she can has control.

Also, she can pull it off at will.

 

Obviously slowing down quite a bit before her turn as well. Also, the wonderbolts dubbed Celestia's personal gaurds are definitely more combat sound then RD.

And I hope you know I'm not bashing RD, she is however, my most liked of the mane six.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Dеrpy

[CommadorTheCyborgPony 53]

Please correct the OP

 

lol, objects in Low Earth Orbit go 17,800 MPH, mach 27 (though the speed of sound is a little different in the thermosphere, upper atmosphere above 85 km. The atmosphere makes it impossible to maintain an orbit below ~150 km.) and going at 17,800 mph and mach 27 they travel at 5 miles per second.

 

I somehow doubt 7,600 mph translates into 123.8 miles per second.

 

Also consider this: She was going nearly straight down for quiet a good amount of time. At least 10 seconds. If cloudsdale was 1,238 miles high... Well suffice it to say, the Space Shuttle can't even reach that altitude by a long shot

(Explanation; it takes energy, i.e. fuel to raise the orbit higher. Shuttle doesn't carry enough)

 

Sorry that Miles Per MINUTE, she goes 2.063 Miles per second. which is still a lot if you think about it.

 

Obviously slowing down quite a bit before her turn as well. Also, the wonderbolts dubbed Celestia's personal gaurds are definitely more combat sound then RD.

And I hope you know I'm not bashing RD, she is however, my most liked of the mane six.

 

RD can Smash into SOLID ROCK and get back up, Her guards get hit by a little magic (See season 1 episode 1 part 2) and can barely get back up. I think shes a bit stronger and more durable than Celestia's guards. and even so she pulled of a 90 degree turn while going at mach 5 speeds Edited July 27, 2012 by JayFeather~

[Comet Tail 808]

Sorry that Miles Per MINUTE, she goes 2.063 Miles per second. which is still a lot if you think about it.

 

 

RD can Smash into SOLID ROCK and get back up, Her guards get hit by a little magic (See season 1 episode 1 part 2) and can barely get back up. I think shes a bit stronger and more durable than Celestia's guards. and even so she pulled of a 90 degree turn while going at mach 5 speeds

 

They were hit by lightning... In metal armor

 

Also, look at the "Rainbow Dash Fan Club" thread, and Kyronea's analysis. I think they got it perfect with this:

Dash is too much of a "free spirit". She needs more discipline and teamwork skills to make it in a group like the WB's.

Edited July 27, 2012 by Mattlight

[CommadorTheCyborgPony 53]

They were hit by lightning... In metal armor

 

Also, look at the "Rainbow Dash Fan Club" thread, and Kyronea's analysis. I think they got it perfect with this:

Dash is too much of a "free spirit". She needs more discipline and teamwork skills to make it in a group like the WB's.

 

I guess you can say that the show isn't really realistic.They are probably right about RD needing training, she is after all like 19.

 

And by the way, if she was going at Mach 10 speeds her eyeballs would effectivly be ripped out of her head, or at least implode into her head.

Edited July 27, 2012 by JayFeather~

[Comet Tail 808]

I guess you can say that the show isn't really realistic.They are probably right about RD needing training, she is after all like 19.

 

And by the way, if she was going at Mach 10 speeds her eyeballs would effectivly be ripped out of her head, or at least implode into her head.

 

Or the "mach cone" was just drawn for artistic effect

[thegoodhen 698]

Wow O_o Actually, you could also calculate how strong she is, using direction change over time, thus calculating the G-force and using the estimate of pony weight times the number of ponies she was holding... Well, I would surely get lost in the calculations-but she is VERY strong.

[Coffeesaxophone 11]

The sonic cone is around her for quite a bit of time before she does the rainboom so that means that Cloudsdale is quite high above!

(Can somebody please post the calculations in the metric system and in KPH)

[Comet Tail 808]

I guess you can say that the show isn't really realistic.They are probably right about RD needing training, she is after all like 19.

 

And by the way, if she was going at Mach 10 speeds her eyeballs would effectivly be ripped out of her head, or at least implode into her head.

