4 ms·

But what about the gravity of the Death Star? Wouldn’t the trash just land back onto the Death Star if they decided to release it into space?

zdyn5 3y ago
Not if they eject the trash above escape velocity
- smallmancontrov 3y ago
  Charge up the electromagnetic trash cannon!
  - brookst 3y ago
    Aka the trash to kinetic weapon converter.
  - greggsy 3y ago
    You’d presumably need some kind of trash compactor to maximise the efficiency.
    - woleium 3y ago
      Anything is a weapon if its going fast enough
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    This presumably was Humanity’s fall back if the fusion drives didn’t stop the Kzinti
iampivot 3y ago
Did anyone calculate the expected gravity of the death star, based on it's estimated mass?
ooterness 3y ago
Calculation time! Key assumptions. Wookiepedia lists 120 km for the diameter of the first Death Star [1]. Density of steel is around 8000 kg/m^3 [2]. As a wild guess, I'll assume a uniform sphere with about 1/4 that density (i.e., rho = 2000 kg/m^3), to account for open space etc. Surface gravity [3] is given by g = (4pi/3) * G * rho * r = 0.03 m/s^2 (i.e., about 0.3% that of Earth). Escape velocity [4] is given by v = sqrt(2 * g * r) = 60 m/s = 134 mph This is faster than I would have guessed, but I would expect that to be in reach for a good trebuchet. It's reasonable to assume the compactor is required to load compressed trash into such a device. [1] https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Star/Legends https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Star/Legends [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel#Properties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel#Properties [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity#Relationship_of_surface_gravity_to_mass_and_radius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity#Relationship_o... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity#Calculation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity#Calculation
- op00to 3y ago
  Do you think whatever artificial means they use to create gravity on the Death Star would affect the escape velocity?

zdyn5 3y ago

Not if they eject the trash above escape velocity

smallmancontrov 3y ago
Charge up the electromagnetic trash cannon!
- brookst 3y ago
  Aka the trash to kinetic weapon converter.
- greggsy 3y ago
  You’d presumably need some kind of trash compactor to maximise the efficiency.
  - woleium 3y ago
    Anything is a weapon if its going fast enough
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  This presumably was Humanity’s fall back if the fusion drives didn’t stop the Kzinti

iampivot 3y ago

Did anyone calculate the expected gravity of the death star, based on it's estimated mass?

ooterness 3y ago

Calculation time! Key assumptions. Wookiepedia lists 120 km for the diameter of the first Death Star [1]. Density of steel is around 8000 kg/m^3 [2]. As a wild guess, I'll assume a uniform sphere with about 1/4 that density (i.e., rho = 2000 kg/m^3), to account for open space etc. Surface gravity [3] is given by g = (4pi/3) * G * rho * r = 0.03 m/s^2 (i.e., about 0.3% that of Earth). Escape velocity [4] is given by v = sqrt(2 * g * r) = 60 m/s = 134 mph This is faster than I would have guessed, but I would expect that to be in reach for a good trebuchet. It's reasonable to assume the compactor is required to load compressed trash into such a device. [1] https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Star/Legends https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Star/Legends [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel#Properties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel#Properties [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity#Relationship_of_surface_gravity_to_mass_and_radius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity#Relationship_o... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity#Calculation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_velocity#Calculation

op00to 3y ago
Do you think whatever artificial means they use to create gravity on the Death Star would affect the escape velocity?