The Death Star's OTHER Fatal Flaw

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  • Опубликовано: 21 дек 2024

Комментарии • 6 тыс.

  • @becausescience
    @becausescience  6 лет назад +833

    Thanks for watching! I'm so pleased with the animations in this one. I know this one may have felt a bit different, but I like taking chances. See you in Footnotes! -- KH

    • @sky0kast0
      @sky0kast0 6 лет назад +9

      Because Science inertial dampers exist in the movie but idk ... I do believe that it would need to be as big as the ship or half the core in order to help at the very least just like our tower dampers that exist in our towers

    • @vorpalspartan1463
      @vorpalspartan1463 6 лет назад +6

      The empire never think anything through
      Like the very strong armour storm troopers where’s ^ ^

    • @yodu45
      @yodu45 6 лет назад +5

      just put a giant mirror in front of it, lasers reflects on mirrors....

    • @humansword4152
      @humansword4152 6 лет назад +2

      Good video kile Hill you day best

    • @michaelaengelbrecht5074
      @michaelaengelbrecht5074 6 лет назад +1

      The one and only YES PLEASE A THOUSAND TIMES YES

  • @DrShaym
    @DrShaym 6 лет назад +1321

    There's also the fact that the Empire doesn't even need a Death Star at all. If you have the ability to accelerate something with mass to light speed (such as a spaceship), you automatically have the power to destroy a planet through sheer kinetic energy. Just strap a hyperdrive to a missile and there you go, you've got a planet-killer.

    • @uni4rm
      @uni4rm 6 лет назад +163

      Wow, it's like you went and saw The Last Jedi or something, or watched the video from this channel about it....

    • @nicholasrose8173
      @nicholasrose8173 6 лет назад +52

      The reason stated for that ship destroying everything in its path is the fact it has extremely powerful prototype shield which force everything away from it instead of yhe ship just pancaking

    • @DrShaym
      @DrShaym 6 лет назад +272

      @@uni4rm Funny story, I thought about that long before I watched The Last Jedi, and always assumed the reason they never did it in Star Wars was that when a ship goes into hyperspace, it's actually entering an alternate dimension where it can't interact with anything in normal space, kind of like going through a worm hole. But then they did it in that movie and established that they can, in fact, accelerate to light speed in real space, and ended up breaking the lore by raising the question of why nobody ever did that before.

    • @bluemilk66
      @bluemilk66 6 лет назад +56

      @@DrShaym Well, I believe that the MC85 or the Raddus, was close enough to Supremacy the point it is only accelerating and hasn't actually gotten into "hyperspace". We can actually see this in the films and shows that they speed up before entering hyperspace.

    • @lgmmrm
      @lgmmrm 6 лет назад +52

      Except, in the legends lore there actually was a ship that (accidentally) rammed a planet. It didn't destroy the planet, or even continent-crack it, but instead it released toxic fumes and a lot of energy across the environment, making it uninhabitable.

  • @GeorgeLukass
    @GeorgeLukass 6 лет назад +1973

    Oops. Didn't think of that in 1977

    • @jwhiteheadcc
      @jwhiteheadcc 6 лет назад +46

      LOL

    • @mackenzieclements7593
      @mackenzieclements7593 6 лет назад +44

      G. Lucas lol

    • @marcinkapinski9537
      @marcinkapinski9537 6 лет назад +117

      To your defense, Star Wars is more a fantasy story than hard sci-fi space opera like 2001 Space Odyssey.

    • @hindsight2022
      @hindsight2022 6 лет назад +41

      I did ...

    • @ares_bluesteel
      @ares_bluesteel 6 лет назад +78

      What? You mean everything isn’t going to be 100% scientifically accurate in movies about laser sword wielding dudes fighting a galactic empire armed with giant lasers and robots?

  • @World_Theory
    @World_Theory 6 лет назад +374

    Blowing a planet to pieces, such that it won't reform, is overkill anyway. They should just use a lower setting to blow the planet's atmosphere away into space and scorch the surface. Although, honestly… That's wasteful overkill, too. A habitable planet is valuable, you know.

    • @LordZontar
      @LordZontar 6 лет назад +70

      Considering that this is a galactic civilisation with literally tens of thousands of habitable worlds comprising its main political unit, and obviously the engineering capability to build artificial habitats out to the size of a small moon, any one planet would be akin to a city in our world.
      However, yes the idea of a weapon that could literally blow a planet apart was decidedly over the top. Flash-boiling off the atmosphere would have been as effective, more plausible, and actually a bit more terrifying. Imagine if the Millenium Falcon had emerged out of hyperspace to find an Alderaan that had been turned into a still-glowing cinder. What a sight that would have made on the silver screen.

    • @TheoryofKhaose
      @TheoryofKhaose 6 лет назад +24

      Shock and awe tactics. In our own history there were invasions where they would salt the ground effectively ruining it for generations. Destroying a whole planet would be absolutely devastating to there moral and resolve.

    • @LordZontar
      @LordZontar 6 лет назад +26

      No, destroying Alderaan only inspired more systems to join the Rebellion. When people see that loyalty to the regime will give them no protection whatsoever, they figure they've got nothing to lose through revolt. And in our own history, Nazi brutality failed to quell resistance in any of the countries they occupied, especially Yugoslavia.

    • @mandickthetittysmithy5117
      @mandickthetittysmithy5117 6 лет назад +1

      LordZontar like the Desolator super weapon from swtor.

    • @Rez090
      @Rez090 6 лет назад +3

      1, 2, 3, 4; that's the combination to my luggage; remind me to change that; suck, suck, suck, suck, suck, suck

  • @worldstateproductions8787
    @worldstateproductions8787 2 года назад +329

    Star Destroyers regularly pull 2300gs of acceleration. They have magical devices that keep the people inside from feeling it.

    • @worldstateproductions8787
      @worldstateproductions8787 Год назад +27

      @@kevinkarlwurzelgaruti458 The New Essential Guide to Vehicles. The New Essential Guides aren't always reliable (the weapons ranges are all wrong for example, the RoTJ novelization and WEG RPGs are better for those), but those acceleration figures are generally consistent with the films. Like in the first film where the X-wings travel around a 200,000km wide gas giant in less than two minutes.

    • @sirmount2636
      @sirmount2636 Год назад +5

      You are REALLY overthinking it

    • @worldstateproductions8787
      @worldstateproductions8787 Год назад +19

      @@sirmount2636 I'm a Star Wars fan.

    • @BierBart12
      @BierBart12 Год назад +6

      The magical repulsorlift

    • @jbodden6977
      @jbodden6977 Год назад +3

      either that or hey have a slippery red wet coating over all the bulkheads...

  • @heathermillsphantomlimb9314
    @heathermillsphantomlimb9314 2 года назад +163

    One aspect of the Death Star I found interesting in Return of the Jedi was that, considering its distance from Endor when it exploded, it would’ve crashed into the planet and basically destroyed it, raining fire and molten metal as it fell.

    • @herpderp9108
      @herpderp9108 2 года назад +19

      I think this was actually touched on in a comic a long time ago. Endor was basically destroyed.

    • @andreabindolini7452
      @andreabindolini7452 Год назад +19

      From the infamous sequel trilogy we have canonical proof that the DSII actually crashed on another Endor moon

    • @sirmount2636
      @sirmount2636 Год назад +3

      @@herpderp9108 It wasn’t destroyed, it was just one panel of Ewoks panicking.

    • @spvillano
      @spvillano Год назад +9

      Well, that wouldn't matter all that much, as the plasma shockwave would've stripped the atmosphere off of the moon first.

    • @TheRealScooterGuy
      @TheRealScooterGuy Год назад +2

      One of the New Jedi Order books touched on this. A character was complaining about propaganda the Empire had put out which accused the Rebellion of genocide (of the Ewoks). I don't recall now which character or which of those books it was.

  • @danieltsmoke
    @danieltsmoke 6 лет назад +534

    Who ever's job it was to CGI the symbol on his shirt for over a minute...bravo sir, bravo

    • @yourregularintroverts5059
      @yourregularintroverts5059 6 лет назад +3

      Dan Smoke i was thinking the same thing

    • @sidders_3275
      @sidders_3275 6 лет назад +6

      Dan Smoke probs had a tracking dot on the shirt, image just attached to it surely?

    • @KingLouisII
      @KingLouisII 6 лет назад +8

      Seemed like a bigger hassle than getting a $10 insignia badge on Amazon. 🤔😂

    • @EclecticFruit
      @EclecticFruit 6 лет назад +6

      Interns.

    • @jackvos8047
      @jackvos8047 6 лет назад +4

      @@sidders_3275 would be several tracking dots to get it track smoothly if that was the case

  • @MrSirKirby
    @MrSirKirby 5 лет назад +377

    I love those imperial guys standing right next to the laser firing and just covering their eyes.
    Guys, you are toast.

    • @violetvixen42
      @violetvixen42 3 года назад +37

      And you thought holding a lightsaber was bad

    • @arnoldfossman1701
      @arnoldfossman1701 2 года назад +16

      Anywhere on the Death-star would have a major radiation problem when the weapon was fired.

    • @builderdude9488
      @builderdude9488 2 года назад +17

      @@arnoldfossman1701 Darth vader would be fine because he has a literal hazmat suit at all times

    • @arnoldfossman1701
      @arnoldfossman1701 2 года назад +11

      @@builderdude9488 That suit would be helpful depending on the level of the radiation dose and the duration. even a 10 foot thick wall of lead will not block all the radiation from getting through and how long you have to stand behind that wall also comes into play. If the source is powerful enough and lasts long enough enough would get through to kill you. This is why people wear those dose badges when working in areas that would be safe for people to pass through quickly.

    • @davidtatro7457
      @davidtatro7457 Год назад +4

      Yeah, right!? They literally are right there in a shaft sharing airspace with the beam and they just duck and cover their eyes. Too funny.

  • @greenpeasuit
    @greenpeasuit 2 года назад +39

    I like the idea of Inertial Drives put forth in Asimov's "Empire and Earth". A spacecraft capable of generating an inertial field to move. Everything in the field accelerates uniformly.

    • @magister.mortran
      @magister.mortran Год назад +3

      That is obviously how the death star's engine works, since it has no visible engine exhaust. So compensating the impulse of its main laser wouldn't be much of a problem.

  • @theCodyReeder
    @theCodyReeder 6 лет назад +658

    I always figured that the death star beam was some kind of mater destabilizer (causing some matter to spontaneously decompose into energy) not a laser. But hey, its all fiction.

    • @stevenpowell1991
      @stevenpowell1991 6 лет назад +22

      Antimatter would work nicely

    • @marcinkapinski9537
      @marcinkapinski9537 6 лет назад +31

      Nope. You'd need an absurd amount of antimatter to begin with (two cubes 10 km wide) and far more energy to create it than Sun size star can output. You're much better off scouring other planets for deuterium and tritium to make a powerful nuclear weapon that would do the job.

    • @TheDude42069
      @TheDude42069 6 лет назад +16

      What if it was some kind of anti gravity beam that flipped the planets gravity so it expanded out

    • @marcinkapinski9537
      @marcinkapinski9537 6 лет назад +23

      Now you are talking about a device that could literally change laws of physics. Space magic. So you couldn't use known science to make people understand how it works because it can't.

    • @benbraceletspurple9108
      @benbraceletspurple9108 6 лет назад +2

      Marcin Kąpiński I don't think you're accurate about that. Antimatter has enough energy to kill an earth sized planet adequately.

  • @MatterBeamTSF
    @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +519

    The Death Star propels itself with ion engines. The exhaust it produces could be travelling at just 0.01% of the speed of light.
    This means that to counter the push of a laser of X force, it only needs to expend 0.001^2: 0.000001 or 0.0001% of the laser energy to power the ion engines for 5 seconds or so.
    Of course, any realistic material would get crushed like an eggshell between the laser push and the equal and opposite ion engines...

    • @ultraspeed_exe
      @ultraspeed_exe 6 лет назад +18

      Man, you stole my comment. Great comment though.

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +16

      @philosoraptor
      Indeed, I am a super need.

    • @Lukr4tive1008
      @Lukr4tive1008 6 лет назад +3

      Matter Beam sorry about that, try to forget that this happened

    • @stevenle9960
      @stevenle9960 6 лет назад +5

      Matter Beam shhhhhhhhh space magic

    • @MatterBeamTSF
      @MatterBeamTSF 6 лет назад +7

      @UltraSpeed
      Post that comment anyway, and Kyle is likely to put all of them together on the screen and say 'this bunch of nerds all had the same bright idea'

  • @LillyTensei
    @LillyTensei 5 лет назад +166

    I can't wait till this guy sees the Final Order fleet in RoS and just starts laughing in the theatre.

