eaquaelegit says:
I think you are right about the Balrog being mafic. Mafic magma crystallises at higher temperatures than felsic, and would allow the Balrog more freedom of movement. Mafic minerals are also darker in composition than felsic, and I just can't see the Balrog looking all rosy-pink due to a high orthoclase feldspar content. No, the Balrog is mafic. It's too bad we can't get a fix on exactly what minerals Balrogs are composed of, because that would allow us to estimate his internal temperature.
Ben says:
Why are you wasting your time with the Balrog calculation? Gandalf fell at the same speed as the Balrog. Surely you can figure out Ian McKellen's measurements.
Brady Hauth says:
You can use the model Balrog as a scale model to test the wind resistance. It would be nice to just measure the force of a fan on your model and adjust it using a drag equation. However, Reynolds number effects are significant, and terminal velocity of a Balrog is probably a sizable fraction of Mach 1. So, for a proper test, you would want a high subsonic pressurized wind tunnel. That's expensive, but what you can do is use a liquid. You want a fluid with (relative scale)*(relative speed) times the kinematic viscosity. Water has about 1/13 the kinematic viscosity at 20 C. Here is water viscosity vs temperature.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/absolute-dynamic-viscosity-water-d_575.html
However, the speed you could get through a liquid is probably lower than you could get through a gas.
So, your options for measurement are:
Get on a boat, measure the temperature of the water, tie a cord to the model, attach the other end to a tension meter, and compare tension vs boat speed, then convert that using a drag equation. (The model might break, I don't know how strong it is.)
Fnd a fast stream and stick it in there.
Hold the model on a spring tension meter. Turn a fan on under it and see how its apparent weight changes.
However, all of these give you a much lower Reynolds number than a full scale Balrog at terminal velocity.
Then there's the "look at it and estimate" approach. Here are some Cd examples.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient
Here is drag of a sphere vs Reynolds number.
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0215.shtml
Your balrog with wings folded, arms up, falling feet first, I'd say a .3 drag coefficient. Tumbling, wings out, fighting, I'd say 1.2 CdA.
Brady Hauth says:
Oh, I forgot something important. Air density goes down with altitude. Here is air pressure vs altitude.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-altitude-pressure-d_462.html
You can assume air density below sea level will be
(sea level air density) * e^([depth in km] * .123)
so at 50 km below sea level the air would be 470 times as dense! This also raises the Reynolds number further. This disregards temperature changes, and the air would definitely be hotter that low, but I don't know how to account for that.
Ace Dreamer says:
If you want to distinguish between your two varieties of balrog, why not call the lava one "Rocky", and the other one "Stuffy". :)
I suppose a third variety might be "Fluffy", with a bigger surface area... Then there is the hot air balloon balrog (like a puffer fish). :)
Michael Brazier says:
There's an upper limit on the Balrog's mass -- it can't be heavy enough that its weight would break the bridge by itself. First the Balrog jumps onto the bridge, and it holds; then Gandalf blasts the keystone, and that breaks the bridge. I suspect that a 110-ton weight would break any bridge made of stone, which would rule out a Balrog made of solid lava.
Szopa says:
For the brain thing - we don't use 10% of our brain, becose that would be an absurd. The scientists say that we use 10% od the ABILITIES of aour brain, and that COULD be true, as there are people who do have extraordinary memory or other abilities
Tozetre says:
Dudes, how has nobody noticed this?
You'd be full of tubes while fundies protested your right to live. Skipping over the obvious "but I thought they wanted people to live" misinterpretation joke... If you only use ten percent of your brain, you become full of the internets.
/me gets an ice pick.
Nobilis says:
Don't rule out the idea that the bridge is of Dwarven construction, and solid rock as well. A crystalline construction across the entire span would be stronger than a stone bridge with mortar between the structural elements.
eaquaelegit says:
No, the whole brain thing is complete bunk. We use all of our brains, but only a relatively small portion (10%, maybe?) has easily defined functions.
