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Projectile and Objects Feats
Introduction
The following is a list of various projectiles with differing speeds that characters normally react to or outright avoid in fiction. This page can be used to find an appropriate speed for your character.
Speed of Various Projectiles
- Longbows (Medieval): 149-183 feet per second or 45.4152-55.7784 m/s (Though higher speeds have been mentioned). Superhuman.
- Longbows (Modern): 214 ft/s or 65.2272 m/s. Superhuman.
- Recurve bow: 225 ft/s or 68.58 m/s. Superhuman.
- Compound Bows: 338.5-354 ft/s or 103.1748 to 107.899 m/s, with the absolute legal limit being 400 ft/s or 121.92 m/s. Superhuman.
- Compound crossbows: 350 to 460 ft/s or 106.68 to 140.208 m/s (Low-end models like the Mission Sub-1 can hit speeds of 106.68 m/s, but faster models have speeds reaching upto 410 ft/s or 124.968 m/s, with many other models being capable of easily exceeding 400 ft/s or 121.92 m/s with heavier bolts, with the absolute fastest models hitting 460 ft/s or 140.208 m/s). Superhuman.
- Ballista Projectiles: 190 mph, or 85 m/s. Superhuman.
- Cannonballs: 381 to 518 m/s. Trasonic+ to Supersonic.
- Flintlock Musket: 400 to 550 m/s (As confirmed by renowned gunnery scientist Benjamin Robins in 1742 in his book New Principles of Gunnery, with muskets from earlier periods like the 16th and 17th century also being proven to be capable of shooting at similar speeds). Supersonic.
- Flintlock pistol: 253 to 385 m/s (Though averages between 305 to 610 m/s were also achievable and common). Superhuman to Transonic to Transonic+ to Supersonic.
- Wheellock rifles: 427 to 533 m/s (The Doppelhaken rifles have muzzle velocities ranging from 483 to 533 m/s, with more common wheellock arquebus rifles having speeds exceeding 427 m/s). Supersonic.
- Arquebus: 300 to 500 m/s. Transonic to Supersonic.
- Wheellock pistol: 438 m/s. Supersonic.
- 9x19mm Parabellum: 390 to 426 m/s. Trasonic+.
- AK-47 Rifle: 715 m/s. Supersonic.
- Barrett M82: 853 m/s. Supersonic.
- Browning M2 Machine Gun: 890 to 1219 m/s. Supersonic to Supersonic+.
- M16 Rifle: 960 m/s. Supersonic.
- M4 Carbine Rifle: 910 m/s. Supersonic.
- RPG-7: 300 m/s. Transonic.
- Tank Cannons: 1580 to 1750 m/s. This is the cannon that our modern tank, the M1 Abrams, uses. Supersonic+ to Hypersonic.
- Lightning: 440,000 m/s. Massively Hypersonic.
- Laser: 299,790,000 m/s. Speed of Light.
Trying to Calculate A Projectile Dodging Feat
STEP 1. Find the distance the projectile covered.
STEP 2. Find the distance the character covered.
Use the following formula:
- (Distance the character moved in meters) * (Speed of projectile in m/s) / (Distance the projectile was away from the character when he/she started to move in meters)
This will get you the speed of character in m/s.
Orders of Magnitude
The following comes from the official nuclear weapons education project, which distributes the explosive yield of various explosives.
Event | Explosive Yield (Tons of TNT) | Explosive Yield (Joules) | Level | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Fireworks | 1.30e-05 | 5.4392e4 | Wall level | Roman Candle (Class 1.4G pyrotechnic) |
M67 Grenade | 1.20e-04 | 5.0208e5 | Wall level | Commonly-used hand grenade |
Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) | 1.00e-03 | 4.184e6 | Wall level | RPG-7 with GTB-7G round |
Tomahawk Cruise Missile | 5.00e-01 | 2.092e9 | Small Building level | |
GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) | 1.10e01 | 4.602e10 | City Block level | “The Mother of All Bombs”
Most powerful non-nuclear explosive ever used in combat. Used by the United States in Afghanistan in April 2017. |
Little boy | 1.50e04 | 6.276e13 | Town level | Dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 |
Fat Man | 2.00e04 | 8.368e+13 | Town level | Dropped by the United States on Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945
39,000-80,000 deaths |
1 typical nuclear submarine | 1.30e07 | 5.4392e16 | City level | |
Eruption of Mount St. Helens | 2.40e07 | 1.00416e17 | City level | 1980 volcanic eruption in Washington, USA |
Tsar Bomba | 5.00e07 | 2.092e17 | Metropolis level | Hydrogen bomb tested by the USSR in October 1961. Largest bomb ever detonated |
Total combined US and Russian nuclear arsenals | 1.40e10 | 5.8576e19 | Island level | |
Chicxulub Impact | 1.00e14 | 4.184e+23 | Country level | Asteroid impact that lead to KT extinction |