    • @gamertagboakan7417
      @gamertagboakan7417 5 лет назад +20

      Those Lasers actually make more sense as they cut into a planet and ionise and basically 'detonate' the core. Again, it makes more sense. Not alot of sense

    • @klausstock8020
      @klausstock8020 Год назад +4

      About 1,000 ships, each with a crew of 29,585. Guess they must have farms aboard to produce food for these people. Guess they could force a smaller planet simply to surrender, simply by threatening to empty their sewage tanks. Yep, 30M people...that's some serious shit. Literally.

    • @liwojenkins
      @liwojenkins Год назад +2

      @@klausstock8020 That wouldn't include fleet support either, those are all combat ships, there would be thousands of support ships, docking facilities and fabrication centers. Once you start understanding logistics, plot holes get pretty big sometimes.

    • @Arexack999
      @Arexack999 Год назад

      Oh yes the remotely guided megazord lazors

  • @IamCoalfoot
    @IamCoalfoot Год назад +18

    The thing is, the Death Star's Superlaser is based on the same Hyperlaser technologies they'd been using for many thousands of years. So they would already _know_ how to compensate for it, and just how much they _can_ compensate for.

  • @JustinY.
    @JustinY. 6 лет назад +572

    "It just works"
    ~ Designers

  • @CGRREDACTED
    @CGRREDACTED 5 лет назад +393

    But, Kyle you are forgetting the "magical" inertia damping technology that their universe employs to cancel out the waveform both the force of and forward or reverse the movement. And i am sure the station is also utilizing some type of stabilizing thrustes.

    • @nathanjohnson6543
      @nathanjohnson6543 5 лет назад +10

      Thank you! Now I don't have to write this. And he's using theoretical science to explain this.

    • @nobleradical2158
      @nobleradical2158 5 лет назад +26

      Also false gravity, they have some magic stuff to counteract things like this

    • @banzeyegaming2234
      @banzeyegaming2234 5 лет назад +1

      That’s actually how they move!

    • @scottguffie7759
      @scottguffie7759 4 года назад +10

      I was going to comment on the Inertial Dampening technology that Star Wars has but I was also going to say that since we don't see any visible engines on the Death Star it must use some form of Non-Reactionary or Inertialess drive which would also presumably allow it to cancel out the recoil of the Superlaser being fired.

    • @snatchertheunfriendlyghost558
      @snatchertheunfriendlyghost558 4 года назад +8

      It’s been established in books the Death Star is both a station and ship not to mention gravity well projectors exist in this universe and we see on the interdictor cruisers and they are capable of ripping a ship out of hyperspace so what’s stopping the empire from using this technology to stay stationary and 4 gravity well projectors can rip any size of ship out of hyperspace I would imagine it would have many more of those the empire clearly knows what they are doing I’m sure they thoughts of this

  • @NathanOkun
    @NathanOkun 3 года назад +47

    Two ways that when combined get around this problem:
    (1) You do not have a central dish --it would vaporize when fired. Instead you cover the entire surface of the DEATHSTAR with many, many small phased-array transmitters that can form concentric rings of energy sources about a selected central transmitter that is aligned to be directly between the center of the DEATHSTAR and the target (may require a small rotation of the battle-station to do this, depending on the configuration of transmitters used). You then charge up the entire side of the DEATHSTAR transmitter capacitors (each has its own) and, when firing, light off the outermost, widest ring on the side toward the enemy, rapidly dropping the power out for each ring until the central transmitter is finally reached. By setting the rings off timed properly, each ring of energy will cause constructive interference with the rings energy already fired until ALL of the energy is focused like a magnifying glass being used to burn a piece of paper using the Sun. The rate of stepping from the outermost ring (DEATHSTAR diameter) to the central aimed transmitter would be faster than light. Note that modern phased-array radars use this kind of system, but here with the power turned WAY, WAY up and, by being a sphere, you can switch targets rapidly (as fast as you can charge up[ the many transmitters) in any direction or even fire at many targets at once with reduced power on each (good enough, I would think). This is WAY better than the dish used in the current DEATHSTAR.
    (2) You assume that the DEATHSTAR weapon is the source of all of the power used to destroy the target planet. NO. Planets are FULL of material, hydrogen and uranium and so forth, that a moderate power signal could cause to fission or fuse when hit by the proper form of trigger energy (I assume that the laws of physics in the STAR WARS Universe can be made to create such energy types; what information says different?). Thus, like in an H-bomb, the beam need only punch deep into the target and it will blow itself up in a huge thermo-nuclear detonation using a powerful, to be sure, but much more limited source of trigger energy. This deletes your entire problem, does it not?

    • @autolykos9822
      @autolykos9822 Год назад +9

      The phased array is pretty much the only sensible way to build a laser of that size. We can just chalk those three tiny beams up to artistic license. And while we're at it, we don't have to explode the whole planet to make it utterly uninhabitable. Just melting a sizeable hole through the crust would probably do the job just fine.
      (Using the whole planet as fuel for the galaxy's biggest inertial confinement fusion reactor doesn't make sense, though. Earth-like planets are mostly iron, which is already the nucleus with the lowest possible energy. Neither fission nor fusion would free any energy, except for a tiny shell on the surface, where all the interesting stuff is.)

    • @tomkelly00
      @tomkelly00 Год назад +6

      Also, space magic

    • @benjaminbrown3939
      @benjaminbrown3939 Год назад +5

      Antimatter for the win

    • @peterbonucci9661
      @peterbonucci9661 Год назад

      I figured the rays from the Deathstar was artistic licence. Whatever energy was transmitted would be invisible.
      I think they generated antimatter and sent it via hyperdrive to the center of the planet.
      Hyperspace breaks the equation Kyle used, so momentum isn't a problem. It also means we can't assume momentum is transferred to the planet. Antimatter works because we only have to send half of the energy needed to destroy the planet. We don't know what happens when something materializes inside a planet, so we may be able to reduce the amount of antimatter.

  • @kirkbolas4985
    @kirkbolas4985 5 лет назад +165

    The term “Superlaser” is misleading if one considers that the term turbo laser also is in the Star Wars universe. The turbo laser is essentially a blaster on hyper steroids. It’s a plasma based weapon. Both use laser energy to create plasma out of something known as Tirbana gas.
    The only thing that I am aware of that might render a a rocky earth sized planet to ruble on contact in the time that it takes me to type one average sized word is if the beam projected by the primary weapon on the Death Star is a coherent beam of anti-protons and anti-electrons. Again, as in the blaster and the turbo laser, the laser component would serve to create a plasma out of anti-hydrogen.
    The beam would require some mechanism to couple a magnetic field around the beam in order to protect it from contacting any ordinary matter between the emitter assembly and the solid portion of the target. The protective field would also confer a quality of confinement in order to prevent any spread during its travel. I imagine the recoil from this kind of directed energy discharge would be significantly less and much more manageable.

    • @aleksandarrudic3694
      @aleksandarrudic3694 3 года назад +18

      That would depend of course on the velocity of the antimatter plasma jet and the amount of antimatter required for the job.
      If we assume a non-relativistic jet, which is optimal from the recoil perspective, 2.4x10^32 J is mass-energy equivalent of roughly 2.5 10^15 kg, so the amount of antimatter needed is about a half of it. If we assume the storage density of antimatter plasma to be similar to liquid water on 300 K (which would be super-efficient), this amount of antimatter would fit tightly inside the size of the Death Star, and it would probably outweight the entire Death Star by a single-digit factor, say 5 times. So, if the Death Star would fire at a planet at a certain non-relativistic velocity, it would gain about 5 times that much speed in the opposite direction.
      This is of course not a very good thing because, if you want the Death Star to remain relatively stationary the jet would have to be very very slow compared to orbital speeds (that is not more than few hundred meters per second). And assuming the other side has the similar level of technology which is almost always the case in warfare, you cannot fire a plasma jet that slow otherwise your target will have enough time to move away or block the beam (given interstellar distances, even if it was a stone-age Earth, it would have many millennia to develop a civilization that would develop a technology and industrial capability to accelerate or decelerate the home planet slightly).
      One way or another, the energy required for blowing up a planet completely is just so ridiculously enormous that only the theoretical weapons that use the energy output of a massive star, supernova, quasar, or similar, would have a chance.
      On the other hand, the whole idea of blowing up a planet is ridiculous at best, when warming the surface of it just slightly (by no more than 100 degrees) would transform it into an uninhabitable hell-world, and that can be done by a well distributed kinetic energy of a few large asteroids, that is only a few tons of mass-energy (half that much if you are projecting a pure antimatter).
      Speaking of antimatter, it's probably not that perfect of a weapon as portrayed in the media anyway because, unlike nuclear fission, its products are extremely high-energy gamma rays and neutrinos, which don't interact much with the surrounding matter (gamma rays interact very weakly - the more energy they have the weaker they interact, neutrinos don't interact at all), so a theoretical pure antimatter bomb or cannon would radiate almost all of the released energy out into space, and comparably very small part of it would heat the immediately surrounding matter, causing explosion. Of course, the total energy is enormous, so even a small part of it would produce a powerful explosion, but one should not expect something that is orders of magnitude more powerful than a thermonuclear bomb, for instance. So, why even bother with the antimatter when the good-old nuke can be made cheaply (ask Kim Jong-Un) and arbitrarily large (ask Nikita Khrushchev).

    • @selvahechicera4292
      @selvahechicera4292 2 года назад +6

      Megalaser. The planet killing weapon used by the death star was called a "Megalaser." Not "Superlaser."

    • @exceptionvideo
      @exceptionvideo 2 года назад +7

      So a turbo laser is neither turbo nor a laser?

    • @joda7697
      @joda7697 Год назад +3

      @@exceptionvideo correct
      It's more of an incandescant lightbulb that's done with everyone's shit, souped up on steroids and getting fired at a target, except it's not contained in glass, but magnetic fields or some shit.

    • @peterpeterson4800
      @peterpeterson4800 Год назад +1

      The death star is in space, so there isn't that much matter in the way before it hits the planet?

  • @keithgraber
    @keithgraber 5 лет назад +647

    Yeah, but the whole thing works with Kyber Crystals. And who knows what impact that has on the science... because magic.

    • @nyyotam4057
      @nyyotam4057 5 лет назад +18

      Sorry but.. Conservation of momentum beats any magic.

    • @JakeAikens
      @JakeAikens 5 лет назад +21

      Inertial dampers, etc etc...

    • @nyyotam4057
      @nyyotam4057 5 лет назад +8

      @@JakeAikens Inertial dampers will not help. The only thing that would work is firing a jet to the other direction.. but Kyle already related to that.

    • @JakeAikens
      @JakeAikens 5 лет назад +27

      @@nyyotam4057 there are no such things as inertial dampers IRL so you couldn't know if they would work or not. So there... leave my planet killing space stations alone. :)

    • @nyyotam4057
      @nyyotam4057 5 лет назад +1

      ​@@JakeAikens lol

  • @livingskeleton11
    @livingskeleton11 5 лет назад +22

    There are things in Star Wars called inertial compensators. They drastically reduce the force of inertia of objects, such as when a ship is dropping out of hyperspace. I don't doubt that they were used in the Death Star for this purpose, too.

    • @zimriel
      @zimriel Год назад +5

      Don't even need that.
      The fact that everyone on this station was enjoying, let's say, 9 ms-2 gravity (Earth=9.8) without spin to the OUTSIDE, hints at a gravity-source at the station's core.
      Harnessed neutron-star, is my guess.
      The Death Stars didn't explode; they imploded. Oh and Yavin and Endor's moon are both toast

  • @cosmicspooky
    @cosmicspooky 4 года назад +15

    the outer hall was made of Quadanium steel, the inside was probably durasteel and, duraplast, with several large artificial atmosphere and gravity units, i don't remember what they said about the thrust, but i kinda remember something about the laser being used in tandem with the sub-light engines to stay stationary.

  • @PitFriend1
    @PitFriend1 6 лет назад +144

    In Star Wars the people on star ships are completely unaffected when they suddenly jump to light speed or even come to a complete stop from light speed. They must have some kind of momentum compensation technology to allow this. I assume they could apply this to compensate for the super laser firing. What happens to the equation if momentum is zero?

    • @cm275
      @cm275 6 лет назад +32

      It's what Star Trek calls Inertial Dampeners.

