Could someone check my maths, please?
David Shaw 14 Jan 2015 18:47 UTC
I have never attempted relativistic calculations before and wondered if
I have this right.
I am currently reading John Ringo's 'Gust Front' in which a ground based
anti-starship weapon is described as firing bars of depleted uranium,
100mm in diameter and two metres long at a muzzle velocity of 0.3c.
I make this a KE of 1.302 exa-Joules, equivalent to a touch over 311MT
of TNT. Is this right? And would such a weapon system really be
feasible within an Earth-standard atmosphere?
Many thanks,
David Shaw