OT: How fast is light speed in SE4 terms? -> Maximum possible speed? -> insanity

[geoschmo]

Originally posted by PvK in another thread:
Well, again, your imagination of SE4's tech levels is simply much higher than mine. For example, I don't see SE4 as starting with FTL drives. Light takes EIGHT MINUTES to get from the Sun to the Earth. An SE4 turn is about a month. So, light speed in SE4 would be oh, probably well over 1000, not 6 (ion engine speed in SE4).

Totally off topic Math Fun.

Question: How fast is light speed in SE4 terms?

To calculate the speed of light in SE4 terms, we need some way to convert between the two systems. Initially I was assuming that 1 A.U. was 3 SE4 sectors, based on the orbital position of Earth being the third planet from Sol. Using this as a calculation, I come up with the speed of light in SE4 terms as being 16,200 sectors per turn (month).

There is an obvious problem with this assumption however. If we assume that the Earth is three sectors from the sun, then the most distant planet from it's star is only 2 A.U. away. 2 A.U. is just outside the orbit of Mars, while Pluto is around 40 A.U.. Either the Solar system is extraordinarily large, or the system maps in SE4 are an abstract representation, and not drawn to scale. I think the second is more likely.

I have a reasonable hypothesis however. Ship drives in SE4 are obviously affected in some way by the proximity to the Star at the center of the system. This results in slower speeds relative light in the inner parts of the system than in the outer parts. This would make a calculation of light speed difficult, but not impossible.

If we assume the distance across a star system is 80 A.U. (Distance from Sol to Pluto x 2), and we assume a ship travelling this distance across a star system, we can calculate the average speed of the ship relative to light, and thus be able to ignore the variations in speed in various parts of the system.

Known:
Distance from Sol to Pluto = approx 40 A.U.
Time for light to travel 1 A.U. = approx. 8 min

Assumption:
60 Earth minutes in an SE4 Hour
24 Earth Hours in an SE4 day

Calculations:
60 x 24 x 30 = 43,200 minutes per month
43,200 / 8 = 5,400 Number of A.U. Light travels in a month

5,400 / (40/6) = Light travels 810 sectors per month.

We can assume light speed to be constant in SE4, but remember, since ship speed varies in relation to light speed depending on how close to the center of the system you are, ship speed per month can only be given as an average, or an approximation. But, for a ship in SE4 terms to travel the speed of light it would have to be able to travel 810 sectors in a turn (month).

The key to understanding this is that a SE4 sector is not a fixed distance. A sector is smaller in terms of A.U. in the interior of the star system than at the edge. But over a distance of 810 sectors, the average distance of the sectors is such that the total distance is the same as the distance light travels in that amount of time.

So PvK, 1000 is high, but not too bad for a ballpark guess.

Geoschmo

[ October 24, 2002, 19:10: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]