Free Luna says:
there's a simpler first step:
rock begins to break up at 2:03
balrog is free fall at 2:06
gandalf is free fall at 2:37
gandalf CATCHES HIS SWORD at 2:48
gandalf and balrog are AT THE SAME HEIGHT at 2:54
impact at 3:46
therefore, gandalf CAUGHT UP with the balrog over 17 seconds, even though the balrog had a 31 second head start.
assume that a human in a nose dive has a terminal velocity of 100 m/s
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml
Gandalf reached the height of the balrog in 17 seconds.
assume that he acellerated at a constant rate, until he reached 100 m/s at 10 seconds, and that he fell at a constant 100 m/s thereafter. (this is, of course, overly simplified)
we are also assuming that gravity=10 m/s^2, which was rounded to make the math easier.
d=1/2 a t^2, so at ten seconds, he has fallen 500 meters, and will fall an additional 100 meters for each second thereafter.
therefore, at 17 seconds, he has fallen 1.7 KM
meanwhile, the balrog has ALSO fallen 1.7 KM, but it took IT 48 seconds.
if we assume constant accelleration, (which is, again, almost certainly false)
the balrog accellerated downward at: 1.47 m/s^2
the simplest explanation for how this happened: the balrog is NEARLY LIGHTER THAN AIR.
it looks like the balrog is falling with its wings curled loosely around itself, with the curve of the wings conforming loosely to a sphere with a diameter of the height of the balrog.
What i think happened, is that the balrog managed to heat the air between itself and it's wings, to the point that the ball of wings, balrog, and hot air had an average density of 1.147 times that of the surrounding, cooler air, and that therefore the INERTIA of the balrog was nearly 8 times that of the downward gravitic FORCE on the balrog.
also, this might explain how gandalf caught up with his sword: there was a chimney effect in the chasm, and the heat of the balrog created an upward wind tunnel which slowed the sword.
either that or the sword has the aerodynamic properties of a helicopter rotor.....
I still need to know how tall, and what volume, the balrog is SANS wings, but once we have that, we can work out the total volume of the balrog-wing sphere, and estimate the mass of the balrog proper.
I suspect that it's going to be somewhere between the density of water and the density of gasoline: the balrog looks like a meat/napalm mixture to me, i don't THINK that lava would have those sorts of open flames.
peebs1701 says:
While one person made the comment that the Balrog is almost certainly mafic I don't think anyone has explained the differences between those terms. "Felsic", "Intermediate", and "Mafic" refer to the silica content of igneous rocks and/or lava. "Felsic" means that it is fairly high in silica (IIRC, 70%-90%), while "Mafic" means it is low in silica (again IIRC, about 50% or less). "Intermediate" means somewhere between the two.
Why is this significant?
Mafic rocks tend to be more dense, have more iron, be darker, and found in oceanic crust. Mafic lava is hotter and less viscous, i.e., it's runny.
Felsic rocks are lighter, less dense, usually have significant amounts of quarts and feldspar, light in color, and make up most of the continental crust. Felsic lava is cooler and thicker. That means eruptions are more volatile since gases have a harder time escaping.
While "volatile" would probably describe Balrog pretty well I think the mafic qualities of easy motion, high heat, and dark color suit it better. So as long as we're assuming the Balrog is made of lava that seems like the righ way to go.
Wolf says:
well, seeing as how the balrogs are spirits. i bet they mess with all sorts of rules. also i seeing as how Gandalf fell at the same rate, why not use him to see how deep it is? also the balrogs wings are important because in them movie he pretty much plugged up the hole with them.
Kaesa says:
Huh. What I learned was that you use only about 10% of your brain at any given time, because if you were using the WHOLE thing ALL the time, you'd be having a horrible, never-ending seizure, which is not at all useful.
Some Geek says:
I must comment on Ben's statement - Yes, figuring out how fast Ian Mckellen was falling would be easier. But according to your logic, if I want to find out how fast a parachutist is falling to ground, I would just have to find out how fast the guy attached to it would be falling without the parachute! Last time I checked, people with an open parachute attached to them are much less likely to die than people without one if those people are failing to earth. I always assumed it was because the parachute changed how fast they were falling when they hit the earth! Now excuse me while I go find out about the magic protective properties of parachutes.
MattV says:
I think I figured out why the "LAST" button on the main page doesn't work: it doesn't actually point to the front page here. The front page here is http://www.moderntales.com/comics/dumnestor.php . The last button there points to http://www.moderntales.com/comics/dumnestor/series.php , which I don't think exists. Hope this is helpful, Irony!
ayline says:
I think the better question is, why are there so many researchers on erectile tissue?