    • @dohvanetworksmith8882
      @dohvanetworksmith8882 6 лет назад +10

      90% of the science in Star Wars is explainable, In universe, just takes a good bit of research.

    • @Thefreakyfreek
      @Thefreakyfreek 6 лет назад +7

      its warp drive you dont move the ship you warp space

    • @LegionPrime
      @LegionPrime 6 лет назад +5

      Yeah, tell that to Dark Helmet

    • @KaiCalimatinus
      @KaiCalimatinus 6 лет назад +4

      Ludicrous Speed!

  • @techguypaul
    @techguypaul 6 лет назад +90

    But we DO see the Death Star move in the movies! We just can't see the thrusters because the station is so enormous and they are scattered across and hidden beneath the surface of the DS. We know that it has numerous hyperdrives in order to facilitate the jump to light speed. What if the process of firing the superlaser also activates a sync with the hyperdrive so that it fires an engine burst at the same time that the laser would "kick back", thus canceling out the kick back? That could even explain why it's not a simple button press to fire and all these different crew members have levers and stuff to do (yes I know that firing sequence is more for cinematic effect, I'm trying here).

    • @silverrenard
      @silverrenard 6 лет назад +18

      Paul, only issue I see with this, is that the force that would be needed to cancel out the kickback on the scale he is calculating, would still require hyperdense construction materials and/or some kind of internal reinforcement design, or the station would crush itself under the combination of both the engines and laser firing.

    • @seanpeacock4290
      @seanpeacock4290 6 лет назад +27

      The death pancake. Now at Dennys

    • @SS2LP
      @SS2LP 6 лет назад +6

      silverrenard wouldn’t be as bad as it sounds actually the only recoil the death star it self would experience would be from the multiple smaller lasers around the dish. There would absolutely still be recoil but it would be much less so, we also don’t see the actual firing mechanism which could have a sort of recoil dampener system to reduce the impact upon the station. There’s a lot you could do to actually make the death star work. I say this being a former engineering major and a self proclaimed gun nut.

    • @silverrenard
      @silverrenard 6 лет назад +4

      SS2LP I agree completely that there is plenty that could be done, I was just responding to the part about firing the engines as a counter force. It is one thing for two forces to act on the same point or area, but the engines firing the way it was described would be on the complete opposite side of the station. All I was stating, was if this was the case, the inside would have to be strong enough to withstand the forces from both, or the station would be crushed.

    • @SS2LP
      @SS2LP 6 лет назад +6

      Right I understood that just saying they could avoid it in other ways, big thing is that i'm also convinced the force would actually cause it to spin more so than suddenly fly back. All that force would apply to the upper hemisphere of the station and speaking from experience a force like that tends to cause rotational force rather than straight back. Both forces would be so quick and spread out that I don't for see the station crushing it self. I'm actually kinda designing a system in my head that would work.
      That said its nice to finally see people that know lasers actually have recoil, I remember seeing a video way back when for fallout 4 where people we're complaining about the laser rifle in game having recoil. Props to you guys and Kyle for knowing that.

  • @truckthiss
    @truckthiss 6 лет назад +214

    The death-stars super weapon is not a laser.
    if the amount of energy you described were to be focused on small point on a planet most of the energy would simply pass right through it. I'm sorry, but the planet will be quite operational after being shot by the Death Star.
    There simply isn't a way to effectively transfer that much energy to a planet. even if we used a wide-angle beam, the planet would explode from the outside in. That is the exact opposite of the way Alderaan exploded.
    I propose the functionality of the super weapon is not a laser but instead a very dense slow-moving pulse of protons.
    the initial theme would drill a hole to the core of a planet where a subsequent pulse of protons would cause instantaneous decay of elements such as for Ian, plutonium and uranium.
    the energy released from the sudden decay of all radioactive isotopes in the center of a planet would be more than enough to overcome the gravitational force finding the planet together. The resulting effect would be what we see in the movies, an explosion from within.
    Unlike photons, protons do have mass. However the speed of a proton blast of this magnitude should produce substantially less recoil then the proposed laser idea.

    • @gameninja-x1586
      @gameninja-x1586 5 лет назад +19

      Nerd

    • @QuarkGamingLLC
      @QuarkGamingLLC 5 лет назад +7

      truckthiss the lasers I Star Wars are made out of a type of gas that was mined on cloud city. Technically it’s a rail gun that turns the gas a color based on how strong it is.

    • @ПолорЄлеон
      @ПолорЄлеон 5 лет назад +10

      No, they just use the gas to make lazers, not to shoot with. We here on Earth also do use noble gases in lasers.

    • @mikearcher9390
      @mikearcher9390 5 лет назад

      NONSENSE say the earth was its target, our molten outer core would bleed away into space. oh well, who needs a magnetic shield [besides MARS], and your other points cut from whole cloth and have ZERO connection to anything seen or heard in the movies

    • @mikearcher9390
      @mikearcher9390 5 лет назад +4

      @@QuarkGamingLLC except the people who built and operate it call it a laser...

  • @JimmyMFP
    @JimmyMFP 2 года назад +12

    I like the breakdown, but I think the team forgot about interdictor technology (portable blackhole generators - I know, space magic), so it could be that they use them to increase or decrease gravity strength at certain parts of the station(s).

  • @demetrisloukas8586
    @demetrisloukas8586 6 лет назад +48

    Kyle Hill - Destroying childhoods since forever

    • @jjthorx3245
      @jjthorx3245 6 лет назад

      Δημήτρης Λουκάς with shiny hair and a smile on his face

    • @demetrisloukas8586
      @demetrisloukas8586 6 лет назад

      jj thorx Like a true gentleman

    • @sayheyguy
      @sayheyguy 6 лет назад

      Not any worse than what George Lucas has already done

    • @akizeta
      @akizeta 6 лет назад

      _Time_ destroys childhoods.

    • @gandalftheantlion
      @gandalftheantlion 6 лет назад

      Scotty D. I’d have to argue Disney is a much worse offender.... looking at you “solo” *glares*

  • @deydraniadiancecht8298
    @deydraniadiancecht8298 6 лет назад +120

    The best solution would be to just have the laser powerful enough to disrupt the planet to the point of breaking, but then leave behind all of the planet's material so that it can reform from its own gravity. The same goal is accomplished- the whole planet is no longer habitable and won't be for at least a billion years.

    • @VachicorneOld
      @VachicorneOld 5 лет назад +11

      Or just have a second laser in the opposite direction.

    • @PapaBear_Gaming
      @PapaBear_Gaming 5 лет назад +18

      @@VachicorneOld Blow up two planets for the price of,... twice the energy!

    • @kirillustinov7284
      @kirillustinov7284 5 лет назад +12

      There is a far better method using Star Wars technology. it is called Orbital Bombardment, or Glassing. This literary destroys everything on the surface, as the Empire did to many of its planets after the Emperor's death. It was Palpatine's Contingency plan, and it involved two parts: destroy valuable planets so no one could live on them, (known as operation Cinder) and save good generals and commanders by sending them into the unknown regions to reform and strike back. Good day!

    • @himbod2027
      @himbod2027 4 года назад +5

      KirillLego sounds like the glassing the covenant employ against the humans in the halo universe

    • @ckl9390
      @ckl9390 4 года назад

      @@himbod2027 Yes it is very similar, both methods employ energy weapon bombardment from either orbit or high atmosphere to heat the surface past the fusing point of silicates, hence "glass". The process also evaporates or burns off all lighter elements and/or compounds, typically they are not retained in atmosphere to condense and deposit on the planet's surface. The concept of glassing is seen across the Sci-fi genre as a tactical, biological containment, or punitive measure. I was first introduced to the term in Halo universe, and only recently heard it with respect to the Star Wars universe. I think it would be interesting to consider the Star Wars Galactic Empire vs. Halo's Covenant.

  • @somarriba333
    @somarriba333 6 лет назад +133

    Fatal flaw: No safely rails.

    • @JrDarkPhantom
      @JrDarkPhantom 6 лет назад +3

      They obviously don't need safety rails bro... If anyone were to fall off the deathstar (which they shouldn't because they are well trained professionals; the best in the galaxy!), they would just fall into a low orbit around it from which they can be very easily picked back up with their tractor beams

    • @somarriba333
      @somarriba333 6 лет назад +9

      You comment on my notifications looked like this, "They obviously don't need safety rails bro... If anyone were to fall off the deathstar (which they shouldn't because they are well trained
      professionals; the best in the galaxy!), they would just f...".
      I though you fell because there were no safety rails.

    • @JrDarkPhantom
      @JrDarkPhantom 6 лет назад

      Can you rephrase that please... I don't quite understand what you mean. Thanks

    • @somarriba333
      @somarriba333 6 лет назад +4

      I cannot.

    • @matrixarsmusicworkshop561
      @matrixarsmusicworkshop561 6 лет назад

      somarriba333 but its not fatal. Just a flaw

  • @Daxqueries
    @Daxqueries 3 года назад +17

    Could the death star enter hyperspace exactly towards its target and let the recoil of the firing push it out of hyperspace letting the inertial dampeners do their magic?

    • @DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3
      @DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3 Год назад +4

      No. The energy needed to fire the weapon at full power AND go into hyperspace would be too much for the reactor to produce. But firing the laser into hyperspace, where most of the acceleration would happen outside the station, is certainly plausible.

  • @TickedOffPriest
    @TickedOffPriest 5 лет назад +22

    The station was capable of getting from Alderann to Yavin almost as fast as the Millennium Falcon could. Therefore, there may be enough potential to do this.
    Also, the Death Star does not so much fire a laser, but a lightsaber esque beam.

    • @GeoRyukaiser
      @GeoRyukaiser Год назад +4

      My brother and I had a discussion about the travel times. In all media that lists a speed the Death Star is basically as fast as a Space tracter while the Falcon is a sports car in the hood of a small truck. We've come to the conclusion that there is a several days to a week time skip between the Falcon leaving Tatooine and when it reaches Alderann.

  • @visageliquifier3636
    @visageliquifier3636 6 лет назад +49

    Well, they do walk on the deckplates in deep space without floating, so directed artificial gravity seems to be the norm. Even small fighters have it, so it must be something very cheap and easy to build, maintain and power. We also never see the gravity fields of other ships affect each other, so it must be containable or polarizable in some manner. Given that, it seems that in Star Wars universe it should be a simple matter to engineer a recoil field effect that balances massive G acceleration equally. Taking the capability to generate directed, contained gravitational fields easily, the other problem is one of speed and capacity; can they generate a strong enough field fast enough? I think they would have more than the capacity to do to so, specifically since they have hyperdrive technologies that do not blend a ship's crew. Given that Admiral Holdo's maneuver worked, hyperdrive must impart massive acceleration to the vessel (which you also calculated...). If the crews are not liquified, their vessels must be able to somehow counter that massive acceleration. While the recoil effect of the Death Star's weapon would be impressive, sending the mass of a ship in to super-c speeds should be incredible. Taking a lower-bound estimate of an ISD's mass:
    (www.st-v-sw.net/STSWvolumetrics.html)
    as 3.154*10^10kg, accelerating that mass to just 1c in about 0.5 seconds (a minimal hyperspace jump) would be:
    F = ma => 3.154*10^10kg * (2.998*10^8 / 0.5) => 3.154*10^10kg * (5.996*10^8) => 18.911*10^18
    Dialing that up to the range you're talking would be about:
    Conveniently you state 7.5*10^23 kg*(m/s), which fits the dimensions of the force equation nicely.
    7.5*10^23 = 3.154*10^10kg * (n*(2.998*10^8 / 0.5)) => 3.154*10^10kg * (n*(5.996*10^8))
    => 18.911*10^18 * n ... so: 7.5*10^23 / 18.911*10^18 = n = 0.3966 * 10^5 ~> 4*10^4 .. so accelerating an Imperial Star Destroyer up to about 40,000 times the speed of light in half a second is about the same amount of force to counteract the energy of the Death Star's recoil momentum. So, do Star Wars ships go that fast?
    I don't know. To the Internet!
    (www.tor.com/2014/12/08/star-wars-how-fast-is-the-millennium-falcon/)
    So we can estimate the Millenium Falcon's travel to Alderan to be at the rate of about 1041.66 light years per hour, keeping in mind they weren't in any particular hurry, and this was a 'piece of junk' bulk freighter and not an Imperial super war machine, that puts them at:
    light year = 9.461*10^12km
    so 9.461*10^12 * 1041.66 => 9855.145*10^12 => 9.856*10^15km in one hour
    c = 2.998*10^8m/s => 2.998*10^5km/s, 2.998*10^5 * 3600 => 107.928*10^5 => 1.08*10^7km/h
    so: 9.856*10^15km/h / 1.08*10^7km/h => 9.126 * 10^8 times c (holy crap!)
    Millenium Falcon, a 'piece of crap' 'junkpile' can do about 90 million times the speed of light and can counteract any force of acceleration while jumping, but it masses out a lot less than an ol' ISD. According to the source above, an Imperial Star Destroyer masses out to 36767000 / 860 => 40426.744 times the Falcon. What is the difference between the force counteracted to jump the Falcon to about 9*10^8 c and an ISD to 4*10^4 c: 2.25*10^4 ... which is about 20 times less than the difference in their masses. Given that this is within one order of magnitude and we're working with approximations of fictional stuff, I'd call that pretty much even money.
    So, yes, the Empire should definitely be able to counteract that much recoil force with whatever mechanism they use to counter acceleration to hyperspace, or, put another way, they probably figured out how much recoil force they could counteract at most and engineered a huge frickin' laser beam that would output about 5% less than that in photonic momentum.

