Calculating megaton blast radius

So, I'm no physicist, but I'm writing a story that involves a large explosion.  I couldn't find a good calculator to just do the calculation, but I also can't create one yet.  However, I can put all of the information together for anyone who's interested.

Let's say you're using a story that involves some sort of relativistic kill vehicle. Say, the object weights 100 kgs and is traveling at 0.1c (c being the speed of light).  Now, Einstein's famous equation is E=mc² but this is only true when the object is traveling very close to the speed of light.  Normally, the energy equation is E=(1/2)mv² and this is still true even at 0.1c. In this equation, m is mass in kilograms, and v is velocity in meters/second.  So, in this case, the energy is ((100/2)((0.l*300,000,000 m/s)(0.1*300,000,000 m/s) which equals (50)*(9x10^14).  This equals 4.5 x 10^16 joules. The amount of energy released by one megaton of TNT is 4.2 x 10^15. So, to figure out the megatons of damage take your energy divided by 4.2 x 10^15 joules.

In this case, it's essentially 45/4.2 (you can subtract the scientific notations: (10^16)-(10^15)=10^1=10. So, there are 10.7 megatons of damage that occur in this case.

Now, let's say something like this hits Earth.  What kind of damage would it cause? To figure out a rough estimate of damage, square root the megatons (sqrt(10.7))=3.27. Then, multiply it by 4 to get the rough blast radius in miles (4 x 3.27=13.08) which is a 13.08 mile blast radius.  This is pretty amazing damage, and the blast radius includes moderate damage.  On the edge of the blast radius, the wind power is still 2 psi which can completely destroy most buildings.  It important to note that this calculation is just a rough estimate, but it's an interesting idea. If someone knows of a calculator, please let me know.

So, things you need to know:  E=(1/2)mv^2; one megaton of TNT releases 4.2 x 10^15 joules; and the speed of light is 300,000,000 m/s (roughly).

The weight loss continues

So, I'm keeping it up. I exercise almost every day, and I feel a lot better than I used to. There are still improvements I can make, but I feel great. My weight fluctuated  a lot this week, but the most accurate (not the lowest) estimate of my weight was 317.2.  I was as high as 322.2 and as low as 312.8 (on a different scale after a workout). It's not an insane amount of weight to lose, but it's slowly coming off.

I've continued to use the MI techniques. I try to rate my behaviors every day and stay in the positive. In the future, I'll have to place more negative value on drinking pop. I want to quit it entirely, but I've cut down significantly. So, I'm not terribly concerned about it yet. I've amped up my fruit and vegetable consumption to roughly 4-5 a day. Some days, I still do poorly, but this has also improved significantly.

Today, I had another highlight. I went to work out at a local fitness place, and I ran on the treadmill. What I've usually been doing is going for half an hour and often covering a little over two miles. Today, I didn't have half an hour, and I wanted to cover at least two miles. I walked my usual 0.15 miles and started to jog at a pace of 5.2 miles/hour. At the 0.5 mile mark, I wasn't tired, so I kept going. I eventually ran it out and did two miles at that pace. I am so proud of myself.

I've used other techniques to keep me focused on my goals such as focusing on how my weight has limited me. This hasn't worked as well as I'd hoped. It's helped to keep me going, but the two examples I was thinking of aren't as false as I thought on further examination. But, it's true that being this weight really limits my confidence. In that regard, it's still useful.

What are your weight loss stories? How did you overcome obstacles?

Continuing to use MI tools: weight loss update

So, in December, I weighed in at 317.5 which was my lowest weight in a couple of years. Over Christmas break, my healthy habits fell by the wayside, and I, gladly, leaped off the wagon. Surprisingly, I didn't gain a huge amount of weight, but I was back up to 324 or so when I first weighed in after starting school. This morning, I weighed in at 320.1 without running yesterday (I sweat a lot). A few other MI things I've adopted are the idea of writing a letter to myself from five years in the future. I will do that soon enough, but I'm not ready yet.

I've also created a reward scale where eating four or more fruits and vegetables is +3, exercising is +1, eating after 8pm is -1, eating a second helping is -1, eating out is -1, and drinking pop is -1. On Wednesdays, I received a +4, the maximum rating. On Thursday, I received a -1. Yesterday was a +3.  So far, for the week, I'm at +6, and my goal was +10. The goal is to be in the positive daily, and the good thing is that one bad day doesn't negate all of your work. My daily reward is that I get to write for fun for 1 hour on days where I'm in the positive. I'm trying to develop weekly and monthly goals.

One other thing I've discussed before is the idea of values and being consistent. I value health and eating like crap and not exercising is vary inconsistent with my values. I've also thought about how being obese has limited me not just physically but socially. I think about two amazing relationships that I passed on because I didn't feel good about myself, and I don't ever want that to happen again. Never. I've also affirmed myself by realizing that I've let anything beat me. There are things that I can't do, but becoming healthy isn't going to be one of them. The great thing about using this MI approach is that writing this confirms the changes I'm making. I'm trying to think of a basic way to make this work for everyone. I know one thing, I'm going to keep going.

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