For the science wizs, what's the "muzzle energy" of a fifty pound anvil that falls from 200 feet?
Suddenly those old Roadrunner & Coyote cartoons take on a new meaning.
Well, I downloaded the video so I could frame-by-frame tell how long the "flight' took. It ended up being 6.43 seconds from explosion to impact.
Given 6.43 seconds, we can find how fast it was going when it hit the ground. Neglecting wind resistance, its flight time to apex would be the same as the time from apex to ground, which means it was free-falling from (x) height for 3.215 seconds.
Vf = V0 + a*t : so velocity when it hit the ground was 31.5 meters per second, 103.3 feet per second, or 70.5 miles per hour.
How close was he on the 200 foot distance from the title? Well d = V0*t + 0.5*a*t^2. That results in 50.7 meters, or 166 feet.
As for the energy, kinetic energy is Ek = 0.5*m*v^2. A 100 lbs anvil is 45.4 kg. So with a final impact at 31.5 m/s, the kinetic energy of that anvil is 22.5 kJ. To put that in perspective, here's a list I stole off some other website:
1 J : An apple falling from 1 meter
230 J : Fastball @ 100 mi/hr
450 J : .357 Mag Handgun (150 gr @ 1000 fps)
3900 J : 7.62x39 Rifle Bullet (120 gr @ 3000 fps)
5000 J : 220 lb tackle running 40 yd in 4 sec (100 kg at 10 m/sec)
15 kJ : .50 BMG
490 kJ : Kinetic energy of Automobile (3000 lb @ 60 mi/hr)
So more energy than being hit by a Barrett, but less than getting hit by a Chevy.