    • @AdmiralStoicRum
      @AdmiralStoicRum 6 лет назад +2

      ^This guy gets it

    • @guamson8946
      @guamson8946 6 лет назад

      Whoa... you really did your research, didn't you?!

  • @PayneMaximus
    @PayneMaximus 6 лет назад +131

    You don't think the Death Star will work, do you?
    I find your lack of faith disturbing.

    • @t.c.bramblett617
      @t.c.bramblett617 6 лет назад +1

      Not in our moment of triumph!

    • @jwhiteheadcc
      @jwhiteheadcc 6 лет назад +1

      Irony, is that the guy he said that to was a toady and probably deserved it. :D

  • @Larroseba
    @Larroseba 2 года назад +9

    I think the theory of using the thrust of the Death Star engines make sense considering that in this universe travels near light speed several times no matter their size.

  • @jaredkirk1555
    @jaredkirk1555 6 лет назад +23

    Kyle, Long time watcher, first time commenting...
    I think you're forgetting about the (assumed) inertial dampeners... they go at light speed all the time don't they (I believe in both the Death Star, as well as other ships)? So they would need to have something to lessen the equal and opposite reaction from that, right?
    I see two options:
    1. They use the inertial dampeners to make the reaction from the laser manageable or…
    2. They use a fraction of the light speed engines (which you never really see) to keep them in the same place. (you only mentioned their Sublight engines.
    Eh?

    • @portkapul1283
      @portkapul1283 6 лет назад +4

      completely forgot about the assumed inertial dampeners, i only considered how the gravity projectors could help handle the force, well inertial dampeners solves all the pesky problems of physics

  • @ruyman90
    @ruyman90 6 лет назад +36

    Am I the only one that thinks that the exhaust port isn't a huge flaw? If you tell me that I have to fly to a giant space station, evade the turrets, defend myself against other thousands flying ships, launch 2 torpedoes that have to do a 90° turn into an 2x2m entrance and those have to go in a straight line for 60km fighting whatever the exhaust port expelling gas, radiation, heat, sewage, or whatever while the station is moving. I would say, "that's impossible. What do you think I am, a SPACE WIZARD???"
    And would you see, a SPACE WIZARD did it.

    • @ChrisHall8908
      @ChrisHall8908 6 лет назад +2

      It's been a while since I watched episode 4, but I believe the torpedo doesn't have to travel all the way to the center. I recall some mention of "cascading reactions" that will blow up the core.

    • @rekrn12345
      @rekrn12345 6 лет назад +6

      It's not a huge flaw. It is a small potentially fatal flaw.

    • @ruyman90
      @ruyman90 6 лет назад +3

      For the presentation in Ep 4 it seems that it must reach the reactor in the center to make a chain reaction between all reactors and explode.

    • @CrowandTalbot
      @CrowandTalbot 6 лет назад +2

      ruyman90 Make a space station impenetrable to literally MAGIC or you'll kill me and my family? Guess we'll just die then. It's more Vader's fault, they should have had a Sith waiting at each exhaust port just in case a magically guided torpedo came.

    • @davelong1139
      @davelong1139 6 лет назад +1

      Since this was done by a very inexperienced teen, from the second shot taken at the port in the first fight at the Death Star. I'd stay it is a huge flaw. Just ask Disney, they made Rogue One to cover that up.

  • @Geninacra
    @Geninacra 6 лет назад +26

    Only one flaw with your flaw that I can think of.
    The Deathstar has an inertia damp capable of stoping it from FTL momentum. So... That makes your recoil insignificant.

    • @odium3691
      @odium3691 6 лет назад +2

      Alekay Argote Viola James it is generally understood that "hyper space" is just like slipspace from the halo universe. Another, compact dimension, parallel to ours. Not FTL. Just a worm hole with extra steps XD.

    • @Geninacra
      @Geninacra 6 лет назад +2

      Even if that is so, this pilots can enter and exit scape velocity without even the need to take proper sit. That's some kind of inertia engine.
      PS: And the kamicaze move from The Last Jedi is... What? A phisics fisure? I'm genuenly curious.

    • @randybentley2633
      @randybentley2633 6 лет назад +1

      starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Inertial_compensator Like Star Trek, Star Wars does need some kind of tech to explain how their craft, from the lowly speeder all the way up to the Death Star, are able to do the maneuvers that they do without turning their crews into chunky salsa.

  • @BadKruser
    @BadKruser 2 года назад +14

    Love the Wilhelm Scream at 7:07

  • @maskeraade230
    @maskeraade230 6 лет назад +21

    Hey Kyle,
    sry this is a little bit of topic, but i just got this idea yesterday evening.
    In your ant-man episode you pointed out that antman had a mass problem but maybe i
    found a way to fix it (in one direction).
    When ant-man shrinks or grows, the pym particle somehow changes the space between his atoms
    and, as you pointed out, his mass should be the same. But in the movies it seems like his mass
    scales with is volumen, which would also be necessary for quantum effects.
    But this could be fixed (only when he shriks), cause most people have a wrong perception of mass.
    The mass of an object is not only detrment by the number of prontons, neutron and electrons in its
    volume. The mass of an atom strogly depends of the binding energy of the nucleus.
    The mass of an atom is given by the Weizäcker mass-formula.
    M(A,Z)= NM_n+ZM_m+Zm_e-B(Z,A)
    N: Number of nutrons Z: Number of protons
    A = Z+N
    The binding energy consists of 5 parts, but is dominatet by the frist one the volume term of the nucleus.
    So if you could somehow increase the bindingenergy (BE) of a nucleus, the atom would get lighter and the
    core itself would shrink down thus reducing ant-mans mass.
    Also particles (protons neutrons) are not hard balls with a definde surface and volumen.
    Matter can be compressed almoste infinitely, as we see in black holes.
    This two characteristics of matter would also allow him to continue to
    shrink down under atomic levels into the quantum space.
    So i think this could fix ant-mans mass and size problem (in one direction). Sadly you cant decrease BE.
    This would make his atoms unstable.
    So i hope you are reading this although its a little bit of topic and sry for my bad english.
    PS: you once talked about "TATOOIN" as an acronym but this is not realy correct "Tatooin" would be an
    apronym. An apronym is an acronym but the acronym itself is an own word.
    Thats not realy important but mabye you want to know as an fan of usless knowledge.

    • @thanushgovindarajoo4083
      @thanushgovindarajoo4083 6 лет назад +2

      MaskeraaDe you are the next SUPER NERD!!!!

    • @MichaelBerthelsen
      @MichaelBerthelsen 6 лет назад +2

      Just a small point, it's Pym particle, not pimp particle...😂😂

    • @thomasmiller8289
      @thomasmiller8289 6 лет назад +2

      The power of the pimp particle!

    • @samhawk8603
      @samhawk8603 6 лет назад +2

      Pimp particle 🤣😂🤣😂 I love it!

    • @michaelmcchesney6645
      @michaelmcchesney6645 6 лет назад +2

      One of the problems I had with the Ant Man movie is about how Janet destroyed the missile and Scott destroyed Yellowjacket. They go subatomic to pass through the titanium, but once through, they are large enough to start smashing the tech inside. That's just a pet peeve of mine I've never heard anyone talk about before. I'm sure others have raised it, but not where I've seen it.

  • @kevsouthwell6136
    @kevsouthwell6136 5 лет назад +57

    Never knew Thor was a RUclipsr.

    • @patkun01
      @patkun01 4 года назад +4

      Dorito Dude 360 he could explain Mjolnir physics

    • @BoldrinKidzenyuy
      @BoldrinKidzenyuy 2 месяца назад

      😂😂😂

  • @alecsmith3448
    @alecsmith3448 6 лет назад +13

    Also, they could just do whatever it is that they do to avoid turning to goo when they jump to hyperspace.

  • @classifiedveteran9879
    @classifiedveteran9879 9 месяцев назад +3

    I just realized, if a civilization had the ability to make a deathstar, they'd be able to tow planets outside the habitable zone into a warmer climate. Instead, the empire saw fit to destroy worlds instead.

  • @tay012
    @tay012 6 лет назад +24

    But Kyle, we see in the films there are several smaller lasers that join to create the main laser. Does the difference in angles affect the momentum?

    • @mlok4216
      @mlok4216 6 лет назад +4

      Taylor Shipley given the positions of lasers it would apply forces on station which would lead to the destruction pattern similar to that of opening a bag of chips =D

    • @seraphic22
      @seraphic22 6 лет назад +3

      That shouldn't make any difference. Unless we get another fatal flaw in that those small lasers firing literally rip the death star apart.
      If I'm remembering right (which I'm probably not, been many a year), you would use the parallelogram rule to say the forces add together into a resulting singular force. I'm sure I am grossly over simplifying there and you would need complex vector calculus to get exact numbers but overall it shouldn't change anything that greatly.

    • @zachh6868
      @zachh6868 6 лет назад +1

      Taylor Shipley that's still the same amount of energy pushing the deathstar back. The setup we see in the movie would help disperse the recoil so that it doesn't apply all the pressure to one point, but the problem is the speed at which the energy is being pushed out remanes the same.

    • @egmccann
      @egmccann 6 лет назад

      I was somewhat wondering the same thing...

  • @daito_navy2379
    @daito_navy2379 6 лет назад +17

    There's ALSO another flaw.
    The stormtroopers stationed there miss everything.

    • @inkednpierced4u53
      @inkednpierced4u53 6 лет назад +1

      NavyDevil they missed on purpose though to let the falcon get away to track them to the base.

    • @ronpetersen2317
      @ronpetersen2317 6 лет назад +1

      Stormtroopers don't operate those grass valley video switchers. It is those guys with the backwards hats.

    • @christopherschmeltz3333
      @christopherschmeltz3333 5 лет назад

      @@inkednpierced4u53 Yeah, but they can still only hit the broad side of a barn when the force (a.k.a. plot) wants them to! Imperial training programs seem to be based on the indoctrination of overwhelming numbers, so they may as well be firing black powder muskets or making it rain arrows... Just march in intimidating formations and keep firing until you hit everything that opposes Emperor Palpatine, then blame all the collateral damage on the criminals.

  • @billmalcolm4291
    @billmalcolm4291 6 лет назад +51

    In every shot of the Death Star firing it's primary weapon, it first fires seven beams in sequence, that converge into a single point. I looked up some blueprints for the Death star, because of course I did, and there is an item labeled "Targeting field generator". This implies there is some sort of field that collects the separate beams into a single point. I'm making assumptions about how this would work, but after the separate beams are fired, an energy field is generated outside the death star stopping and collecting the energy before releasing the payload.
    My point is that in firing it in smaller sequences, it splits the change in momentum into seven manageable chunks and collects the energy from them over a period time, thereby lessening the recoil.

    • @benknapp4166
      @benknapp4166 6 лет назад +6

      Just drop 7,000 nuclear space bombs. Lol

    • @mrrodgers0
      @mrrodgers0 6 лет назад +8

      Here's the problem with that though: dividing the beam recoil by 7 means you're still making everyone experience 300gs, which would have basically the same result.

    • @AsbestosMuffins
      @AsbestosMuffins 6 лет назад +5

      @@mrrodgers0 but they have artificial gravity (and not the spiny kind) so all good.

    • @physe8052
      @physe8052 6 лет назад +2

      To add to what Ford Mulligan said, you also can't "collect" light in a stationary position without a very exotic laboratory setup.

    • @twilight_lupinesilva4691
      @twilight_lupinesilva4691 5 лет назад

      Asher Flanagan They probably have that.

