Relativistic Kill Vehicle - Calculating Energy Content

Calculating Energy Content

Newton's formula for kinetic energy, given as, is only an approximation for the kinetic energy of an object, reasonably accurate for speeds well below c, approximately 3 × 108 m s−1. For higher speeds, Einstein's formula for kinetic energy, Ek, must be used.

Where:
m is the object's mass in kg,
c is the speed of light in m s−1,
is the Lorentz factor, given by:

Where v is the velocity of the object in question.

Therefore, expanded the equation is:

Read more about this topic:  Relativistic Kill Vehicle

Famous quotes containing the words calculating, energy and/or content:

    [The] elderly and timid single gentleman in Paris ... never drove down the Champs Elysees without expecting an accident, and commonly witnessing one; or found himself in the neighborhood of an official without calculating the chances of a bomb. So long as the rates of progress held good, these bombs would double in force and number every ten years.
    Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)

    Perhaps catastrophe is the natural human environment, and even though we spend a good deal of energy trying to get away from it, we are programmed for survival amid catastrophe.
    Germaine Greer (b. 1939)

    He that wants money, means, and content is without three
    good friends.
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)