The Speed of Blasters, Lasers, Turbolasers, and Phasers

[Enterprise E]

We've seen a lot of discussions about how powerful phasers, lasers, turbolasers, and blasters are. However, I haven't seen many debates on how fast each bolt, beam, or pulse travels. So how fast do phaser, laser, turbolaser, and blaster bolts pulses and beams travel?

[Mike DiCenso]

Whatever the plot demands, it seems. Star Wars seems fairly consistent with the speeds of blaster and turbolaser bolts, which travel hundreds of meters a second in ship-to-ship combat. In Star Trek, where the phaser ranges can exceeds 90,000 km by a considerable margin, the hits occur within seconds at most, but in close range, remain the same across a few kilometers.
-Mike

[Lucky]

We've seen a lot of discussions about how powerful phasers, lasers, turbolasers, and blasters are. However, I haven't seen many debates on how fast each bolt, beam, or pulse travels. So how fast do phaser, laser, turbolaser, and blaster bolts pulses and beams travel?

It's rather hard to say for certain because of limitation in visual effects, idiot visual effects artists who have seemingly don't bother to read the scripts or watch the shows, visual effects artists who have no sense of the dramatic and the speeds may vary depending on scale of the weapon. Some would argue the speed of plot because of this, but that isn't very much fun.

(a phase pistol is loaded, a target projector is set up) 

REED: You have a ten second firing window. Ready? 

HOSHI: Ready. 

REED: Go. (pushes button on PADD, the 3D target starts moving around and Hoshi fires a lot of shots in its direction) Time. 

HOSHI: Any better? 

REED: Your hit to miss ratio is still below fifty percent. If those had been live rounds you'd have blown out two or three bulkheads. 

HOSHI: I never had this much trouble with the EM-33. 

REED: This is an entirely new weapon. Unlike the EM-33 you don't have to compensate for particle drift. Just point straight at the target, and try and keep your shoulders relaxed. It's hard to aim accurately when you're tense. (clears throat) 

HOSHI: You all right? 

REED: Yeah, fine. You'll get the hang of it. Let's try for twenty seconds this time. 

(engine sound changes) 

HOSHI: I thought we were staying at warp for the next few days. 

REED: (checking monitor) We're approaching a gas giant. Class nine. 

HOSHI: So much for target practice. 

REED: We'll pick it up tomorrow.

http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/ ... ded122.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/ ... ded128.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/ ... ded129.jpg

PICARD: Mister Data, overlay weapon ranges of the two ships. 

DATA: The warship is three hundred thousand kilometres from the Phoenix. It is opening fire. The Phoenix has taken a direct hit. The Phoenix is beginning evasive manoeuvres. It has positioned itself outside the weapons range of the opposing ship. The Phoenix has powered up both phasers and photon torpedoes. The Phoenix is firing photon torpedoes. 

(and one of the lights on the screen goes out) 

MACET: He has destroyed our warship. 

PICARD: Does the supply ship have any weapons? 

MACET: Very limited. Certainly not enough to defeat a Nebula class starship. 

DATA: Sir, the Phoenix is firing on the 

(another light goes out) 

MACET: The warship carried a crew of six hundred, the supply ship, fifty.

[Phoenix cockpit]
LAFORGE: Plasma injectors are on-line. Everything's looking good. I think we're ready.
RIKER: They should be out there right now. We better break the warp barrier in the next five minutes if we're going to get their attention.
LAFORGE: Main cells are charged and ready.
RIKER: Let's do it.
COCHRANE: Engage.
LAFORGE: Warp field is looking good. Structural integrity is holding.
RIKER: Speed, twenty thousand kilometres per second.
COCHRANE: Sweet Jesus!
(Cochrane has spotted the Enterprise in orbit)
RIKER: Relax, Doctor. I'm sure they're just here to give us a send-off.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
(Picard is on the Borg bio-bed)
DATA: I am bringing the external sensors on-line.
(the Phoenix appears on the viewscreen)
[Phoenix cockpit]
RIKER: Thirty seconds to warp threshold. ...Approaching light-speed.
COCHRANE: We're at critical velocity.

The Warp threshold appears to be about 300,000 kilometers a second or about the speed of a photon traveling through a vacuum.

They have about 5 minutes or 300 seconds to execrate to the warp threshold.

Their starting velocity is 20,000.

300,000-20,000= 280,000

280,000/300= 933.333333

The slowest acceleration the Phoenix can have while still making its deadline is an increase of 933.333333 kilometers a second.

The Phoenix was a ship that was built in a cave from scraps scrounged from the surround area on a post apocalyptic Earth. Think about that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKuJoND9DTU

We know from Enterprise: Demons and Terra Prime that faster then light particle beams do not require a platform that can move faster then light.

Light speed or faster for starship scale phasers?

This site has some pictures of the Malevolence while out of range
http://www.nolettershome.info/?Season_1 ... %5BTCW1%5D

The official lenght or is it height is listed at Starwars.com

Height: 4,845 meters long

Blaster technology is relatively easy to grasp, which has allowed the weapon to spread across the galaxy. A blaster relies on two key components: a gas chamber and a power pack. The gas chamber can be filled with any of a number of energy rich gases, including Tibanna gas from Bespin. When the weapon is fired, a small amount of blaster gas moves through a conversion enabler (often called the XCiter), where energy from the power pack excites the gas. The volatile gas then moves through an actuating module, which converts it into a particle beam. This beam moves through a prismatic crystal or some focusing device before emerging from the barrel as a bolt of glowing energy. Blaster bolts can appear in many different colors, dictated by the type of gas and crystal focusing device, although red and green bolts are the most common. All blaster bolts produce a smell similar to ozone.

Illegal in most parts of the New Republic, disruptors are similar in design to blasters. However, a disruptor's oversized XCiter and actuating module is capable of processing a huge volume of blaster gas when the weapon's trigger is pulled, resulting in a much more powerful energy beam than a blaster. The weapon's galven cylinders tightly focus this high-energy beam into a destructive force that can disintegrate durasteel plates.

Laser cannons are similar to blasters in design. Volatile blaster gas, funneled from a supercooled and armored chamber, is combined with a power charge. The resulting energy is directed through a long barrel, where galven coils focus it into a damaging beam. Other circuitry in the barrel increases the beam's power, allowing laser cannons to inflict incredible damage

Unlike a standard laser cannon, a turbolaser employs a two-stage supercharging process. The first stage creates a typical laser beam, which is then guided through a stream of energized blaster gas to dramatically increase its potency. As with other laser cannons, the turbolaser's energy field is focused by galven coils in the weapon's barrel. The two-stage design creates a blast with triple the power of standard laser cannons. The Taim & Bak XX-9 turbolasers aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer can even conduct planetary bombardments.

Slower then light and possibly slower then sound?

[Lucky]

We've seen a lot of discussions about how powerful phasers, lasers, turbolasers, and blasters are. However, I haven't seen many debates on how fast each bolt, beam, or pulse travels. So how fast do phaser, laser, turbolaser, and blaster bolts pulses and beams travel?

For blasters you may want to read this page: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/ ... ter-speed/