Verse: DC Comics and DC Animated Universe
Introduction[]
An entry to the Narutoforums Project.
The following calculations are not mine, but from KaiserWombat and Endless Mike. FULL credits to them.
First Calculation[]
https://www.narutoforums.org/xfa-blog-entry/calc-storage-the-prometheon-files-dcau.19147\
For a show usually considered to be a rather low-end display of the prowess of the "modern" Man of Steel, Superman: TAS does feature a prominent display of asteroids heading into Earth's atmosphere for Superman to deal with.
In the third episode of Season 2, "The Prometheon", has one of these cosmic incidents at its prologue, with a twist: a massive artificial being known as the Prometheon is bound to the aforementioned asteroid by its creator race, after its minimal self-awareness caused conflict with its original purpose as a manual labourer. The being feeds off of all sources of thermal energy for nourishment and empowerment, and is among the most powerful foes that Superman faces in the animated series (despite its single appearance).
Anyway, the episode is rife with potential feats, with the two most impressive being covered in this post:
1# - Prometheon Size/Durability
Using the 1.93 metre height for DCAU Superman as before, the Prometheon is over 94 metres tall. I need to determine its weight for the second part of this first calc, but first, I'll need a volume and density to work with.
For obtaining a volume, I'll be using the square-cube law formula.
- V2 = V1 (l2/l1)³
From a previous calculation:
Given the fact that fully grown male humans can also pilot the RX-7 mobile suit just as comfortably as teenage schoolgirls, I'll use the global average human weight of 62 kg. 62/0.001 (density of the human body in kg/cm^3) = 62,000 cm^3 62,000/1,000,000 = 0.062 m^3 1.72 metres is the global average human height.
0.062*(94.89/1.72)*(94.89/1.72)*(94.89/1.72) = 10,410.41 m^3.
Considering that the Prometheon is composed purely of an advanced metal alloy, durable enough to be unscathed by physical blows from Superman, using the density of carbon steel (7840 kg/m^3 ) should be more than adequate.
10,410.41*7840 = 81,617,614.40 kg
Now, we witness the Prometheon being unintentionally freed from its restraints and hurtling straight through Earth's atmosphere at intense velocity. The visuals make me feel that using the 11 km/s minimum velocity for exa-atmospheric entry to be suitable for a kinetic energy calculation.
KE = (1/2)*mass*velocity^2
KE = (0.5)*81,617,614.40*11,000*11,000 = 4937865671200000 joules or 1.18 megatons of TNT equivalent.
The Prometheon could safely absorb thermal energy of that magnitude without any negative consequences. Going by the stated mechanics of its heat-absorption properties, the Prometheon had its own natural durability enhanced by this feat: yet in later fights, Superman's punches, while not physically breaking into the entity, were at least seriously staggering the giant and causing visible discomfort for the Prometheon.
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2# - Superman Deflects Prometheon's Asteroid
Another feat within the first few minutes of the episode is for the Man of Steel himself: the asteroid which the Prometheon has been bound to is of course still en-route to colliding with Earth, before the planned detonation of the rock is sanctioned.
When the joint science-military expedition to investigating the asteroid discover the Prometheon, Emil Hamilton of STAR Labs tells Superman to attempt not killing the presumed harmless giant by altering the meteor's trajectory by 5 degrees. The Kryptonian proceeds to visibly move the orbit of the asteroid by at least 2.8 degrees before General Hardcastle prematurely detonates attached explosives.
Treating the asteroid's irregular shape as two seperate shapes (upper half = cuboid, lower half = cone), measuring out individual volumes and then combining them for the total.
Upper Half
- Volume of a cuboid = length*width*height
- V = 123.90*48.44*57.68 = 346,178.98 m^3
Lower Half
- Volume of a cone = (1/3)*pi*radius^2*height
- V = (0.33)*3.14*61.95*61.95*57.68 = 229,377.84 m^3
Total Volume
- 346,178.98 + 229,377.84 = 575,556.82 m^3
Density of a granite asteroid is 2330 kg/m^3.
- 575,556.82*2330 = 1,341,047,390.60 kg
Found an interesting little section for asteroid velocity figures, on Twitter of all places: this account records all nearby asteroid + comet encounters to the Earth, with links to NASA's official website for verification of orbital paths.
The second tweet references the asteroid 2012 YL7 as having a diameter of ~123 metres (virtually the same as the one I just calculated) and a velocity of 4.13 km/s. Superman's trajectory alteration would have to be exerting at least the same speed in the other direction for it to be effective.
- KE = (0.5)*1,341,047,390.60*4130*4130 = 11437055618362570 joules or 2.73 megatons of TNT equivalent.
The Prometheon was virtually unfazed beyond visible annoyance by Superman's punches, plus the benefit this gives to the Man of Steel himself and his future foes and allies is always helpful.
Second Calculation[]
http://www.narutoforums.com/xfa-blog-entry/calc-requests-part-13.22011/
Haven't read this but based on the scans he gave me, I guess we can scale it from the moon, assuming it's around the same distance from Earth:
- Kryptonite Moon diameter: 9616.5856 km
- Volume: 4.656518444e11 km^3
EDIT: Based on Fluttershy's comment, I'm revising the density to the same as that of Earth, 5.515 g/cm^3.
- Mass: 2.568069922e24 kg
According to Shamrodia, it was day when he left and still day when he returned, so a very conservative estimate would be 6 hours for the trip there and 6 hours back, which gives us a KE of 14.7207011 Ronnatons. Probably higher, though.