Tag Archives: Physics

Special (Epic) Episode 69: Star Wars Physics

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StarWarsPhysics

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Tek, Nutty, and Adam discuss some star wars physics and what they think of the new lightsaber.

Hosts

Music

Emm Gryner: Excess Baggage
Home Page: http://www.emmgryner.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/emmgryner/

In Dreams: 8-Bit Man
Bandcamp: indreamsband.bandcamp.com
Facebook: facebook.com/indreamsband
Twitter: @indreamsband

Show Notes

Original article from IO9: If This Doesn’t Sell You On Episode VII’s New Lightsaber, Nothing Will.

Youtube Playlist: Lightsaber Cross-guard Test by ThegnThrand

Corrections

If you noticed any issues with this episode and would like us to post a correction, email us here: epicchsr@gmail.com or tweet us at: @epicchsr

Credits

  • Produced in partnership with CHSR 97.9 FM in Fredericton, New Brunswick
  • Post Editing: Marc Cabot
  • Opening Sketch written by: Marc Cabot
  • Opening/Closing Music: ”Cheezee Lab” by Kevin MacLeod via Incompetech.com
  • Epic is published by CHSR Broadcasting Inc.
  • All views expressed on this program are solely those of the individual and not necessarily that of CHSR Broadcasting or Geekloo.

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Nutty Bites 34: Physics, Newton’s Three Laws, a panel hosted by The Clockwork Doctor

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The Clockwork Doctor Presents - Newton's Three Laws - Nutty BitesBack during Labor Day Weekend NIMLAS Studios participated in the virtual uncon Dragon*Cant. The Clockwork Doctor Hosted a panel on physics and Newton’s Three Laws.  I’ve edited the recording and am releasing it as a Nutty Bites episode.  If you’d like more shows like this, please let us know, and tell The Clockwork Doctor to get on that.

Promos

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Created by NIMLAS SUDIOS
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 

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Answers from the Vault: I answer YOUR questions….on Mars!

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A beautiful view of Mars, from Wikipedia and NASA

“What would the wingspan of a glider on Mars be?”

Flying on Mars is tricky.  I know, I’ve done it.  Well, that is to say, I’ve done it in a simulator.  Because a flight simulator is nothing but a giant physics engine with a bunch of mathematical constants plugged in, its possible to have the simulator spit out the atmospheric conditions of almost anywhere, and then re-create it.  X-Plane, by Laminar Research is perhaps the best such flight sim available on the commercial market, and using some NASA atmospheric and geographical data, allows you to recreate flying on Mars in a pretty believable way.

Wings (airfoils) only work when the air current flows over them at a certain speed.  That speed is dependent on the airfoil shape, and is subject to a lot of heavy math well above my humble head to try and figure out.  If the speed of the flow over the airfoil gets too low, it stops generating lift.  This is called a stall, and is generally bad news for whatever the airfoil is attached to, that is: the rest of the plane with you in it.  So a certain speed needs to be maintained in order to stay in the air.  With a powered airplane, the engine provides that forward speed.  In a Helicopter, the rotation of the blades provides the lift, and in a glider it is gravity pulling the plane downwards that provides the lift.  Let’s throw a theoretical number out there.  Imagine that Glider X needed to maintain a minimum speed of 20 miles per hour in order to stay airborne.

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The Man of Steel picks a new Arch-Enemy: Sir Isaac Newton!

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“Stronger than a locomotive, Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…. Look, in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane!  IT’S SUPERMAN!!!!”

We should all remember those immortal words announcing the arrival of one of the world’s most beloved superheroes.  Like him or not, his books have been selling well for D.C, for over the last 80 years.  Following the trend of other super hero franchises of the past few years, Superman is getting another reboot movie coming out next year.  Titled The Man of Steel and directed by Zack Snyder it promises to be a good time at the movies.  The teaser trailer was recently released, and although I’m very much looking to this movie, there was one error of physics that just confused me, and let me down.

Let’s all take a break and watch the clip, and then come back and discuss it.  Let’s pay careful attention to about the 1:12 mark, where we see him flying through the clouds.

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An Introduction to Ballistics for Geeks, Writers, and Geeky Writers: Part 2 of Many

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Welcome back!  Today, let’s talk about external ballistics.

Bullet coming from S&W by Niels Noordhoek

Anything and everything on earth is affected by gravity.  Objects fall towards the earth at a constant rate, known as the gravitational constant (9.8 m/s²) .  I hear those sci-fi writers again.  Yes, if we were on the moon, or Mars, or somewhere else, that constant would be different, and the ballistic flight will be different, but let’s get there in a bit shall we?  Impatient Sci-Fi writers!  As a quick reference, Moon Gravity is roughly 1/6th that of earth, and Mars is roughly 1/3. Newton tells us that an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.  So in a theoretical, gravity free environment, the projectile would just keep going straight, in the last direction it was propelled. Of course, Gravity isn’t the only thing that affects a projectile.  The medium it flies in also plays a big part, by adding drag.  The air itself slows the projectile down.  In a vacuum there would be no aerodynamic drag, and the projectile would keep its velocity, until acted upon by something else.

That Newton guy is everywhere isn’t he?

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