Pasta
May 6, 2010, 5:34pm
41
Pasta:
To follow up: I calculate that the neutrinos would deposit a grand total of…
20 kJ
into the Earth. (It’s not called the weak interaction for nothin’.) So, you could maybe boil some water or something, if you could capture all that energy.
An improved calculation yields something more like 20 MJ. (I used a rough cross section estimate the first time. A better estimate [assuming a typical neutrino energy of 10 MeV] gets me another factor of 1000). Even with the few other remaining approximations, the point stands that the neutrino damage is basically non-existent.
Eh, neutrinos have nothing on gravitons when it comes to noninteraction. If there were a black hole collision at the location of the Sun, then several solar masses worth of energy would be released in gravitational waves, and the Earth wouldn’t even notice.
Jake
May 6, 2010, 6:15pm
43
ZenBeam:
OK, the area of a spherical shell with radius equal to the radius of the Earth’s orbit is about 2E17 km^2, and the Earth’s cross-section is 1.3E8 km^2, so the Earth will intercept about 1 part in 2.2 billion of the explosion. The mass of the Sun is about 330,000 times that of the Earth. Assuming one solar mass is ejected, the mass the Earth will intercept is only 1/6600 of the Earth’s mass.
So I’m still thinking most of the Earth is left in one piece.
Even Mercury, which has (roughly) 1/3 the orbital radius, 1/4 the cross-section, and 1/20th the mass, only intercepts about 1/150th of its mass.
Zenbeam: :eek: :eek: :eek: I am agog at your prowess!
Angua
May 6, 2010, 6:21pm
44
ZenBeam:
OK, the area of a spherical shell with radius equal to the radius of the Earth’s orbit is about 2E17 km^2, and the Earth’s cross-section is 1.3E8 km^2, so the Earth will intercept about 1 part in 2.2 billion of the explosion. The mass of the Sun is about 330,000 times that of the Earth. Assuming one solar mass is ejected, the mass the Earth will intercept is only 1/6600 of the Earth’s mass.
So I’m still thinking most of the Earth is left in one piece.
Even Mercury, which has (roughly) 1/3 the orbital radius, 1/4 the cross-section, and 1/20th the mass, only intercepts about 1/150th of its mass.
But gets 9 times the force behind the blast and radiation than the Earth. Its going sizzle.
BlinkingDuck:
So, Angua, if I am understanding you correctly…
So I can come along and sweep you up into a lifetime of decadence?
Only if you can compete with the pwetty wockets! And a certain salsa dancer
