How many megatons of energy are in a sonic rainboom?

[JamesBobbyDReed 103]

As fans believe, Rainbow Dash is capable of

breaking the sound barrier and fly at speeds

of 3800mph-78,000mph at hypersonic

measurements.

 

 

It is then capable of breaking solid rock and entire

mountains, and this barn.

 

 

Is there anything we can determine?

[Dr. Vojislav Seselj 691]

9001 kilotons

 

I don't know, but it'd take some power to bust open solid rock.

 

And you use newtons for force, tons are used for measuring the explosive force to the ground, so 1 MT is like a million elephants

[Emperor Posh 360]

This will not answer your question, but it does do some calculations of the Sonic Rainboom. I as for force I don't know, nor do I even want to attemp to figure it out.

 

 

Great... I am a squirrel..... Time to climb a tree.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Emperor Posh

[Declen 118]

If you want to calculate it, here are some hints:

a 2,5 kt boom has an effective blast radius of about 1 km.

The proportion between explosive yield and blast radius is cube root: 20 kt gives 2 km blast, 160 kt - 4 km and so on.

[Hive King 2,001]

I'm no mathematician, but I can calculate Celestia or Luna's power output. Considering that they move the Sun and Moon with ease, they could easily exert the 53 quadrillion megatons that is necessary to destroy the Earth via chain reaction. What does this have to do with anything? Rainbow is below that so.

 

53 quadrillion megatons>Sonic Rainbom. 

[JamesBobbyDReed 103]

9001 kilotons

 

I don't know, but it'd take some power to bust open solid rock.

 

And you use newtons for force, tons are used for measuring the explosive force to the ground, so 1 MT is like a million elephants

Not quite, maybe

 

But I just found out that one megaton is the equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT

[BalanceBrony 259]

Well, the force in Newtons is equal to the mass in kilograms times acceleration. We need to know Rainbow Dash's mass. The acceleration has already been calculated by the famous "Physics Brony."

Edited November 25, 2013 by BalanceBrony

[Declen 118]

 

 

We need to know Rainbow Dash's mass.

Have you seen a video, where some brony suggested that ponies consist of dark matter?

[BalanceBrony 259]

Have you seen a video, where some brony suggested that ponies consist of dark matter?

No. I have seen it posited that butterflies could be made of dark matter. But what does it mean if something is made of dark matter? I've heard the term many times, and know that it is one of the explanations for otherwise unexplained forces in the universe. But i don't necessarily know what dark matter entails. Explain plox?

Edited November 25, 2013 by BalanceBrony

[Declen 118]

No. I have seen it posited that butterflies could be made of dark matter.

I believe we talk about the same thing.

 

it is one of the explanations for otherwise unexplained forces in the universe.

That's pretty much it.

 

What I wanted to point at, is considering how ponies behave as simple physical objects, they must have much more or much less mass than they are normaly expected to. The guy in that video showed some moments when ponies violate laws of newtonian physics. So, he suggested one explanation: their masses have to differ, which he expressed as "they consist of dark matter".

 

If it's true, it will be a problem to find out RD's mass.

[BalanceBrony 259]

I beleave we talk about the same thing.

 

Tha't pretty much it.

What I wanted to point at, is considering how ponies behave as simple physical obects, they must have much more or much less mass than they normaly expected to. The guy in that wideo showed some moments when ponies violate laws of newtonic physics. So, he suggested only explonation: their masses have to differ which he expressed as "they consist of dark matter".

If it's true, it will be a problem to find out RD's mass.

 

But that only applies if we are trying to make it work in our world. In Equestria, the limits of physics don't apply, so we could imagine that RD is a normal pony, but "magic" makes her able to defy physics.

[Declen 118]

 

 

RD is a normal pony, but "magic" makes her able to defy physics.

That's certenly one possibility, regarding how pegasi can not only fly but also pull those carriots in the sky.

[Demirari 454]

Considering that you said that Rainbow Dash destroyed a mountain and other stuff, then we will take the weight of Mount Everest, which is around 113 trillion tons and we scale it down to, lets say, 50 trillion tons. And then divide it by 100 billion, which is the equivalent of 1 gigaton. We'll get around 5,000 gigaton's, assuming my math is correct. (Which isn't) And if we are proceeding with my faulty math here, she should have around 5,000 gigatons worth of power. Now, I personally don't believe she could go 78,000mph, but whatever. 

Edited November 25, 2013 by Demirari

[ping111 124]

Obviously, this show is a cartoon and no amount of g's or earth science will help you, but here's something I want to bring to the table.

 

Sonic Rainbooms are, in total theory and in perfect conditions, completely possible on our Planet Earth.  Or my, because I'm a solipsist.

