Well, I was basing my interpretation of photorps off of the Memory Alpha site, which has some obsessively detailed analyses of how fast the various warp speeds are as of the TNG era. Because the value is arbitrary, and the warp curve gets redrawn every time engines get so efficient everyone's hanging around in the 9+ range.
According to the site, Warp 9.9 is 21,473 time the speed of light, with an average travel time of about 4 billion miles per second. Warp 9 is only a piddling 834 times the speed of light, with a travel speed of about 250 million miles per second. Assuming the curve jumps sharply toward the end, 9.5 is probably somewhere around 2 billion miles per second.
Take two objects, moving at exact opposite trajectories, moving at the same speeds. Closing speed is therefore about 4 billion miles per second. Add the famous equation: E=MC(sqr).
The speed of light is 187,000 miles per second. The mass of a photon torpedo is probably somewhere around the weight of a heavy coffin, considering its size, what it's actually used for, once, and the probable weight of the materials inside. So call it about 400 kilograms.
The energy released by a single photon torpedo striking an object at 4 billion miles per second is roughly E=400,000*(187,000(sqr))
This roughly works out to 1.39876x10(16th) Joules of energy released on impact.
I'd argue that no matter how good a species' deflector shields have become, there's a reason you don't see starships fighting at warp speed. If you could engineer a fight at those velocities, the first person to hit the other guy wins.
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
According to the site, Warp 9.9 is 21,473 time the speed of light, with an average travel time of about 4 billion miles per second. Warp 9 is only a piddling 834 times the speed of light, with a travel speed of about 250 million miles per second. Assuming the curve jumps sharply toward the end, 9.5 is probably somewhere around 2 billion miles per second.
Take two objects, moving at exact opposite trajectories, moving at the same speeds. Closing speed is therefore about 4 billion miles per second. Add the famous equation: E=MC(sqr).
The speed of light is 187,000 miles per second. The mass of a photon torpedo is probably somewhere around the weight of a heavy coffin, considering its size, what it's actually used for, once, and the probable weight of the materials inside. So call it about 400 kilograms.
The energy released by a single photon torpedo striking an object at 4 billion miles per second is roughly E=400,000*(187,000(sqr))
This roughly works out to 1.39876x10(16th) Joules of energy released on impact.
I'd argue that no matter how good a species' deflector shields have become, there's a reason you don't see starships fighting at warp speed. If you could engineer a fight at those velocities, the first person to hit the other guy wins.
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Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.