 

Not necessarily. Pilots and astronauts are fine because they're protected by a layer of material that shields them from the supersonic/hypersonic airflow.

 

While Rainbow Dash wasn't inside a vehicle, she was holding her front hooves out front, which created a detached shock wave. All the force of supersonic speed was on her hooves, not her face!

 

The area behind a shockwave experiences much less drag and turbulence, as such, any part of her behind that "mach cone" wasn't feeling the force of hypersonic travel, but regular subsonic travel.

 

No need for Hollywood-esque unnecessary gore

 

It's like some Mars movie I heard of where someone had their helmet crack open and something like what you mention happened. Lol, vacuum exposure does nothing of that sort, a number of people have been exposed to a vacuum for about 3-5 minutes and survived just fine.

 

Like I said, no need for Hollywood-esque horror gore.

 

Wow O_o Actually, you could also calculate how strong she is, using direction change over time, thus calculating the G-force and using the estimate of pony weight times the number of ponies she was holding... Well, I would surely get lost in the calculations-but she is VERY strong.

 

Or just by measuring her climb rate. As far as we can tell, she turned instantly, which means infinite G's

 

But something to note: You can turn off your engines, glide, go straight down, then grab something and go straight up.

 

My point: She doesn't even have to be strong enough to lift those 3 Wonderbolts and Rarity in flight. Like a Roller Coaster, she may have built up enough speed in the downward part of her flight to pick them up and go back upwards.

 

Then, even if she's not generating enough thrust to overcome gravity, she would be generating enough thrust to lessen gravity's effect, allowing her to go all the way back up to Cloudsdale before running out of speed.

 

I'm doing some serious work on this now, getting RD's speed assuming the mach cone effect was purely artistic license

 

 

The sonic cone is around her for quite a bit of time before she does the rainboom so that means that Cloudsdale is quite high above!

(Can somebody please post the calculations in the metric system and in KPH)

 

1 mph = ~1.61 kph.

 

So 7,610 mph = 12,252 kph

 

That's mach 10, though. Mach cones can form at mach 1.

 

Actually, the bowed, curved cones aren't mach cones. That's just condensation, which can occur at any speed, depending on the weather and change in pressure that the flying object is causing.

 

(Some folks who've served in the armed forces have mentioned that condensation like that can occur on the intakes of jet engines sitting stationary)

 

"mach cones", or shockwaves, aren't bowed:

 

Edited July 27, 2012 by Mattlight

[Twiliscael 3,958]

Lol Wedding rainboom > all science trying to explain rainboom.

 

Looky here, this is a sentence. This is another.

[SapphireDragon 10]

lol, yeah. i still don't get why she's not in the wonderbolts yet. if i were spitfire, i would accept her right away!

[Night Shine 767]

Geez.

A casual observer would never expect MLP to bring up as much scientific debate and actual intelligent discussion as flipping Star Trek would.

[Comet Tail 808]

Geez.

A casual observer would never expect MLP to bring up as much scientific debate and actual intelligent discussion as flipping Star Trek would.

 

You're wrong. I'm pretty sure FiM has brought up more truly scientific discussion than Star Trek. Especially when it comes to using real math XD

 

And this is extremely light compared to a thread I started: http://mlpforums.com/topic/25456-the-power-of-twilight-sparkle-in-kilowatts/

[BaBaBrony 111]

You're wrong. I'm pretty sure FiM has brought up more truly scientific discussion than Star Trek. Especially when it comes to using real math XD

 

And this is extremely light compared to a thread I started: http://mlpforums.com...e-in-kilowatts/

 

Do you mean FiM has brought up more truly scientific discussion than Star Trek here on the forum or in general?

[Meson Bolt 2,647]

Ah the Sonic Rainboom. A topic that has, dare I say, caused more than a couple tons of discussion in the fandom? After all, who doesn't want to fly at speeds of Mach 10 or higher? Seriously, that would be -- if you don't count the G-forces that go with that maneuver -- pretty flippin' awesome.

 

I've looked at the Mach 10 theory, and I have to say, I'm impressed with the math. It's not your everyday brony physicist who can deduce the speed of a flying magical pony by the angle of a mach cone. But here's something I'd like to pitch -- what if we've all been focusing on the wrong thing? We've all been looking at the animation -- the sonic boom, the mach cone, etc., when we really have no proof that the animation is 100% accurate.