  • @jamesdiaz88
    @jamesdiaz88 Год назад +2

    So, I have some problems with your analysis:
    1) Some guns have special stocks that reduce the recoil you can feel when firing the gun. Something could probably be done to reduce the recoil. Giant metal springs could be used, a system that uses laser emitters that slide into place into the death star from behind, fire, get thrown behind in the opposite direction, and the emitters could be disposable/use rockets to return(this system would use double sided barrels, like an RPG, with the payload going in one direction, and the other stuff going behind you(in this case, the laser and the emitter). Obviously, introducing inertial dampeners renders the point moot, but I would admit that they would have a high energy cost.
    2) Star Wars has materials that don't actually exist. They could probably reduce the issue by using something dense enough to make the gravity ~2-4 Gs, which when combined with other measures, could be enough.
    3) I don't believe that the engines are ever shown, but they obviously have to exist, so it's likely that they're off camera, meaning it could be that it's just happening off screen
    4) While I am showing possible workarounds, the fact of the matter is that this is a work of science fiction. It makes sense to say that there are issues that engineers/scientists need to fix, but the presence of an issue doesn't mean it's impossible. All it does is pose an issue that the author may want to have an in-universe workaround for. I would not call this an insurmountable engineering question(let alone a fatal flaw), though it is an interesting one.

  • @aidanrogers4438
    @aidanrogers4438 6 лет назад +22

    WE STAND HERE AMIDST MY ACHIEVEMENT! NOT YOUR'S!

  • @ckought69
    @ckought69 5 лет назад +8

    Did you account for the deathstar having a propulsion system capable of moving it at FTL speeds? It made it from the system that blew up Alderman to another star system where the rebel base was located (which, even if it was close by, would still be several light years away) in a fairly short amount of time. They also have technology that can control gravity, manufacture and store the amount of power used by the laser system, and to build a laser system capable of outputting that power without destroying itself. With all of those technologies (plus more), I'm sure there would be a way to counter the recoil of the laser firing.

  • @brickempire4427
    @brickempire4427 6 лет назад +58

    The Death Star had gravitational dampeners and compensators, that then made it possible for the workers to survive

    • @simonglancy3136
      @simonglancy3136 6 лет назад +8

      indeed we already know that the x-wing has inertial dampeners built in, and repulsor tech has been sort in the law of starwars, thus bythe "science" the energy problem simply would not exist, so were back to small thermal exhorst ports that are ray shielded only sigh :P

    • @mikearcher9390
      @mikearcher9390 5 лет назад

      hand-wavy stuff

    • @sporegnosis
      @sporegnosis 5 лет назад +4

      even if that were true, the death star needs double the power production, because you need equal power to cancel the directional momentum. So whatever budget you had, double it. This would also mean that the unfinished death star would not be capable of firing at all.

    • @sanderspijkers2495
      @sanderspijkers2495 5 лет назад +6

      People accelarate from 0 to lightspeed in just a second all the time in star wars. I guess they jump to lightspeed so often g-forces don 't hurt them anymore.

    • @JeffDeLamater
      @JeffDeLamater 5 лет назад +1

      That's what they want you the think, but it's just a rouse. The unfinished death star is fully operational.

  • @joshhardin666
    @joshhardin666 Год назад +13

    Because the death star is already equipped with a Faster Than Light engine, it MUST already have some kind of inertial dampening systems (at least inside) or the second they jump to ftl, the crew would end up as paste on the back wall.

  • @JamesTM
    @JamesTM 6 лет назад +70

    This all assumes that the laser itself delivers enough energy to totally separate the planet. But there's two other compounding factors:
    1) As the laser vaporizes its way through the planet, energy will be released from that material in the form of heat, vapor, etc. All that added energy would contribute to the explodifying (sure, it's not a real word, but it's awesome) of the planet. In theory, that could even decrease the energy required for the laser logarithmically, if we assume it triggers nuclear chain reactions within the material of the planet.
    2) In the movie, we only see that the planet explodes. There's nothing to suggest that it does not reform under gravity later. If we allow for the possibility that the rocks, dust, vapor, and people-bits that made up the planet will eventually coalesse back together, that too would dramatically lower the amount of energy required.
    I'm curious if, when taking both these factors into account, the momentum "generated" would be at a safe level.

    • @liamnicholas5764
      @liamnicholas5764 6 лет назад +9

      Vaporising requires energy to be absorbed; it's only making bonds that releases energy. Since the laser would doubtless end up vaporising matter as well as breaking it apart, this means that the laser has to spend more energy to break apart the planet. (Since a lot of the laser energy is being spent vaporising stuff, rather then explodifying stuff).
      Point two does make sense, though.

    • @KaiCalimatinus
      @KaiCalimatinus 6 лет назад +4

      In Disney Canon since the novel Death Star that explained it is retconned out, it is just a laser that powerful, but in Legends it was a hypermatter particle beam and Superlaser has always been a bit of a misnomer, and yes, it converted the matter down to and of the core of the target j to antimatter, or hypermatter depending on certain other source material, and literally nuked the planet with a gajilion micro black holes, antimatter detonations and nuclear effects, and also launched the debris slightly through hyperspace to everywhere and anywhere, so it would feasibly take a little less energy than several suns at once. That and the beam is also partially in hyperspace so that totally throws doing math on momentum properly out the window.

    • @everythinggoodsfeckingtaken
      @everythinggoodsfeckingtaken 6 лет назад +4

      Indeed... the centre of the planet is like one giant pressure cooker. Get a pressure cooker or any high pressure canister and shoot it with a regular bullet.... it going BOOOOOM

    • @InnaciKorushka
      @InnaciKorushka 6 лет назад +1

      People bits. Love it lol

    • @sstroh08
      @sstroh08 6 лет назад +6

      Plus, the main goal of destroying a planet would be to wipe out the offending occupants surely correct? Whether the planet reforms or not, surely just blasting it into small chunks would do the trick.

  • @AronBagel
    @AronBagel 6 лет назад +39

    I guess that kinda makes Starkiller Base a more viable option - rather than firing out such massive amounts of energy by itself, it transports them through hyperspace, a concept that's been a nice shield against most fundamental physics problems in Star Wars, perhaps avoiding these complications.

    • @joshuahadams
      @joshuahadams 6 лет назад +6

      AronBagel it basically eats and then burps out a star, letting the heat and inertia of hyper accelerated plasma do the work.

    • @Plasmacore_V
      @Plasmacore_V 6 лет назад +7

      Galactic Flamethrower

    • @stevenle9960
      @stevenle9960 6 лет назад +4

      Plasmacore V plasma thrower

    • @vulpinedeity3379
      @vulpinedeity3379 6 лет назад +3

      When did they ever say that it was firing through hyperspace?

    •  6 лет назад +11

      It would have to fire faster than light in order to hit another system in an reasonable amount of time.

  • @justicepsych
    @justicepsych 5 лет назад +54

    Solved by Canon:
    1) Vader lives on the Death Star
    2) The physical limits of the force are constrained only by the force user's will.
    3) When they use the laser, Sith Lord Vader holds the Death Star in place.

    • @cutcontent6787
      @cutcontent6787 5 лет назад +17

      If Vader was that strong he could just destroy the planet himself

    • @justicepsych
      @justicepsych 5 лет назад +20

      @@cutcontent6787 That's not Vader's job. He's union.

    • @mysteriousssstranger
      @mysteriousssstranger 5 лет назад +6

      @@justicepsych *predsident of the union. it's why he was allowed into the HR war room with Tarkin and the other imp officers

    • @bonfiregaming1747
      @bonfiregaming1747 4 года назад

      @@jacko_3770 And its a joke.

  • @Zminator1986
    @Zminator1986 Год назад +2

    Imperial Reporter, "What do you feel when you shot Alderaan?"
    Death Star Gunner, "Recoil."

  • @SheevPalpatine66420
    @SheevPalpatine66420 6 лет назад +26

    You shouldn't have been force choked......until you said Vade

  • @WarlandWriter
    @WarlandWriter 6 лет назад +57

    3:27 this wouldn't be a fireball. These kinds of flames form because they exist in a medium with a vertical density gradient (like earth's atmosphere), which sends the particles inside the flame (for the visible part: mostly glowing hot carbon particles) in the direction of the gradient (i.e. upward).
    Since this requires a medium (such as air) and a density gradient in said medium (caused by gravity, in earth's case), neither of which exist on a planet that was intentionally blown apart so badly that it no longer has a meaningful gravitational pull, the flame would look very differently. Not entirely sure how it would look, but certainly not like this.
    Edit: a little note about how the flame would look, because otherwise people are gonna whine about me criticising the show without knowing any better myself:
    I'm not exactly sure about how explosions in space work, but they would probably be very limited. Yes, because of the low outward pressure of space (being in very close approximation 0 Pa) and the lack of gravitational pull, the flame would be able to expand very quickly, but at the same time it can't gain more fuel from the vacuum, and would thus die out very rapidly as well. Because of said vacuum, the flame can't use any air molecules to burn, and thus also needs to get all of its fuel and oxygen from the exploding planet. This will mainly be on the surface of the planet (as the core is just metal), meaning that the force that blows up the planet won't be a flame at all.
    Come to think of it, it is more likely that the force that expells the planet shells outward is gas pressure. It is the same concept as in this video:
    ruclips.net/video/dAHolupCEkc/видео.html Molten aluminum vs ice.
    Spoilers, the ice explodes. This happens because the aluminum vaporizes the water around it, causing it to want to take much more space. However, it is trapped above by the molten aluminum, and on all other sides by the ice. As a result, the pressure inside the ice builds up until it becomes greater than the forces keeping the ice together. The pressure is then suddenly released: The block explodes.
    Same thing happens with the planet, probably. The death star laser just vaporizes the core of the planet it intends to destroy so rapidly that the pressure can't escape through the laser hole anymore, so the planet explodes.
    This also means that not 100% of the laser energy is put into exploding the planet, meaning that the actual laser power would be even greater, i.e. even more ketchup people...
    (Damn, that was supposed to be a 'little note'...)

    • @BlinkyLass
      @BlinkyLass 6 лет назад +7

      inb4 you are a super nerd in the show footnotes

    • @zoesdada8923
      @zoesdada8923 6 лет назад

      WarlandWriter do you really think anyone's going to read this?

    • @brandonogden3498
      @brandonogden3498 6 лет назад +2

      You, sir (or ma'am or whatever else you identify as), are a SUPER NERD. If Kyle doesn't give it, I do.

    • @Reckec
      @Reckec 6 лет назад +1

      Zoes Dada I read it. And I also think the explosion of the planet would appear as a bright circular flash.

    • @WarlandWriter
      @WarlandWriter 6 лет назад +1

      Haha thank you brandon, I appreciate it.
      The bright circular flash is also a good likelyhood, but I think for a different reason than you mentioned, Reckec. Since the explosion essentially shoots out molten metal (that is unable to cool to the vacuum of space) in all directions, you may get some in your eyes. If that happens, the last thing you'll see is your eyes burning away, which you probably see as a bright circular flash. I still stand with the 'explosion' itself not flashing at all, only the black body radiation of the molten core shows a little.

  • @Derek_Baumgartner
    @Derek_Baumgartner 5 лет назад +7

    I imagine that another possible methodology for dealing with the 'recoil': the same type of design system utilized for recoilless rifles, like bazookas.
    A bazooka, for example, ejects the gas utilized in firing the payload, resulting in the 'recoilless' categorization.
    Another way to achieve this 'recoilless' design is to eject a 'countermass' at the point of firing.
    The latter would likely be impractical, but the former might be possible depending on the systems utilized to generate the energy for firing the laser. Not sure about that part, though.
    Another potential offset: if the Death Star is hyperdrive capable - and it is - it might be possible to underfire the hyperdrive at the point of firing in order to counter-balance the laser's energy.
    But then, of course, you just arrive at the 'hyperspace missile' so often discussed since Last Jedi and ask 'why use a laser in the first place?'

  • @DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3
    @DeltaFoxtrotWhiskey3 Год назад +2

    In one of the books, I think it was Death Star, they mentioned that the laser wasn’t a conventional laser. It was a laser fired into hyperspace with the planet in its path. This would mean that most of the acceleration actually happened outside the station.

  • @diegosanchez894
    @diegosanchez894 6 лет назад +52

    What if if isn't a laser? What if the death star throws antimatter directly so that half the energy is already on the planet and also the mass would be less so the binding energy would be smaller. Also, I checked to see if it could create a kugleblitz (black hole created from energy) at the surface and destroy the planet that way but the energy for the smallest viable kugleblitz is 10^42j which is much, much more than the binding energy you calculated so I defeated my own point.

