# High velocity water missile defense? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944 "2022-03-12T15:56:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/1 "2022-03-12T15:56:09Z")
How high could a jet of water be streamed without it breaking up or vaporizing, given an arbitrary amount of power to accelerate it and any arbitrary diameter on the stream? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/2 "2022-03-12T18:25:20Z")
How round is a cow? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/3 "2022-03-12T19:17:55Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > How round is a cow? I feel like that would be related to asking for the surface area of the cow, which I believe is infinite. In theory, you need to include every nook and cranny into the calculation but then you need to consider that every nook and cranny has its own nooks and crannies, those have their own, and so on. I don’t know that you can guarantee that your roundness value will approach a set value. Are you saying that there’s no limit? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/4 "2022-03-12T19:20:01Z")
At least 460 feet. > **[Bellagio Water Show - Tourist Attraction | Fountains of Bellagio](https://bellagio.mgmresorts.com/en/entertainment/fountains-of-bellagio.html)** > > The most famous performer in Las Vegas, tirelessly thrilling crowds with show after show, each one as magical as the last. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/5 "2022-03-12T19:43:52Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Are you saying that there’s no limit? No, I was just elliptically referring to the impossibility of giving a quantitative answer to a question with totally “arbitrary” parameters. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2022, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-velocity-water-missile-defense/960944/6 "2022-03-12T19:49:50Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > No, I was just elliptically referring to the impossibility of giving a quantitative answer to a question with totally “arbitrary” parameters. I wasn’t sure if the diameter of the column would matter, just the speed. I didn’t want to constrain it to x just to determine that x \* 1.001 would make all the difference for the intended purpose. I’m happy to cap it at 10m if that brings the question closer into reason. I feel like that’s probably about a maximal engineering accomplishment? (And, likewise, I’m happy to cap the speed at sub-orbital velocities - but I thought that was implied.)