Steelneko says:
You might be thinking of The Littlest Armadillo (http://wiki.fandomwank.com/index.php/The_Littlest_Armadillo), who's shown up in a couple different posts over there. Regardless, that's an awfully cute t-shirt design. What font did you use with that?
Ironychan says:
What font did you use with that?
Armadillo. Obviously.
FaileV says:
It doesn't even require a highway to be honest. I suppose there's some parts they don't put in the chili so they give it to scientists
Anonymous says:
It's not like your the only person to think of these things. Anyone in the U.K who's old enough would remember this advert...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwTHVZHqSb0
GeoOlive says:
Another fun fact: armadillos often carry leprosy.
Insert SomeNameThatShouldBeCoolerThanThisOne says:
You know, I'm really enjoying coming by on the weekends and seeing what sort of cool stuff you've come up with over the weekends, Irony.
Thanks for making my days brighter :)
Odo says:
Thank you for sharing these armadillo facts ;)
Milo says:
I do not care to know about this subject. kthx
Milo says:
Oh, and you really think this is helping your case against furry porn?
Kaesa says:
I think the better question is, why are there so many researchers on erectile tissue?
There are people doing research into some pretty bizarre things (gay rats! cuttlefish gestures! nanoguitars!), but I imagine erectile tissue is something pharmaceutical companies would be particularly interested in.
Panzerschwein says:
Dead 'dillos are found all over the highways in Louisiana, actually. I remember driving through during the summer and wow, it was like armadillo red cake every ten feet, it was nuts. Also, armadillos can be incredibly dangerous on the road -- when threatened, the nine-banded North American armadillo can jump straight up into the air -- which for some cars results in them being hit by the fender or undercarriage, but for low-slung sportscars, they actually bounce up off the hood and smash into the windshield. And when you're a sportscar speeder like me, that gets expensive and injurious. Nonetheless, they're pretty weird and cute, just like your 'dillo drawing. :D
swinkee says:
To quote just about anybody at some point from the old BBC Radio show "The Goon Show": I did not wish to know that.
The Auld Grump says:
I've never seen a Jaguar,
Nor yet an Armadill-O
A dilloing in his armour,
And I s'pose I never will,
Unless I go to Rio
These wonders to behold--
Roll down--roll down to Rio--
Roll really down to Rio!
Oh, I'd love to roll to Rio
Some day before I'm old!....
Rudyard Kipling
The Auld Grump
The Auld Grump says:
Because everything is better with random Kipling....
The Auld Grump
BFaolan says:
I actually encountered a version of that ad in Canada for Skor bars (which, from the description of the Dime Bar, are the same thing).
Probably about fifteen years ago now.
(and now I feel old)
DrGaellon says:
It should be noted that, while you do not, in fact, NEED 64 ounces of water a day, it is nevertheless a GOOD IDEA for general health. You can manage on less, but you limit your reserve kidney function if you are only just barely sufficiently hydrated.
Al Brog says:
@Ben & Brady Hauth: Here is a quick calculation based these assumptions, in case you're curious: http://havens.de/cgi-bin/wiki/2008-01-28_Physics
Daniel says:
Hey, hi! Nice job with the balrog stuff! I don't usually see any of them on the way to school, but they are an interesting subject... Well, but... It's kind of late to say this now...
The top thing over him that Weta should have a better name (or not), that you included in the measurement... It's kind of a fiery-haircut... (whoa, you got the point) Since fire isn't, exactly, matter... It shouldn't count on the volume measurement!
MamaSlyth says:
Actually you can find more roadkill armadillos in Louisiana. Texans usually swerve to miss them out of affection. Louisianans aim for them.
Tamfang says:
Dunno if armadillos often carry leprosy naturally, but I've heard that they are used to culture leprosy because their body temperature is the lowest among mammals. (Leprosy in humans lives near the surface.)
Add a Comment: Acceptable HTML: <b><strong><i><em><a><u><p><br><strike>
Tooncast this comic on your own website by copying and pasting this code snippet:
<script language="javascript" src="http://www.moderntales.com/tooncast.php?series=dumnestor"></script> |
|||||||
| | comics index | close |
 |
 |
 |
| comics | blog | forum | subscribe | log in |
| |
||
