- PLUT0NIUM 235
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- Honorable Member
right lets just get this straight, just so we know for the record, magnetic accelerator cannons are not megaton weapons! i will show below exactly why they aren't, please see below:
one kiloton of TNT = 4,184,000,000,000 joules of energy
that is very very important piece of information, more below:
mass of MAC round = 600,000 kilograms (600 metric tons)
velocity of round = 35,000 metres/second (muzzle velocity)
total kinetic energy of round = 367,500,000,000,000 joules.
these are inescapable facts of physics, that is the kinetic energy of a frigate MAC round, no tricks, just numbers, below:
energy of round / one kiloton of TNT
367,500,000,000,000 / 4,184,000,000,000 = 87.835 kilotons
now for a MAC to have a megaton of kinetic energy, it would need to either a) be travelling at around 100,000 metres/second or b) the round be considerably more massive.
to get a point across, 87.835 kilotons is still a lot of energy, bearing in mind thats entirely kinetic energy, would still put a fair sized hole in the ground, or shatter a mountain (maybe?), to be honest the 'realistic' numbers make the halo universe so much more humble and less rediculous than some (cough, star wars, cough). the muzzle velocity and round mass are from halopedia (though i think they are mentioned in one of the novels.)