    • @taerog
      @taerog 6 лет назад +4

      Diego Sanchez the thing is antimatter does not work like in the movies either.
      Most probably ( physics on the scale is not something to do on a napkin) you would need allot, and the antimatter would hit the atmosphere and annihilate. The flow and speed of the antimatter partial beam would be important as if it was too low you would just make the remaining planet thrust away.. Also beware of antimatter comming back at you from the "explosions", as the followup antimatter will need to go through the energy release deflecting it's path. Plus it will also thrust the DS back as the mater beem has momentum.

    • @GoatPopsicle
      @GoatPopsicle 6 лет назад +6

      The problem is they call it a laser multiple times. We can try fix it, but canon still has the same problem as Lucas’ “Laser Swords”

    • @diegosanchez894
      @diegosanchez894 6 лет назад

      ta erog yeah the momentum of the antimatter bean would be the biggest flaw to my solution. But whether it is in the atmosphere or on the surface, if the energy is input in the planet it will eventually end it. Considering the amount of antimatter necessary, the atmosphere would be gone instantly, and the rest of the planet would release the gluon energy eventually overcoming g the binding one.

    • @Tassadar237
      @Tassadar237 6 лет назад +2

      What if instead of a laser, it is a high-power science gun which catalyzes nuclear chain-reactions in its target?
      Or even more Science Fiction, what if it is a high-power science gun which (even temporarily) disables gravity, or mass-gravity interaction. What if it is a Anti-Higgs Beam?
      Or even MORE Science fiction, what if it is a high-power science gun which (even temporarily) disables the Strong Nuclear Force in its target? ...Boom?

    • @belzedk
      @belzedk 6 лет назад +5

      Doctor Cthulhu
      That is just what the plebs call it.
      I imagine the engineers giving a long explanation on what it is and ending it with "... , its like a big laser"
      "oh its a big laser, why didn't you just say so"
      "no, that's not... sure what ever"

  • @seancondon5572
    @seancondon5572 5 лет назад +22

    11:00 - to be fair, the effect in A New Hope looked like TWO projectiles firing.

    • @tankmaster4882
      @tankmaster4882 5 лет назад

      Yes, he did shoot two down the exhaust port

    • @adamnichols476
      @adamnichols476 4 года назад

      @Nathan Sindlinger those were missiles not blaster bolts.

    • @StormsparkPegasus
      @StormsparkPegasus 4 года назад +1

      @@adamnichols476 They were "proton torpedos", whatever the heck those are supposed to be.

    • @starwarsfan_1206
      @starwarsfan_1206 2 года назад

      @@StormsparkPegasus its like a sidewinder but with like a 10x larger warhead

  • @HORRIOR1
    @HORRIOR1 6 лет назад +14

    So HOW BADLY would the potential shrapnel from an EXPLODING PLANET affect a Death Star? If we assume the Death Star is as far away from the planet, as our Moon is from Earth, and the planet explodes the same way as it does in the movie, would the planet fragments shred apart the outer shell of the Death Star?

    • @AspLode
      @AspLode 6 лет назад +1

      There would certainly be pieces of planet traveling at relativistic speeds following such a catastrophe, which makes the part where the Millennium Falcon warps into a debris field that much more dangerous.

    • @christianmcdonald419
      @christianmcdonald419 6 лет назад

      But it has shields.

    • @mrfister1234
      @mrfister1234 6 лет назад

      It would affect the DS but the death star is ray shielded, magnetically shielded and sealed and has sectional deflectors. It would be fine

  • @AndreuPinel
    @AndreuPinel Год назад +1

    Not to mention that because the cannon is not aligned with the center of the sphere, in addition to suffer the backwards recoil, it would start spinning like crazy, and because the laser remains on for some seconds, it would probably hit many other things (similar to what happens when someone doesn't hold a fully automatic gun in a proper way and keeps the trigger pressed).
    My solution would have been adding a 2nd cannon perfectly synchronized and aligned in order to neutralize each other's recoil (this wouldn't prevent everyone in the DS from dying but at least the emperor wouldn't loose his toy)... Yes, that would require double the energy per shot and it would destroy whatever other thing is in this 2nd cannon's line too (friend or foe), but hey, aren't we the empire supposed to be super evil?

  • @ryozen9413
    @ryozen9413 6 лет назад +23

    The laser in the films seems to be even more powerful than your calculations, since the planets in the movie explode - not just drift apart at a measly 11km/s.
    More ketchup for everyone!

    • @t.c.bramblett617
      @t.c.bramblett617 6 лет назад +3

      The Death Star was also WAY too close to the planet it blew up in Rogue One. It would have been destroyed by planetary debris immediately (not to mention torn apart by tidal forces). I prefer A New Hope because (due to budgetary constraints probably) they didn't show the death star's location in relation to the planets it was targeting, so it could have been the way more likely distance of several million km away.

    • @metamorphicorder
      @metamorphicorder 6 лет назад +1

      Its ketchup from everyone. Everyone on the deathstar at least.

    • @evknucklehead
      @evknucklehead 6 лет назад +2

      In Rogue One, they only used a single reactor's worth of power to devastate the surface of the planets (they used it twice in that movie). They didn't fully destroy either of the planets like they did with Alderaan. (granted, I don't know what percentage of the station's full power a single reactor produces, as I don't know how many reactors it has in total)
      Edit: Also, the 11km/s was for if the laser were fired from a planet with the mass of Earth. It had nothing to do with the speed of the debris coming from the planet it hit.

    • @ryozen9413
      @ryozen9413 6 лет назад

      Good point!
      As for the 11km/s, all I was saying was that for a planet to blow up like we see in A New Hope, the derbies would need to fly apart at a much greater velocity than 11km/s (earth's escape velocity). Therefore, the laser would need to be much more powerful to achieve this.

    • @evknucklehead
      @evknucklehead 6 лет назад

      He never says that the debris would only be reaching escape velocity based on the calculations. He says that it will be enough to completely disrupt the bonds of gravity for the entire mass of the planet. Reaching escape velocity isn't destroying the gravity of a planet, which putting the GBE into the planet does.
      Besides, as the mass of the planet decentralizes, the escape velocity of each remnant will be much lower due to each fragment having less mass than the intact planet.
      I do admit that I got confused as to where you were getting the 11km/s from. I thought Kyle had given a number when he was demonstrating the effect of firing the laser from the earth.

  • @AlexanderEmpyre
    @AlexanderEmpyre 6 лет назад +58

    I detect a logical flaw my good sir!
    Planets already consist of hyper dense matter the closer you get to the core. In a manner of speaking, the planet will be doing most of the work if you know where to aim, making the Death Star's laser's size not have to be quite as big as you've predicted.
    Your original calculation perceived a uniform density of a planet. Which, if I've properly researched my geology, would not be possible due to the requirement of increased density closer the core. Releasing the pressure using an incisional laser could cause a proportionately small, but catastrophic expansion of the planets gooey insides. Have a laser that can compensate for the remaining energy required and BOOM there goes Alderaan.
    After adding the potential energy of the planet to the calculation, I deduce that the laser would have to be more along the lines of projecting a minimum of 1.5x10^22, making the force of momentum approximately 26km/s. Still quite large, but given the startup time required for the laser to fire, not impossible to counter.
    Thanks for making me think today! Your show is super tasty.
    P.S. Strike a pose, your getting photoshopped.

    • @iBIONICLE
      @iBIONICLE 6 лет назад +2

      Alexander Empyre well aren't you just so smart.

    • @portkapul1283
      @portkapul1283 6 лет назад +1

      i don't think a planet's insides should ever be described as gooey

    • @gregormuller4598
      @gregormuller4598 6 лет назад +2

      but wouldent that not only work for planets with a at least partial fluid core? do solids that were compressed usually extend when the pressure is gone?

    • @ServantofBaal
      @ServantofBaal 6 лет назад +3

      I always thought the same thing myself, but that only explains it up to a certain point, I feel. This could cause a massive eruption, but the planet would probably seal the hole. It would create a massive volcano that would make Mustafar jealous, but a planet is simply too massive to obliterate by causing the mantle to start leaking. It wouldn't even reach the core, because the energy would be displaced before it gets there. You wouldn't even be able to cause a nuclear reaction by bombarding it with energy, because the core, being iron, would absorb more energy than it releases in the exchange and would stabilize. I'm not even sure if the amount of energy he described would be enough to cause a planet to instantly vaporize. Planet destroying lasers just aren't practical in any way. It would be easier to create a singularity stable enough to devour the planet than blow it up with a laser, and even easier yet just to nuke it into a ten thousand year ice age

    • @JeremiahNunn
      @JeremiahNunn 6 лет назад +5

      another factor that would reduce the energy required, you don't need to pump so much energy in such that the planet would never reform, just enough that it's "destroyed" for an hour or 2 for cinematic effect would be sufficient.

  • @eluminaryxarrais7735
    @eluminaryxarrais7735 6 лет назад +38

    Star Wars Universe has artificial gravity, if you have that technology inertial dampeners could be used to cancel all of this out.

    • @samxrl
      @samxrl 6 лет назад +2

      Eluminary Xarrais yes, but it would have to exactly perfectly match the acceleration to the micro second otherwise you would put out too little and everyone dies or too much and everyone dies so even that would be absurdly difficult

    • @eluminaryxarrais7735
      @eluminaryxarrais7735 6 лет назад +4

      samxrl it could all be automated easily. We have the technology now to automate the process your phone has accelerometers on it that's all you would need just a very sensitive accelerometer connected to your artificial gravity machine... We have the accelerometers just not the anti gravity machine part... It would need massive power, actually about equal to the laser itself

    • @eluminaryxarrais7735
      @eluminaryxarrais7735 6 лет назад +2

      samxrl the more I think about it there is proof they have these in the movie... If they didn't have these they would die evertime they went to hyperspace

    • @crgkevin6542
      @crgkevin6542 6 лет назад +4

      Not to mention that the Death Star's compensators would know exactly when to engage because they'd be linked to the firing system. It'd also know how much force to compensate for, given that the recoil would've been calculated in the design process...

    • @arfived4
      @arfived4 6 лет назад

      You can't counter science with technobabble.

  • @sebbes333
    @sebbes333 Год назад +2

    3:34 The solution is easy & obvious!
    We simply fire another lazer in the opposite direction to cancel out the recoil :D
    .*The "Death Star" becomes the "Death Pancake"* :D

  • @mrp1l0t32
    @mrp1l0t32 5 лет назад +8

    You may fire when ready.
    *Everyone slides forward on the deck as Deja Vu plays in the background.*

  • @SubscribersWithNoVideos-mh3ic
    @SubscribersWithNoVideos-mh3ic 6 лет назад +55

    _Its flaw is that someone could _*_put a mirror in front on the laser_*

    • @mlok4216
      @mlok4216 6 лет назад +14

      10,000 Subscribers With No Videos?? I think that a mirror with 99,99% reflectivity wouldn't withstand the 10^30 remaining Joules of energy and it would vaporize...

    • @alecsmith3448
      @alecsmith3448 6 лет назад +6

      10,000 Subscribers With No Videos?? A laser that strong would just melt the mirror.

    • @rumblingend8443
      @rumblingend8443 6 лет назад +5

      Calm down people it's a joke

    • @Renniuq11
      @Renniuq11 6 лет назад +7

      mlok4216 [S-N] Well, even if it did just melt it, it would still reflect 99.99% of the energy until that happened, which means it would send about 10,000 times as much energy back as it absorbed before melting, which I think would still be a problem for the station on the other end. Also it might be able to divert enough energy from the laser away from the planet to let it survive. Probably not survive well, and it would still have drastic negative consequences to it, but it might not be gravitationally seperated, so... worth?

    • @ServantofBaal
      @ServantofBaal 6 лет назад +4

      Or launch the torpedoes down into the laser channels and cause them to collapse, and likely destroy the weapon system. Seriously, giant chasms like that leading to the main weapon system that could easily disable it and they want to try and risk the thermal exhaust port, a much smaller target? Just bombard the laser channels into oblivion

  • @SupermassiveGaming
    @SupermassiveGaming 6 лет назад +17

    If the problem is from sudden acceleration due to the laser firing at full blast, couldn't they just slowly amp up the laser's power and avoid the acceleration issue all together?

    • @odium3691
      @odium3691 6 лет назад +2

      Supermassive Gaming it is still being released all at once, wich is the issue. Now I suppose they could put the laser on ultra low power and cook the planet slowly. But that would take a little while not very showy.

