Kinetic Energy Equations

(Created April 2024)

Kinetic Energy Equivalences

US 120mm Sabot (1984): 9.8 MJ
RU 125mm Sabot (1972): 6.1 MJ
1 kg of TNT: 4.184 MJ
GE 88mm L56 Flak: 2.8 MJ
Ford Explorer at 60 MPH: 0.66 MJ
Mike Tyson Punch: 0.0016 MJ (1600 J)

The Basic KE Formula

Working Backwards to Find Mass

Working Backwards to Find Velocity

In all cases, the variables are:

EK: Kinetic Energy (joules)
M: Mass (kilograms)
V: Velocity (m/sec)

In the case of closing collisions (i.e. a plane traveling at 300 m/s towards another plane also traveling towards the other plane at 150 m/s), add both velocities to each other. In our prior example, the total velocity would be 300 + 150 = 450 m/s.

The most common use of closing collisions is an ABM interceptor striking an incoming warhead -- some common values for this are:

GBI EKV: 64 kg at about 8 km/sec.
SM-3 Kinetic Warhead (aka KV):16.78~ kg at about 4.5 km/sec.

Common Ballistic Missile Velocities are:

IRBM (1500 Miles / 2400 km): 4.4~ km/sec.
ICBM (5000 miles / 8000 km): 8~ km/sec.

To simplify inputting values, I've chosen to use kilojoules (KJ) for Kinetic Energy input to reduce the number of zeroes.

Remember 1000 J = 1 KJ and 1000 KJ = 1 MJ.

Find for Kinetic Energy (joules).
Find for Mass (kilograms).
Find for Velocity (m/sec).

: Mass (kilograms)
: Velocity (m/sec)
: Kinetic Energy (kilojoules)


CONSOLE OUTPUT: