Let's start with some useless facts:
As we all know, Doc Brown's famous time machine takes 1.21 gigawatts to send it through time. But what does this mean?
1.21 gigawatts of power is equal to about 1.623 x 10^6 Horsepower for comparison. This is roughly equivalent to about 3530 Dodge Viper V10 engines.
-It could power roughly 300,000 homes
-This is the average output of a modern nuclear power plant and almost twice the output of a modern coal plant
-About one thirtieth of the total energy output by the entire wind power network in the united states
Now for some math!
The question I'm going to be looking at is "How many states have buildings tall enough to drive off to reach 88 mph and travel through time?"
First off, we need the formula for gravity. 9.80665 m/s2 (32.1740 ft/s2). simple enough
Actually, we need the mph in meters per second so lets do 88(1,609.344 / 3,600) to give us 39.34 m/sec
To find the height needed, we use the formula v2 = u2 + 2as where v is the final velocity, u is the initial velocity, a is acceleration from gravity, and s is the distance traveled (which we need).
39.34^2=0^2+2(9.8)(X)
1547.636=19.6X
X=78.961 meters
So we need a building 78.961 (259.1 ft) to drive off of.
Using this, we can determine that every state except Maine, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming has a tall enough building (and Washington D.C. since the Washington monument is tall enough but it would be tough to fit a car on top).
YOUR CHALLENGE: Find the same information accounting for wind resistance!
