Chris Campbell wrote: > Um...Doc, why would you apply said rule to mobile suits? The three > second rule is meant for automobiles that brake in predictable
Heh... in the time it took for the mails to bounce around, I was calculating accelerations and stopping time/distance. Just off the top of Google, I was using the UK Highway Code, but the US or anywhere else is pretty similar: http://www.highwaycode.gov.uk/09.htm The 3 (or 2 for UK) second rule is based on the human reaction time (0.2-0.3 sec) plus the braking distance. The braking distance indeed depends on all those things you listed so doesn't apply to MS on ground or in space. But the principle is that "if something happens to the car/MS in front, you want to be able to stop completely before you crash into that something", which can apply to any moving machine. Now you can easily calculate the deceleration from the braking distances from the above highway code. And you get 6.5m/s^2 which is 0.66G, which is lo and behold exactly the same as Dom/Rick Dom. The acceleration for Gundam is better at 0.93G, on Asshimar (the on-screen impression strikes me as pretty fast) it's a freakish 1.48G... So for Dom/Rick Dom the 3-second is ok, for Gundam, Asshimar etc the rule has to be revised. For Asshimar... Hmm I can't find a cruising speed, so I'd take Dom's max ground speed as a conservative guess: 240kph. With 1.48G, the Asshimar can come to a complete stop from 240kph in 4.6sec, add 0.2sec for reaction time... ahh let's give the Newtype pilot a 200% boost over regular pilot... so -0.2sec (negative reaction time!). That give you a 4.4 sec rule instead of a 3-sec rule. Of course we all know the 3- sec rule is completely ludicrous in any situation, equally silly for cars and for MS. But you brought it up as "Best rule of thrumb", so I just show some math for what it means in real life (for highway) and MS (to bring it on topic). I don't know how everyone drives, but even if the situation allows it (no grandmas cutting me off) I don't keep 23 car lengths in front of me. Because that principle "if something happens to the car/MS in front, you want to be able to stop completely before you crash into that something" is silly. WHY? I leave that to others to debate. -- Dr. Core -------------------------------------------------- The Gundam Mailing List MK-II [email protected] Archives: http://www.gundam.com/gml Help: Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] with this in the BODY: help list
