How do you think the Sonic Rainboom is achieved?

[Akemi Homura 7,682]

Personally, I believe that the Sonic Rainboom is a feat that is done through powerful emotions. Allow me to clarify. When Rarity was falling to her death in "Sonic Rainboom", Rainbow Dash couldn't let this happen. Fearing Rarity's death, she flew down as fast as she could and in doing so, she inadvertently pulled it off, because it was her will to save her friend - not the will to perform a sonic rainboom - that ultimately made it happen. Because she cared more about her friend than trying to pull off a spectacular feat.

 

What do you think?

[83awsm 234]

I think the emotional will gave her the extra physical strength to pull it off, at least in that particular episode. I see where you’re going with this though, it does seem that every time she’s successful it's for a strong purpose like saving rarity or defending fluttershy’s honor.

[Swordfishtrombone 384]

Yeah, I'm getting the idea. Notice how she does one when she (probably) isn't thinking about it.

[Jadefire 2,798]

Pure awesomness.

 

Yeah, a solution of 3% oxygen to 7% nitrogen to 90% awesome when put under significant pressure will explode into a blast of rainbow light. It's an old method of reimpregnating colored light into depleted rainbow material.

 

The fact that Rainbow Dash pulled off the reaction in flight using a sonic boom to provide the needed pressure is a testament to her coolness.

[Comet Tail 809]

Heh, if this is true, then it might act like a mechanism to help her learn to be less boastful. We covered that in "Mare Do Well", but she's still not totally humble. It's nice because if she tries to do it for her own glory and honor - she can't pull it off. But if she's doing it for a nobler cause, then it will happen

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

Rainboomist Theoretics leads oneself to believe one of three possibilities:

• Willing Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom anytime she wishes, assuming she follows the proper stance as seen in the show; she must have both hooves forwards, not just one.
• Post-Nukian Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom anytime she wishes, granted that the episode takes place cronologically after Lesson Zero. This is because in that episode, the 'Sonic Rain-Nuke' is proof of her ability to execute Rainboomian physics at will.
• Imperillism Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is only able to do a Rainboom when somepony is in danger and fight-instinct drives her ability.
• Top Gun Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom when she has the need. The need for speed.

[Comet Tail 809]

Heh, right, more on-topic, though, there must be something like unicorn magic at work propelling her forward.

 

Remember, the Sonic Rainboom is just a legend, nobody's done it for a huge amount of time (decades, centuries, millenia?) until she did it as a filly, which is undoubtably due to her connection with the Elements of Harmony. Kyronea wrote quiet a bit about that in her psychological analysis', in every one of the characters' analysis, IIRC.

 

This is backed up by two things...

 

1:The fastest any bird can fly, is about 110 mph, record-setting. A human has a maximum terminal speed of about 200 mph. (the balance-point of drag slowing you down and gravity pulling you down) Together, this will give a maximum dive speed of ~230 mph. (aerodynamc drag goes by the square of the velocity, so you don't add the speeds together, you use a pythagorean form of (v_t² = v₁² + v₂²) Pegasus are smaller and lighter than humans, meaning their terminal speed would be much slower. And even with a 200 mph level-flight speed, we still only get ~280 mph max dive speed.

 

A far cry from 770 mph (give or take a few, depending on the weather and altitude).

 

2:Call it a hunch, but something tells me it's impossible to go faster than sound without a brayton cycle (a jet engine, which compresses air and has combustion) or a rocket. In other words, it's impossible to go faster than sound just by pushing on air with wings.

 

 

So there has to be something else propelling Rainbow Dash. We know unicorns have telekenisis, a magic that can exert a force, so a similar magic must be at work for RD.

 

Luckily, she put her strong hooves forward to act as a drag-resistant aerospike. See, the powerful shockwaves form on her hooves instead of her face. If she lowers both her hooves, it's possible the shockwave could do some nasty things to her face...

 

(Well, aside from causing her to tumble and doing some other grotesque things to her body... There's some really serious force at those speeds. I'll calculate the pressure in a jiffy.)

 

EDIT: Excuse-moi. Turns out dynamic pressure at mach 1 with supersonic flow is only about 3/4ths of an atmosphere, so about 10.4 pounds per square inch of pressure. Oh, it'll hurt and deform things, but won't do anything permanent. But if she tries to extend wings at full brake at that speed, she could break one. In fact, as she goes trans-sonic, the pressure would significantly increase, and she definitely would break a wing if she did that, at least.

(where I got my numbers)

 

I guess I was just thinking of dynamic pressure that rockets go into at launch, up to 10,000 pounds per square inch! But I guess mach 1 is so much slower it isn't anything like that at all... /EDIT

 

 

By the way, I don't agree with the guy that says she goes mach 5.