 

Here's something that I think the fandom's been overlooking, and it's really quite simple. The distance Rainbow Dash flew to get to the ground is equivalent (give or take a few hundred feet) to the altitude of Cloudsdale. Now since we know Cloudsdale is a mobile cloud platform we can't get a solid number, but we certainly know that Dash didn't travel at Mach 10.

 

The formula I'm going to be using for this calculation is a very simple one -- the distance formula.

 

Distance (Cloudsdale's altitude) = Rate (RD's speed) x Time (How long it took her to reach the ground)

 

This formula (which is so simple and clear-cut that almost any 5th grader can understand it) states that the distance Rainbow flew (in this case, the altitude of Cloudsdale) would be equivalent to the speed of the traveler (her speed) multiplied by the time it took her to reach the ground.

 

From the moment Rainbow Dash took off after that iconic "Hold on, Rarity!", the time it took for her to reach the ground was 32.03 seconds (I timed her five times and took the average). Plugging in this number, we now have:

 

Cloudsdale's altitude = RD's speed x 32.03 seconds

 

But if we're to solve for speed, we're gonna need Cloudsdale's altitude. But just for bleeps and giggles, let's see how high up Cloudsdale would be if RD were travelling at Mach 10, shall we?

 

Cloudsdale's altitude = 11253.30 feet/second x 32.03 seconds

 

Cloudsdale's altitude = 360443.199 feet (68.27 miles, or 109.86 km)

 

(I realize this calculation is not 100% accurate, since I used Mach 10 as a speed for the entirety of the flight (32.03 seconds), not just for the 11.67 seconds after the Rainboom occurred. However the conclusion reached would still be an enormously large number that would be just as unbelievable and easily serve the same purpose)

 

Any casual observation of Cloudsdale easily disproves this theory, I mean just look at it, it can't possibly be 68 miles above the ground! At that altitude, the ponies wouldn't be able to breathe due to the lack of oxygen. They'd also suffer from severe sunburn and skin cancer, since at that altitude the ozone layer doesn't block ultraviolet rays of the sun. And finally, if a pony that was somehow acclimatized to that climate were to travel from Cloudsdale to the ground, as we see in the episode, she would die due to an overdose of oxygen.

 

So, Mach 10 theory. Cool for one pony, not so hot for the rest of Cloudsdale, eh? So, what do we do now? Well we look for Cloudsdale's maximum altitude.

 

Consider this -- if Cloudsdale is a mobile weather platform, it must have some sort of altitude limit, right? I mean, how far up can you go until the ponies run out of air? What is the maximum tolerable altitude for Cloudsdale?

 

Well, sadly Wikipedia doesn't have an article for the "maximum tolerable altitude for flying magical ponies in a kid's cartoon", but I was able to find the maximum tolerable altitude for humans. According to the article, it states that human beings have survived for two years at an altitude of 5.95 km, or 19,250 feet. And although I know this isn't exactly accurate to the ponies, I can't do any better. I mean seriously, what do you want from me?

 

I could just plug in the numbers and say 'voila!', but while conducting this theory I did notice something. Since it's impossible to judge the distance traveled between the time that she took off and the moment when her Rainboom occurred, calculations from this point on will be for the average speed of her entire descending flight. Sorry, I'm just not about to go into a 6-day research-fest to find out the exact speed of a pastel-colored pegasus. I may love ya Dashie, but not that much. Sorry.

 

Now, with that little disclaimer out of the way, number-plug-in-time!

 

Cloudsdale's supposed maximum altitude (19,250 feet) = Rainbow Dash's speed x 32.03 seconds (again, solving for average speed)

 

19,250 feet/32.03 seconds = Rainbow Dash's speed

 

Rainbow Dash's speed = 600.9991 feet per second (409.7721 miles per hour, or mach 0.534)

 

Again, this is her AVERAGE speed for her descending flight. During her acceleration period, which lasted almost twice as long as the period after the Rainboom, she was still gaining speed, so she could have broken the sound barrier. I firmly believe that at the moment of the Sonic Rainboom, she breached mach 1, and due to her natural tendency to leave rainbows in her wake (check the intro yo), the rainbows mixed with the sonic boom, creating what is known as a Sonic Rainboom.

