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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

escape velocity


"...how fast something must be going to escape the gravity of another body completely. Something thrown directly away from a body at escape velocity would never fall back. This value is important for more than just space travel! It's also one of the parameters that determines whether a planet can keep an atmosphere."




Vesc=√(2GM/r)=kr√p

where r is the radius of the planet, M its mass, p (Greek letter rho) its mean density, and G the gravitational constant. The escape velocity from earth is 11.2 km/s or 25,000mph. 

You might remember me talking about casimir forces and exotic matter, things I learned about while researching wormholes for my new project. The above definition of escape velocity comes courtesy of World Building by Stephen L. Gillett. It's an older book - 1996 - but it still has some pretty good information, like the fact that gravity forces planets (and suns) into spheres. Did you know that?

You can track my progress with my new work - tentatively titled NO REST - on my sidebar where I've added a widget.

What are you working on? Learned anything interesting lately?

30 comments:

  1. I did know that's why planets are spheres. (I did pay attention during science!)
    Working on relearning a song I haven't played in a while. That's always a challenge.

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    1. yeah, I didn't pay attention, which is why I'm doing a fair amount of research. But I'm learning a lot! Good luck with the song :)

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  2. I love a dash of science in the morning. It helps me escape my "can't wake up" velocity (if that makes sense)? :)

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  3. That's WAY too much science for my brain this early, but kind of cool. I didn't know that. And cool widget. Now we can track your progress. :)

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    1. yeah, I had to read it a few times to get it. Science was never my thing in school but I must say I'm enjoying my research, even if I don't understand it all!

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  4. Rho--my second favorite Greek letter.
    (The crazy things I did to stay awake in class...)

    And you know why they launch rockets and shuttles from Florida, right?

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    1. I have no idea why the shuttle launches from FL

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  5. This sci fi Geek talk is way beyond me LOL. I'm working on a cook book and it's making me really hungry right now.

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    1. Yeah, history is more my speed but it sure is interesting :)

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  6. This is what I learned today. Not much else. How sad...

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    1. eh, some days we learn more than others. I'm only learning a lot because I'm trying :)

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  7. I love the title. Most planets are imperfect spheres. Best on your new project.

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  8. I used the "imperfect sphere" visual in my latest piece. I had to do similar space research for it, too. Lots of interesting facts out there.

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  9. You read my blog...you know what I'm working on. :)

    I like the title of your WIP!

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  10. I was researching quantum physics for a while. Some super trippy stuff.

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    1. Yeah, I'll probably be looking at that at some point. Whether I'll 'get' it is another story :)

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  11. Love the tracking thing. I was thinking about putting something up for my 100 Days of Baking.

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    1. It's nice to see the little bar go steadily up :)

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  12. my brain is on a very slow velocity today ... quantum physics too much for me :)

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    1. yeah, it isn't my thing either - or my brain's! but when writing scifi one must be as accurate and factual as possible.

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    1. They're cool if you understand them. I'm afraid I need an interpreter a lot of the time.

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  14. I am not into science all that much, but this kind of information does fascinate me. As your new project.... Good luck on the writing, Marcy...

    ME ... Doing re-writes on my first novel AND querying my second. Never a dull moment. I CAN'T wait to pick back up on my film noir novella...

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    1. I never liked science in school but I love scifi and the right person explaining it can definitely make all the difference in the world. Good luck with re-writes and querying!

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  15. I love learning! Anything and everything. I'm constantly in waiting for my kids to get old enough to research the things I'm fascinated by so we can share them. We did a project over the summer where they each chose a research topic and got a book at the library, and then we read and learned together. We jotted down the interesting facts that stuck out to us then put them together into our own book. My son was hooked, and is working on his third solo "book" (he's 7). This one's on kangaroos. LOL.

    Anyway, after all that babbling, I hope you keep learning fun stuff while you research!

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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    1. Yes, I'm enjoying the research and discovering stuff I probably should've in junior high :)

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