The Death Star Costs $15.6 Septillion

[Johnn Johnston]

Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?

Well, using these figures...

Total money on Earth: $1.40558761 x 10[sup]13[/sup]
Total US debt (approx): $1.11443018 x 10[sup]13[/sup]

So, while the US debt is a helluva lot of cash, it is still $2911574300000 under the total amount of money in the world. I think.

Oddly enough, when you divide that number by 1.11, you get 1.4 x 10[sup]19[/sup], and when you divide the number by 1.40, you get 1.1 x 10[sup]20[/sup]. Co-incidence. Wow. That really got under my skin until I worked it out using Google Calculator.

 

[matrix3509]

Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.

Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?

I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.

So alot...

According to Tesla, it would only take 5 Nukes to completely disintegrate the earth, if they were placed right. That seems a bit much.

Well of course they would have to be placed right, but if you just want to blow up a planet the size of the Earth willy nilly, thats about how much energy it would take. Also 5 nukes means five points of penetration whereas a "Laser" has only one point.

Also I believe that figure was achieved by thinking about meteor impacts, not about super lasers.

 

[Susan Arendt]

No wonder he got so pissed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGB_JOBXyhA

That really made my afternoon. Thanks for sharing that one.

 

[pantsoffdanceoff]

I don't care how much it costs to build the construct itself. It's the gun that blow up the damn planets I care about. How much does THAT cost? I'm sure a few countries would be willing to throw in a couple septillains to do it to have it on their side.

 

[Da_Schwartz]

Small price to pay for intergalactic total domination... wait does that include backfilling it's weakspot with cement?

 

[Dread_Reaper]

That 94 cents at the end makes me question the possibility of this project.

True, but theoretically we could cut costs by making the entire thing out of paper mache.

-Dread_Reaper

 

[Johnn Johnston]

I don't care how much it costs to build the construct itself. It's the gun that blow up the damn planets I care about. How much does THAT cost? I'm sure a few countries would be willing to throw in a couple septillains to do it to have it on their side.

Well, I've got a new 1p coin and some lint, so will that go towards the collection?

No wonder he got so pissed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGB_JOBXyhA

That really made my afternoon. Thanks for sharing that one.

They've got a whole episode of them; such as the janitor who has to clear up the unusually large amount of people that fall dramatically into bottomless pits.

Enjoy. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDHskF-DCnc]

 

[new_age_reject]

What this doesn't take into account also, is the money spent on researching the technology to make this work, otherwise it would be a big lump of steel, stale air and dead people in funny outfits drawing in a lovely collection of space particles.

 

[Flap Jack452]

What about the costs of technology, furniture and pay and enough food for all the crew?

 

[matrix3509]

Small price to pay for intergalactic total domination... wait does that include backfilling it's weakspot with cement?

You have to have some way of dispelling the heat from the reactor in the middle. You could go the route of the Second Death Star and instead of having one big exhaust port, you could have millions of tiny ones that are too small to access.

 

[Unknower]

If the Emperor got a dime every time a random farmer kid flew inside one of his ships and destroyed the main reactor, he could build two of those things.

 

[Hippobatman]

Alright, start passing around the collection tray folks. We can do this.

Was about to say that myself. Now, I'm a bit short on cash this month, so could I just owe you a couple of billions?

 

[Bulletmagnet125]

+ 5 nerd points to you

 

[matrix3509]

I think thats more of an excercise in operating on huge numbers than a serious estimation, but on the other hand the guy has Polish blood, so he might be seriously that crazy

You want a huge number?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham's_number

That is a large number.

Graham's number is so large it can't even be denoted in this universe (at least not with traditional methods).

 

[Sib]

What this doesn't take into account also, is the money spent on researching the technology to make this work, otherwise it would be a big lump of steel, stale air and dead people in funny outfits drawing in a lovely collection of space particles.

Let's just add on another few septillion, you know for all that stuff.

 

[matrix3509]

Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.

Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?

I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.

So alot...

According to Tesla, it would only take 5 Nukes to completely disintegrate the earth, if they were placed right. That seems a bit much.

Well of course they would have to be placed right, but if you just want to blow up a planet the size of the Earth willy nilly, thats about how much energy it would take. Also 5 nukes means five points of penetration whereas a "Laser" has only one point.

Also I believe that figure was achieved by thinking about meteor impacts, not about super lasers.

But as a laser lacks kinetic force, it could only destroy a planet by superheating the core until it actually dissolved the planet. Therefore, they should have been left with a floating ball of lava instead of an asteroid belt. Unless it wasn't a laser, but a tractor beam....

At what point did it become evident that I don't know what the hell I'm talking about?

Hey its all just fun and games, its Star Wars, we don't have to know what the hell we're talking about, as long as you get the canon right.

I actually have been a part of some discussions about whether the superlaser is actually a laser or a tractor beam. A tractor beam can (theoretically) disrupt the electroweak forces holding individual atoms together. If it is a tractor beam, that would explain the huge energy requirement. A more interesting argument for me is where the hell you would get such a power source to begin with.

I now point you to this:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Hypermatter

It's interesting, in a hopeless nerd sort of way.