 

Now before you go all butthurt rage on me, listen up. Rainbow Dash may have only breached Mach 1 during her first run, but something that I found interesting was the fact that she never stopped accelerating. How do we know? Well, surprisingly, her return speed to Cloudsdale is incredibly faster than her descending speed.

 

That's right. During her return to Cloudsdale, she clocks in at a mind-blowing 5.45 seconds, less than a fifth of her descent speed! Plugging this new information into our distance formula, we get this.

 

19,250 feet = Rainbow Dash's speed x 5.45 seconds

 

Rainbow Dash's speed = 3,532.11 feet per second (2408.26 miles per hour, or mach 3.14)

 

Mind you, that's her average return speed. As a rough estimate, she could have easily breached Mach 4, and possibly higher if she had time to build up speed.

 

Although we cannot conclusively quantify Rainbow Dash's top speed, we know based on the distance formula that her first Sonic Rainboom was indeed a breach of the sound barrier. We can also deduce that, based on her quick acceleration from mach 1 to mach 3.14, it is plausible to theorize that her top speed is above this, perhaps even mach 10.

 

So this question arises: if Rainbow Dash could fly at much higher speeds than mach 1, why did she take so long descending when she knew Rarity's life was in the balance?

 

Here's my theory -- Rainbow Dash knows that she's impossibly fast compared to the average pegasus. With this power, she could have easily raced down and caught Rarity before she was even near the ground. But she also knows that, at high speeds, she might not have as much control as she would normally flying. Taking this into account, she slowly descends towards Rarity, moving at just the right speed to catch her and the Wonderbolts, and still have enough time to level out. Once she had them, there was no reason to prolong the flight, so she made the return trip back as quick as possible, but only once she was sure they were safe.

 

Rainbow Dash is like Superman in this sense. She knows she's fast, but if she had abandoned all pretense and raced down to save Rarity at top speed, she might not have had enough control to level out, and they would both die. Although I very much dislike some of Rainbow's character flaws, I think we all can greatly appreciate this aspect of self-control. When her friends' lives are at stake, she doesn't rush recklessly into the situation without a plan. Granted, the plan may not always be good, but it's better to have at least a semi-cautious savior than a bumbling idiot.

 

And in my opinion, anypony who has enough self-control to consciously subdue her full potential in order to ensure the well-being of her friend is more than worthy of the Element of Loyalty.

 

...Welp, now I'm tired, so I'mma head off to bed. G'night everypony, and stay frosty!

Edited December 7, 2015 by Meson Bolt

[Humphrey 49]

Cloudsdale's altitude = RD's speed x 32.03 seconds

I am not sure we can calculate like that. Rainbow Dash didn't fly at a static velocity. Her speed varied a lot, from low speed to supersonic, and its value depends on too many variables. but we can estimate the height of Cloudsdale by Rarity's falling. If we use finite element methods, we may be able to find the drag of rarity at one particular speed. Thus, we can get Rarity's coefficient of drag and use equation D=C*ρv^2*A/2 to estimate her drag as a function of velocity.

With  another two equations a*dx=v*dv ,  a=(G-D)/m(Rarity) , we are able to obtain the distance she fell before reaching an equilibrium point where drag is equals to her weight. 

The total distance Rarity travels is x=x(before equilibrium) + v(equilibrium)*t(after equilibrium)

The distance between Cloudsdale and ground is equals to x-x(R's initial position relative to stadium) -x(R's final position relative to ground)

As rarity's equilibrium speed should be much lower than the speed of sound, and I estimate that this velocity should actually lower than 120m/s (I assure you the actual equilibrium speed should be mush lower than that), the altitude of Cloudsdale should be no more than h= c*t=120m/s * 50s=6000m (less than 20000 feet)

if rainbow dash did travel at mach 10, she only had less than 2 seconds before she hit the ground.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Humphrey