#1, it's just artistic rendition, canon is she went mach 1

#2, in the lower atmosphere (troposphere, 30,000 feet or lower, anywhere anything can breathe) you begin to have serious heating issues in-between mach 2 and 3. She would be incinerated at mach 4, never mind anything higher. Heck, titanium aircraft would be incinerated at mach 3 below 70,000 feet, and at 50,000 feet you'd might as well be in space, in terms of being able to breathe. And there's this revolutionary type of jet engine, a scramjet, that they're having serious issues with because it needs a minimum speed of mach 4 to work, and they haven't built anything that can go that fast that low without melting.

#3, She goes at the rainbow speed for 10 seconds. Mach 5 is 5,575 feet/second. She'd have to have done it at 55,600 feet or so, and if Cloudsdale was as much as 28,000 feet, nopony would be able to breathe except the pegasi, assuming they have eagle-like lungs.

 

...

• Post-Nukian Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom anytime she wishes, granted that the episode takes place cronologically after Lesson Zero. This is because in that episode, the 'Sonic Rain-Nuke' is proof of her ability to execute Rainboomian physics at will.
• ...

OBJECTION!

 

There's no proof she conducted a sonic rain-boom. A "Sonic Rain-Nuke" may be, and probably is, totally unrelated

Edited March 16, 2012 by EASA - Dr. Braun

[Dragonshy 2,305]

Well when she was a kid she said: I hating losing, so that might have motivated her

[/mlp/ 106]

When you have achieved a HIGH of speed like mach 5 or mach 10 you can create one...i've seen Sonic the hedgehog do

it many times...it really isn't a new thing :/

[cuteycindyhoney 13,341]

Could eating beans for dinner the night before help?

 

 

 

Ignite afterburners!

[Twi Rubix 726]

I think your right on the whole "Powerful emotion" thing, but I think its simply just getting the required speed, but the motivation like Rarity falling can really raise her chances!

[Zenith 669]

Acid.

 

I think it's willpower, speed and stength—things such as those.

[Dany Heatley 160]

Heh, right, more on-topic, though, there must be something like unicorn magic at work propelling her forward.

 

Remember, the Sonic Rainboom is just a legend, nobody's done it for a huge amount of time (decades, centuries, millenia?) until she did it as a filly, which is undoubtably due to her connection with the Elements of Harmony. Kyronea wrote quiet a bit about that in her psychological analysis', in every one of the characters' analysis, IIRC.

 

This is backed up by two things...

 

1:The fastest any bird can fly, is about 110 mph, record-setting. A human has a maximum terminal speed of about 200 mph. (the balance-point of drag slowing you down and gravity pulling you down) Together, this will give a maximum dive speed of ~230 mph. (aerodynamc drag goes by the square of the velocity, so you don't add the speeds together, you use a pythagorean form of (v_t² = v₁² + v₂²) Pegasus are smaller and lighter than humans, meaning their terminal speed would be much slower. And even with a 200 mph level-flight speed, we still only get ~280 mph max dive speed.

 

 

that's assuming equestria has the same atmosphere as earth... it could be made of a less dense element that could allow her to go faster... or something

[Comet Tail 809]

that's assuming equestria has the same atmosphere as earth... it could be made of a less dense element that could allow her to go faster... or something

Interesting, but lowering air density would result in a linear change in velocity. How low can we go, in terms of air density/pressure?

 

The people that live in extremely high-altitude villages in Nepal, near Mt. Everest (I think they're called Sherpas?), can survive on an air pressure much lower than any other human can, even fully aclimated. Their generations of living there have allowed their bodies to adapt to the thinner air, I guess. And even they have a limit up about 300 mb. (mb, that's milibar, or 1/1000th atmosphere, so 300mb = ~1/3rd atmosphere). My guess is, no Earth-like life could survive on less than 200 mb (sky would be very dark), and the sky would be black at 100 mb (1/10th)!

 

This just comes from my knowledge of what different altitudes are like, plus this page.

 

That all comes from a 81-19 Nitrogen-Oxygen mix, though. You can enrich the air, more oxygen, but that also makes everything more flammable. I remember reading somewhere at about 25% oxygen, even wet leaves can burn! So you can't go too far with it, or forest fires will ravage your planet...

(Not even YOU can prevent forest fires...)

 

And certainly, the sky isn't black or dark, so with the blue sky we see I'd say 300 mb minimum.

 

 

I still think there's magic involved. I mean, it makes a lot more sense to me than just willpower or whatnot. I mean, something that hasn't been done in maybe centuries, this absolutely amazing feat, she's only done it twice, the first time earned all of the bearers of the elements of harmony their cutie marks, and set their lives straight and made them who they are, and ultimately set them up to defeat Nightmare Moon years later, and the second time saved one of their lives (which allowed them to later defeat Discord, and save Equestria again.)