    • @gumlykid
      @gumlykid 6 лет назад +11

      Marty Hickman serving alderaan medium rare

    • @davidthornton5327
      @davidthornton5327 6 лет назад

      If there is a bottle neck on the end of the laser it would amp up the power for free.. Like a hose pipe. The photons would indeed go further. Still no push back though, rather unlike a hose.

    • @MageProTrue
      @MageProTrue 6 лет назад +1

      Don't worry guys less than in 3 years your planet will be gently destroyed :))

    • @Gooberpatrol66
      @Gooberpatrol66 6 лет назад

      He already assumes it takes all 5 seconds of the laser firing to do that

  • @messengerguardiansparanorm8606
    @messengerguardiansparanorm8606 2 года назад +10

    I'm too busy laughing, especially around 8:34. This is just so much fun to listen to. I've shared it, already. Kyle, don't you have another channel? Love you!!!!

  • @kevinzheng7373
    @kevinzheng7373 5 лет назад +45

    Simple, make a second laser opposite to the first one that fires every time the first one fires. It just doesn't show in the film: we never actually saw the rear of the death star when it was firing.

    • @sylenzos6869
      @sylenzos6869 5 лет назад +9

      and then it just THUNKs into a flat circle xD

    • @dmytroprokhnitskyi3860
      @dmytroprokhnitskyi3860 5 лет назад +6

      Yeah, randomly fire a weapon capable of destroying planets, what could go wrong?

    • @yoepix
      @yoepix 4 года назад +3

      Not a bad idea, but it would be crushed. Read my comment I left on a solution that would work. It involves the Death Star already moving at a speed that would cause the laser to decelerate the Death Star at a speed equivalent to normal Gs when fired.

    • @zanido9073
      @zanido9073 2 года назад +5

      @@yoepix you can't "decelerate to normal G's", G-force IS acceleration. Your initial velocity is irrelevant. Whether you were going 100km/s before and now are going 0 or were going 0 before and now are going 100km/s, either way the g-force is the same.

    • @digge2210
      @digge2210 Год назад +1

      Ah yes sure they just Need 2 SUNS to make it work

  • @IonIsFalling7217
    @IonIsFalling7217 5 лет назад +33

    I find the lack of physics, disturbing.

  • @PitFriend1
    @PitFriend1 6 лет назад +62

    Actually, I’m more confused by those crewmen standing around on catwalks while the laser fires past them. Wouldn’t the heat put out from that fry them faster than a lightsaber would?

    • @evknucklehead
      @evknucklehead 6 лет назад +11

      Unless there was a force field between them and the laser's path, as theoretically the laser should be in a vacuum at that point as it travels to the opening, as it's not very likely that they'd have a suitable material to seal off the end of the tunnel and still allow the full power of the beam through without melting.

    • @themetalstickman
      @themetalstickman 6 лет назад +7

      The energy rings that surround the main laser beam suggest that the beam shafts are heavily shielded.

    • @dylanmorgan5589
      @dylanmorgan5589 6 лет назад +1

      They used the force.

    • @yamiyomizuki
      @yamiyomizuki 6 лет назад +1

      The assumption that a lightsabre would fry you from just the radient heat is based in grossly overestimating how hot the plasma would need to be, a plasma cuter is hot enough to cut steel without being so hot that you cannot hold it

    • @Danielhuren
      @Danielhuren 6 лет назад +1

      a plasma cutter would fry if it put out a beam the size of a lightsaber beam, not to mention you wouldn't even be able to look at it cause it would be a 3-4 footlong beam with about a half inch diameter that was brighter then the sun

  • @aeternusdoleo4531
    @aeternusdoleo4531 Год назад +2

    Simpler solution - make the death star have 2 equally powerful lasers at opposite ends. And fire them synchronously. The forces should cancel each other out - so long as the deathstar structure can withstand being pancaked by opposite forces capable of chucking a small moon at 100G.
    Might it also be that we don't see any engines on that thing because the death laser -is- the main engine? (and if so, I pity the shipyard that launched it)

  • @janstepien538
    @janstepien538 6 лет назад +10

    0:32 watch this again and pay attention to his hand

  • @scorp_124
    @scorp_124 6 лет назад +4

    i love how he taught us how to make a deathstar. now we need brave souls to grab the right metals

  • @wswordsmen
    @wswordsmen 5 лет назад +7

    One way around this is that totally destroying a planet so that it never reforms is complete overkill. Blowing up a planet enough that everyone dies regardless of where they are but allows the planet to reform after some period of time is much easier to do and would reduce the amount of energy needed by the Death Star by a significant amount.
    Also Star Wars has inertial dampeners so these equally impossible but totally invisible devices is probably the solution that the Death Star designers went with.

    • @wilfdarr
      @wilfdarr 2 года назад

      This was my thought also: Alderaan was turned into an asteroid field that will obviously reform into a planet at some point in the future. I'm curious what the math would look like if the planet were only "cracked" (made geologically unstable and uninhabitable by humans).

  • @benjaminbrown3939
    @benjaminbrown3939 Год назад +2

    Well, star wars does have inertia dampeners, which use hyperspace technology to reduce g forces by a significant amount. Maybe the death star has thousands of those. There's also a tractor beam onboard, which could be used to hold the battlestation in place when it fires. Of course the use of kyber crystals would allow for the creation of an antimatter beam, which would annihilate with the planet, creating a gigantic nuclear explosion that should be enough to unbind it. This is especially likely because of the fact that the beam is composed of 8 individual streams of antimatter that collide and merge to form one coherent beam. It is also powered by a reactor that rivals the power production of all the nuclear power plants in the world combined. In essence, the death star is an antimatter weapon.

  • @magicpokey4922
    @magicpokey4922 5 лет назад +10

    Love these videos! And this was super informative (and entertaining)! But there is an all-purpose plot contrivance IN the Star Wars universe that solves this problem. A device literally designed to cancel out G-forces.
    Inertial Compensators
    It's how snubfighter pilots (like the x-wings that blew up the death star) can make all those high-g maneuvers in space without killing themselves. It's how larger ships like The Falcon can rotate and spin with no (or very minimized) ill effects on the pilot or crew. And it's also how all the ships don't tear themselves apart with shearing forces every time they accelerate into hyperspace.
    There ARE some effects for high-G maneuvers seen on screen, but this is explained by either the pilot "dialing down" the compensator a few degrees to "get a feel" for how the ship moves, or byt the size of the ship not having a powerful enough compensator to match such maneuvers.
    ok, I am done.
    /nerd

    • @TruePacifist201
      @TruePacifist201 2 года назад

      Exactly what I was going to say. Thank you.

  • @sebbes333
    @sebbes333 6 лет назад +39

    5:40 This is an easy problem to fix... just add another death-star-laser-emitter at the opposite side of the Death Star, & fire them both at the same time ;P

    • @Historian474
      @Historian474 6 лет назад +9

      Oh Yeah! Lets just build another one. That's real cost efficient!

    • @sebbes333
      @sebbes333 6 лет назад +11

      I mean... they build 2 in the films...

    • @majinnemesis
      @majinnemesis 6 лет назад +8

      and pancake both the death stars and the people inside them

    • @benknapp4166
      @benknapp4166 6 лет назад +5

      Just have the Emperor and Vader force choke the entire population of the planet. And voila they have a planet free of rebels or people lol

    • @dannytrejo7607
      @dannytrejo7607 6 лет назад

      Sion, it's not a lazer. Lazers are invisible.

  • @elliottbarth
    @elliottbarth 6 лет назад +5

    From a structural standpoint, under your assumptions, the acceleration the death station experiences would easily rip its rivets and welds, and would probably look like Snoke's _Supremacy_ when it got ripped in half. But in this case the whole thing would probably shatter like a glass globe getting shot by a bullet

  • @powerofanime1
    @powerofanime1 Год назад +2

    As I revisit this video, I remember Interdictors. They're supposed to imitate a mass shadow in order to force ships out of hyperspace, but wouldn't that also give them a strange density?

  • @ibexing6383
    @ibexing6383 5 лет назад +4

    Because Science, I am completely hooked on your videos. Your ability to make out very little in mistakes in the design of imaginary objects and heroes is impressive to say the least. Your personality is also the main reason I watch your videos. Your enthusiasm and ability to make something seemingly boring to something exciting through your drawings will surely lead you to success💫

  • @Azalgard
    @Azalgard 6 лет назад +5

    Since we spent 8 movies seeing our heroes accelerating at light speed in about 2 seconds then their are accelerating with the equivalent of 15x10^6 G
    So ... like we can see multiple times the Death Star can also pass at light speed travel and then I believe that they found a way to magic...technologically (which is basically the same thing) resist to that amount of acceleration... Maybe they use the same invisible propulsion means to counter the laser's force that the one used to travel at light speed -_-
    Assuming also that they found a material dense and strong enough to resist the resulting compression force...
    GOT IT IT'S THE FORCE ! IT'S USELESS TO RESIST

  • @thermallance7947
    @thermallance7947 5 лет назад +9

    Well. Killing everybody on board will just make it even more Overkill than it already is.

  • @Philbaby
    @Philbaby 2 года назад +2

    "One last comparison ford" my god what a beautiful pun 😂😂

  • @TechDeals
    @TechDeals 6 лет назад +30

    1. You assume it is just using pure energy to blow up the planet, it may be using something else to do that, such as converting the planet's own molten core into a bomb.
    2. The Death Star has hyperdrives and can travel faster than light, why do you think it can't counter the force of a laser shot?

    • @krisgonynor689
      @krisgonynor689 6 лет назад +5

      1. I thought I read somewhere that the force of the DS's super-laser causes the matter that it interacts with to split into matter/antimatter pairs thus causing an explosion? Besides, wouldn't a pure laser with that much power just bore a hole right through the planet and continue on through space? Using an actual laser of this power would really just drill a hole through whatever it was aimed at, leaving a "tunnel" through the object slightly larger than the diameter of the laser beam. Firing at a planet-sized mass would first create such a tunnel through it, then the tunnel would collapse under its the pressure of the surrounding rock.

    • @KaiCalimatinus
      @KaiCalimatinus 6 лет назад

      In Legends yeah, its a hypermatter particle beam not really a laser. Its just the tech is called a Superlaser. I assume lasers are important somehow but its more just a hyperspace-plasma accelerator/galactic scale disruptor beam, turning the target into micro black holes and shredding its way through it converting its matter to quantum soup and antimatter detonations

    • @TheKyrix82
      @TheKyrix82 6 лет назад +1

      In Canon, they actually went over quite a bit of it...but Catalyst was a very dry book, and even in audiobook form my brain kinda switched off for most of the story. The stuff about how the Kaibur crystals magnify energy was fascinating though. The Death Star's superlaser is, in effect, a bunch of lightsabers on a MASSIVE scale.

    • @nechtmar
      @nechtmar 6 лет назад +1

      What about this: If the Death Star, in order to counter the acceleration due to the force it's primary weapon exerts on the station, uses its hyperspace engine(s) to simply just begin a hyperspace jump, and then abort it. What effect would that have, and could it successfully counteract the "force"...from a certain point of view? (Yeah, I said that.)

    • @pex_the_unalivedrunk6785
      @pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 6 лет назад

      @@nechtmar good point. Although it's not canon, it is plausible to counter the force of the beam with the hyperdrive propulsion....except then you risk squashing the Death Star between the two forces like an egg...unless maybe the perfect spherical shape of it protects it in perfect balance, like when you try to crush an egg & it doesn't break.
      Hmm...

  • @toonezon4836
    @toonezon4836 5 лет назад +16

    So would this mean that the First Order's Starkiller Base would fling itself out of its own orbit when firing *its* superlazer?

    • @charles1412
      @charles1412 5 лет назад +1

      ToonEzon does it really matter? It destroys the planets sun to fire 1 time. So what does it orbit after being used?

    • @toonezon4836
      @toonezon4836 5 лет назад

      @@charles1412 with Starkkiller base, it relies on its sun to fire it's super weapon though

    • @charles1412
      @charles1412 5 лет назад +2

      ToonEzon I know. So that means that Star is gone, therefore the planet isn’t orbiting anything. But it if they don’t have something to counter it’s superlaser, it would be pushed in the opposite direction, According to the video.

    • @sharkcraft8568
      @sharkcraft8568 5 лет назад

      A PERFECT ROCKET!!! :D
      well it would be if it didn't destroy it self in the processes of course

  • @asadstrangelittleman9655
    @asadstrangelittleman9655 6 лет назад +85

    This video was possibly thanks to "Smart Boi Isaac Newton".

