How many Newtons of force would kill a person?

[Daggs]

Based on typical ballistics numbers, 100 J seems to be the minimum lethal kinetic energy. This is roughly equivalent to a .22 long bullet (40 grains) from a rifle at 1000 fps. The next level of damage is at about 1000 J, which corresponds to a .357 jacketed soft-point (158 grains) bullet at 1400 fps. This is fairly lethal (depending exactly where it hit) to unprotected personnel. Lastly, something around 4000 J is sufficient to penetrate body armor. This is something like a 7.62 full metal jacket or .30-06 armor piercing bullet (166 grains) at 2750 fps. Roughly dividing this into three broad categories:

Light (.22 cal): 100 J.
Moderate (.357 cal.): 1000 J.
Heavy(.30-06 cal): 4000 J.
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/navy/docs/es310/dam_crit/dam_crit.htm

It appears that 1000J is required to get a Psubk of .5.

Daggs

 

[Willt125]

At 3 secs, Force exerted is 154 N.(Assume sustained before then), then at 3.02 secs, force reaches 501262.875 N. At 3.05 secs, force has decreased to 47162 N and decreases until at 4.1 secs force is 712 N and stabilizes. Assume body is 100 lbs.

 

[Nugatory]

Is there a possibility that a large enough object could strike this planet at 1000+/- mph and stop us?

It would be a good exercise to try calculating how large a mass would be needed to produce that effect - conservation of momentum is all you need. Before you try it, be careful to define what you mean by "stop" and "moving at 1000 mph", as both have to relative to something - the sun might be a good choice.

 

[CWatters]

Old thread rises from the dead.

 

[russ_watters]

At 3 secs, Force exerted is 154 N.(Assume sustained before then), then at 3.02 secs, force reaches 501262.875 N. At 3.05 secs, force has decreased to 47162 N and decreases until at 4.1 secs force is 712 N and stabilizes. Assume body is 100 lbs.

You have replied to a 2 year dead thread and I don't see a question in there. Is there something you need help with?