 

Not to mention the sheer coincidence - that the one pegasus that can pull it off in centuries is also a bearer of the elements? I think it's certianly tied to the elements and magic. I mean, unicorns use magic all the time, it's not like magic is anything new in Equestria, just a force that can be applied over distance.

 

If you've read much about quantum mechanics... It will all seem very normal to you lol.

 

(You see, we have this idea that you have to be touching on something to push it, magnetic fields have to touch to interact, a missile has to hit the target to "interact" with it, etc. That's called locality. Quantum mechanics has shown that that's wrong. You can have two particles instantaneously effect eachother without any field or force, across the entire universe, as if they were virtually on top of eachother. Sadly, you can't use this to send information, but it does show that something like unicorn magic isn't as exotic as it seems, compared to how the universe actually is. Read enough about quantum mechanics and really nothing will seem strange anymore... Except some people. But I think we'll understand much more about the universe before we understand why some people are the way they are... _{Kudos to whoever gets the ref} )

Edited March 17, 2012 by EASA - Dr. Braun

[Eenohay 318]

Rainboomist Theoretics leads oneself to believe one of three possibilities:

• Willing Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom anytime she wishes, assuming she follows the proper stance as seen in the show; she must have both hooves forwards, not just one.
• Post-Nukian Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom anytime she wishes, granted that the episode takes place cronologically after Lesson Zero. This is because in that episode, the 'Sonic Rain-Nuke' is proof of her ability to execute Rainboomian physics at will.
• Imperillism Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is only able to do a Rainboom when somepony is in danger and fight-instinct drives her ability.
• Top Gun Rainboom Theory: Rainbow Dash is able to do a Rainboom when she has the need. The need for speed.

Well, it's either she does it when she doesn't think about it (It's possible the Sonic Rainboom in lesson zero was unintentional) or that she is begging to master the technique and can do it at will (Kinda)

[Jokuc 8,175]

I think it's about speed and will.

[SBaby 660]

It's so simple. Here.

 

 

And that's how Equestria was made.

[WiponCat 54]

It wouldn't surprise me If it was 'fueled' by emotion since i get all

[FlutterDerpy582 89]

I agree with the original answer saying that its the overwhelm of emotions, not the will to preform a sonic rainboom first hand. In the beggining of the episode "Sonic Rainboom" Rainbow Dash tried her absolute hardest to preform one, and failed countless times. Now let's take a look at the 2 known times we see her actually do one. The first time was in "Cutie Mark Chronicles" when she wanted to prove the ponys she could beat them in a race. Her intension at the time were only to win, not to perform a sonic rainboom. The other ponys pushed RB away and she felt the anger, and absolute rage go completely through her, and sped through everyone. The next time we see her do this was when Rarity was falling to her death. The moment RD saw this she flew down as fast as she could, once again, not intending to do one it was simply the overflow of emotions to do the right thing. The sonic rainboom is not about speed, but adrenalin, and in MLP's way of putting it, a will to do the right thing.

 

Also, I want to hear every pony's opinion on the sonic rainboom that essentially gave the Mane 5 their Cutie Marks. What do you think about this, and what do you think it represents?

Edited March 19, 2012 by YourAverageBronie582

[Espionage 113]

Simple. A sonic boom is created when any object moves faster than the Speed of Sound. For sake of simple calculation, let's say that number is 300 meters/second. It really depends on the medium but let's just state that it is 300 meters a second in the Equestria Medium. Let's also make this the standard for all mediums and altitudes.

 

All Dashie needs to do is go faster than 300 meters a second.

[Crispy 5,565]

"How do you think the Sonic Rainboom is achieved?"

 

[The Alpha Team 51]

In a manner similiat to a Saiyan's initial Super Saiyan transformation

[MissDo 195]

Instead of a load of physics to understand how fast she actually went, look up some brony research videos online! There was one video that explained it by calculating her speed at the top point of her sonic boom.

 

Anyway, both cases of her rainboom I'd say only occured because she had an emotional need to complete it. The first time she did it to defend Fluttershy's honor, and the second time was to save Rarity! She couldn't have done it without her friends!

[Hatguy 38]

I don't think she can rainboom on purpose but at the same time I think she is only prevented from doing it because of nervousness that is to say that when she does it accidentally (the rainnuke) or is distracted by some sort of peril (the other rainbooms) she can do it. As far as the physics of it go the wings are too small and the body not aerodynamic enough to attain flight naturally anyways so her flight must be magically assisted all the time not just during a rainboom.

[I used to be a stranger 7,994]

The pressure wave is symbolic of stage fright.