    • @jackielinde7568
      @jackielinde7568 6 лет назад

      Ehhh... I think less Isaac Newton and more smart boy Faraday... (And who can forget Babbage and Lady lovelace.)

    • @XxShikuMikuxX
      @XxShikuMikuxX 6 лет назад

      Jack Linde this video is also thanks to a single butterfly. Butterfly effect.

    • @Sableagle
      @Sableagle 6 лет назад

      Smarter than wise guy Georg Richmann, for sure.
      On August 6, 1753, Professor Georg Richmann of St. Petersburg tried with a colleague, M. Sokolaw, engraver to the Academy at St. Petersburg, to attract the lightning. He attached a wire to the top of his house and led it down to an iron bar suspended above "the electrical needle" and a bowl of water partly filled with iron filings. "The Professor," stated a letter from Moscow which Franklin published in The Pennsylvania Gazette, "judging from the Needle that the Tempest was at a great Distance, assured M. Sokolaw that there was no Danger, but that there might be at the Approach. M. Richmann stood about a Foot from the Bar, attentively observing the Needle. Soon after M. Sokolaw saw, the Machine being untouched, a Globe of blue and whitish Fire, about four inches Diameter, dart from the Bar against M. Richmann's Forehead, who fell backwards without the least Outcry. This was succeeded by an Explosion like that of a small Cannon which also threw M. Sokolaw on the Floor, feeling as it were some Blows on his Back. It has since been found that the Wire breaking, some Bits had hit him behind, and left the Marks of Burning on his Clothes," Professor Richmann was killed-- "his body [being] found in the midst of his apparatus, like an artilleryman dead under the wreck of his gun,"

    • @Yora21
      @Yora21 6 лет назад

      And once again "Sir Isaac Newtown is the dealiest son of a bitch in space!"

  • @Hikaru109Ichijyo
    @Hikaru109Ichijyo 4 года назад +3

    i wonder if they can make a "galactic" level recoil system like they do for howitzers, or have the laser section in an 'eject-able ' cartridge (and clear the path behind the death star), or better yet, make it remote and have no crew and have it programmed to aim at a distant celestial body to gravity assist as it returns boomerang style (although would take time to slow down so it doesn't trash the imperial fleet . . .) or use several methods in combination . . .

  • @michaelaengelbrecht5074
    @michaelaengelbrecht5074 6 лет назад +13

    Kyle quick question, In the phantom menace we learn that Anakin aka Vader had no father and it is said that he was conceived be the force itself(perhaps by triggering some from of parthenogenesis) .
    Assuming that human biology and genetics still apply in the Star Wars universe how is it that Anakin is male?
    This should not be possible as the Y Chromosome is passed on by the father (XY) as the mother(XX) only has X Chromosomes to be passed on in each ovum hence why the New Mexican Whiptail lizard is an all female species. Therefore unless "the force" can miraculous create a Y Chromosome (not that there would be any ligitimate reason to do so) to ensure that Anakin is male from a scientific stand point Anakin should have been female.
    Have you ever thought about this and if so can you think of a way this is possible.
    Maybe that's y his nickname was Ani

    • @vientoligero
      @vientoligero 6 лет назад +1

      In Revenge of the Siths, Palpatine said to Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis and that he can produce life. Plagueis or Palpatine may use the force with Anakin's mom to fullfill the jedi profecy in order to destroy the jedi

    • @kaitan4160
      @kaitan4160 6 лет назад +1

      A way without using the force as Excuse? We have today a known Genetic Disease. The XXY Chromosom. As yo ucan see there are the 2X for Female and the XY for Male. I think it was Klinefelter Syndrom? Dont really know more about this.
      And i think in Medicien theres a Term of "XY Woman". Meaning a Person with the appearance of a Woman (in many cases even the ..... you know). If i rememebr correctly a Gen defect leads to a failure of the TDF Protein production wich would .... grow that you know what at a Man. I believe there was even the XX-Man which was even more complicated to understand.
      But i Believe even with the XY Woman and the Kinefelter Syndrom there would have been a bit of Force Magic. But 2 ways to explain where the Y was hidden i think. Hope it helped and maybe you got interested in weird Genetical Problems.

    • @michaelaengelbrecht5074
      @michaelaengelbrecht5074 6 лет назад

      Luis Quesada True I've heard that theory but it still doesn't explain why Anakin isn't female if we assume that basic biology still applies. Unless Anakin mother isn't telling us something hehe. It's still an awesome theory, which I personally think of as cannon eventhough some would argue it isn't. Maybe I just want it to be the case because it would seriously improve the prequels.

    • @michaelaengelbrecht5074
      @michaelaengelbrecht5074 6 лет назад

      Kaitan that definitely could explain it provided we get around the human parthenogenesis problem(possible with force magic). I might do some research on the impacts of such a condition on meiosis, if there is any significant impact.
      Edit: an XY woman is still genetically male and cannot give birth as they have no ovaries or uterus. The reason the testes are not visible is because the remain within the body and the individual lacks the neuro receptors needed to respond to androgens produced by their testes and therefore their body responds only to estrogen causing there bodies to default to female development physically and mentally even undergoing a female puberty with the exception of a menstrual cycle.
      The Klienfelter Syndrome usually doesn't result in a female though it has happened and it's even rarer for the individual to be fertile though once again it has happened.

    • @michaelaengelbrecht5074
      @michaelaengelbrecht5074 6 лет назад

      Kaitan the only thing that still bugs me is that women with the XXY combo usually have high testosterone levels which is noticeable in they're appearance. Though perhaps not all of them do.

  • @GiRR007
    @GiRR007 6 лет назад +39

    umm duhh, inertia dampeners

    • @colorcommentary5987
      @colorcommentary5987 6 лет назад +2

      That is exactly what I was about to say.

    • @rickanderson8088
      @rickanderson8088 5 лет назад

      So how do Inertial Dampers work? BTW, a dampener is a wet rag ;-). Please be more specific than it Damps Inertia? And I can Dampen Inertia with a wet rag, but that wouldn't help much. ;-) I not beating you up, I'm just saying, Inertial Dampers are a perfect literary device to explain away the scientific inconsistencies in SciFi, but no one has the darndest idea how they would work, at least that I have seen.

    • @nicholasobviouslyfakelastn9997
      @nicholasobviouslyfakelastn9997 5 лет назад +6

      @@rickanderson8088 nobody knows how it works because it's fucking fiction. Maybe artificial gravity well generators that create an equal but opposite pull, canceling out inertia, I have no clue. If someone wants to write a story they don't need 7 physics degrees.

    • @Endlessvoidsutidos
      @Endlessvoidsutidos 5 лет назад +3

      pshh more like physics dampeners

    • @-Big_Big
      @-Big_Big 5 лет назад

      yeah they have access to gravity control.
      they could easily make the surface gravity normal for humans.
      the core super dense.
      once a society can control gravity the limit is endless.

  • @mekniwassime2098
    @mekniwassime2098 6 лет назад +40

    Wont the way that the laser is fired (multiple lasers focused on one point) cancel out some of the force on the axis of the final laser

    • @getritch1989
      @getritch1989 6 лет назад +3

      of course there is a way to bend light. look up airy waveforms. ;)
      and if you bend the light in the targeted direction that way, then he is 100% correct that the thrust vectors would then be tangent to a spheriod slightly smaller than the death star itself which, while it would disperse the effect GREATLY, it would not provide any reverse thrust etc...so a great amount of force would still be pushing the space station backwards relative to its firing axis.

    • @evknucklehead
      @evknucklehead 6 лет назад

      There is still the fact that the second death star adds an additional burst from the center, which would put more of the thrust back in line with the firing direction.

    • @getritch1989
      @getritch1989 6 лет назад

      And likewise, they could pulse their sunlight engines or hyperdrive to cancel out the acceleration, so it's a mood point. At that point there would be only compressive load on the structure which I'm sure it could be engineered to handle

    • @abelgk
      @abelgk 6 лет назад

      Same thought...

    • @aflacduck2
      @aflacduck2 6 лет назад

      If the laser has enough thrust to turn everyone to paste, you then add an opposite force thruster to compensate that force. Ummm wouldn't that be almost like a massive vice clamping down on the deathstar eventually either crushing it or the structures holding the laser and thrusters collapse into the death star?

  • @martinpaulsen1592
    @martinpaulsen1592 Год назад +1

    EU/Legends sources state that the Empire has the capability of generating small singularities, usually mounted on "Interdictor" vessels to prevent enemies, pirates, smugglers, or what have you from escaping into hyperspace - the New Republic uses them as well, although I haven't encountered anything that definitively states whether they build their own or use captured ones. Combine those with solid artificial gravity, though, and you could use them to "anchor" the Death Star when firing.

  • @wakirk
    @wakirk 6 лет назад +7

    Though, isn't the death star laser not a laser, but a heated plasma beam? A light saber is supposed to be a magnetically contained plasma field right? The beam is like a light saber beam in that they use special crystals (like any good sci-fi) to get the kind of beam they use. Also, there's the other issue of it's not a single beam, but a number of smaller beams refracting off of each other and merging to a single beam. I'm not a science guy, but, just a star wars fan, my 0.0002 cents anyway. The angles of the beams are offset and symmetrical. If each beam had momentum, at a tangent to the surface, wouldn't that distribute the force equally? Also, the beam is magnetically guided, (I would assume as a light saber is), so, doesn't it have more in common with a particle accelerator? And there was a charge time to firing it, so, wouldn't it be reasonable to think they are building up an energy acceleration and then deflecting it outward when ready to fire?

    • @amckid1313
      @amckid1313 6 лет назад +1

      wakirk , interesting thoughts except for plasma has mass and momentum in this case therefore making the situation much worse.

  • @wuhugm
    @wuhugm 6 лет назад +24

    What? Laser has recoil!?
    New knowledge
    Thanks Kyle

    • @dannytrejo7607
      @dannytrejo7607 6 лет назад

      Alexander Reinfield, it's not a lazer. Lazers are invisible.

  • @seleuf
    @seleuf 6 лет назад +4

    And this is just one of the reasons scifi has "essentially magical" inertial dampeners, another being jumps to hyperspace xP

  • @matthewlewis-fallows6263
    @matthewlewis-fallows6263 4 года назад +3

    I was wondering if the death star orbiting Alderaan would mitigate some of the recoil? The death star wasn't constructed around Alderaan so it had to travel to do its blowy up business. This would have meant somebody or droid had to calculate how to get there and the best possible firing solution. Considering "that's no moon" maybe obi wan, just by looking, could see the orbit was unusual enough to cause concern.

  • @mangaanimefan3089
    @mangaanimefan3089 5 лет назад +4

    5:45 Holy crap! I was right! I was just guessing! He mentioned how powerful the laser would have to be and I actually thought "so would it be the recoil from firing it?"
    These videos are funny and even a little educational! XD

  • @olivinator
    @olivinator 5 лет назад +10

    why would Darth Vader choke anyone talking about the flaws of the death star? he was against the death star project to begin with.

    • @lucithesick854
      @lucithesick854 3 года назад

      @@tappajaav Dude, please change your vocabulary. That isn't appropriate, like at all.

    • @tappajaav
      @tappajaav 3 года назад

      @@lucithesick854 I have no idea why you've replied me(can't see comment you replied to). Go ahead and elaborate.

    • @Gobble.Gobble
      @Gobble.Gobble 3 года назад

      @@tappajaav I hope he does someday cuz I am very curious.

    • @tappajaav
      @tappajaav 3 года назад

      @@Gobble.Gobble Yeah, me too

  • @andit1265
    @andit1265 5 лет назад +9

    Since in the SW galaxy gravity manipulating technology is common knowledge it's just a play of energy.
    It's a lot of energy but they seem to have it.
    And SW is science fantasy with space wizards, not everything has to make sense as long it follows the rules of its own universe.

    • @Drotdog
      @Drotdog 3 года назад

      Plus they use Kyber crystals which amplify energy by a large enough amount to have a small generator with one small crystal produce a lightsaber blade.
      And considering the amount of kyber crystals they used, you can see a bit of the harvesting in rogue one, energy wouldn’t be much of an issue for the Death Star.
      Also making the problem more realistic would also mean not needing to completely obliterate the planet, just enough to kill everyone on the surface and destroy the structures and infrastructure on world making it uninhabitable. Which is a way lower amount of energy.

  • @Cryowatt
    @Cryowatt 4 года назад +6

    What if you worked backwards for this one? Instead of starting with the goal of planet-obliterating power. What if you, instead, calculated the maximum power of the death star with a reasonable recoil? How powerful would the laser be, and how destructive would that get?