 

Take the mantis shrimp.  Its claws can punch prey so hard the water around them supercavitates, meaning it boils instantly and causes a temporary vacuum and subsequent pressure explosion that creates a shimmering ring of rainbowy light.  Now, considering how when RD was first trying the Rainboom, the first part of her trick was to circle clouds several times.  Assuming that this was to lightly and evenly coat RD in water, the resistance of low-pressure, high-moisture, high-altitude air, such as that at which she was flying could actually cause the water to supercavitate, and trigger a chain reaction in the surrounding air with the vacuum.  Such would create a massive, expanding halo of rainbow - a sonic rainboom!

 

I'd love to work with someone on the calculations, but unfortunately I can't physics because no university.

[insert_username 1]

This is hard to tell since I don't know how much energy the magicrainbownonsensething posses but I can calculate Rainbow Dash kinetic energy. 

 

Lets calculate her speed first.

She produces Sonic Rainboom that is cannon. This should imply that prior to Sonic Rainboom she moves slower than mach 1 since her speed roughly doubles after doing Sonic Rainboom she can't move significantly faster than mach 2 after Sonic Rainboom.  Here are more reasons why this is (probably) true. The mach cone is there only because it looks cool not to correctly portray her speed. If her flying speed was "only" 3800 mph Rarity would be falling at roughly 1900 mph that is 2,5 mach (based on the fact that Rarity falls at roughly twice the speed that Rainbow Dash flies) which is ridiculous. (Also if the show represents speed with mach cone correctly where is Rarity's mach cone?) This was based on the fact that Rarity falls at roughly twice the speed than Rainbow Dash flies.

Conclusion: I will be very generous and say that she flies at mach 2,2. That is 1522,4 mph This way we can say that Rarity falls at roughly mach 0,95. (Which is still quite ridiculous for free fall.)

 

Now rainbow dash mass.

I know that I read somewhere that since mlp ponies have slimmer build than real ponies their volume is roughly same as that of human. (Also it isn't all that crazy to think Pegasus would be lighter.) But I want to be very generous so let's say Rainbow Dash weights 100 kg. (Poor dash I feel bad about making her that heavy.)

 

I should note that I was being very generous on Rainbow Dash here. I was picking the highest numbers that were at least near plausible.

 

Now the kinetic energy is 27975200 J or 27,9752 MJ.

 

 

!WARNING DISAPPOINTMENT IMMINENT!

 

!WARNING DISAPPOINTMENT IMMINENT!

 

 

Her energy is equivalent to roughly 0,000000006686 Megatons of TNT or 6,686 kg of TNT

(There is always chance that I made error in my calculation and if you find any error I would be grateful if you let me know.)

 

(I was actually expecting it would be less.)

 

I should also note that when I was referring to mach speed I meant speed of sound at sea level with air temperature roughly 20°C

 

p.s. English isn't my first language so I'm sorry if some of the sentences are awkwardly written but this is the best I can do.

 

edit:

 

Not quite, maybe   But I just found out that one megaton is the equivalent to 12,500 tons of TNT

I should first note that I don't want to make you feel bad I just want to correct you and increase your (or anyone else's who reads this and doesn't know) knowledge. 

First you can't compare tons with tons of TNT. Tons stand for mass while tons of TNT stand for how many tons of TNT would be needed to detonate to release equivalent energy.  

Second in this case Mega refers to unit prefix. for example 1km=1 000m and 1Mm=1 000 000m So 1 Megaton of TNT is equivalent to 1 000 000 tons of TNT or in joules 4,184PJ = 4 184 000 000 000 000J

Edited May 30, 2014 by insert_username

[Midnight Muse 5]

~ snipped ~

 

here is a youtube video that might help out

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84yWP5UbLu0

Edited June 1, 2014 by Feld0
snipped OP

[Darker 1,351]

How many MEGATONS?! I don't think it barely surpasses 1 Mt, which would be the equivalent of 1,000,000 tons of TNT.

 

Maybe a couple kilotons.

[Fractured 2,684]

approxiametly 2.3 gigatons, or 2,300 megatons. (Man, I hate lifting calcs.)
http://www.narutoforums.com/blog.php?b=21727

[Dattebayo 2,850]

Definitely enough for the shockwaves to shatter a rock and for its force to be felt super far away.

[LegendConductor 10]

I'm not sure about the Rainboom itself, and Death Battle messed up when they claimed it busted solid rock. It was a Geode, meaning it has a hollow middle lined with crystal, which is much easier to break than most solid rocks.I do know that if Rainbow dash was to kick someone while flying at the calculated Mach 10 after her Rainboom, she would Impart 2.3 Mega-tonnes onto whatever she hit. I just used the calculation for kinetic energy to joules conversion formula J=1/2M*V^2. Assuming she weighs 168 pounds (Calcs can be found here https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/147000/what-is-the-weight-of-ponies-of-the-my-little-pony-universe) and is moving at mach 10, She would deliver 988251600 Joules of energy, which can then be converted to Mega-tonnes resulting in 2.3619780114723E-7 Mt of kinetic energy being imparted on her poor poor target.