In 'Back to the Future' how many gigawatts of electricity will it take to spark the time machine and get Marty McFly home?

sdorph

1.21 gigawatts. strangely, in the movie, Doc always phrases it as 'one point twenty-one gigawatts', when as any scientist should know, the correct phrasing would be 'one point two one gigawatts' Jan 28 07, 9:01 AM

What-A-Mess

Prior to the 90's and the computer boom, Giga was pronounced just as Doc Brown did. Some how through common usage it became Giga as we know it today. Either pronunciation is correct, but no self respecting sciences related person says Giga as the public does today. giga- - /ji'ga/ or /gi'ga/ "In English the initial G of giga can be pronounced with a soft G (as in gigantic) or with a hard G (as in giggle). The latter hard G pronunciation has become more common, especially when referring to computer measurements such as gigabyte and gigahertz. A prominent example of the soft G pronunciation is found in the 1985 movie Back to the Future, where gigawatts was pronounced as jigawatts." http://www.reference.com/search?q=giga http://www.reference.com/search?q=giga Jan 28 07, 10:10 AM

What-A-Mess

Power up! 1.21 (J)gigawatts of electricity were required to energize the Flux Capacitor that enabled the Delorean to travel, once reaching a speed of 88 MPH, through time. Hence "Back to the Future". In the pivotal scene, Doc Brown, Christopher Lloyd (Reverend Jim, Taber {cuckoos nest}) harnesses the lightning strike to the clock tower through a wire that Marty McFly (M.J.Fox) must drive into at 88 MPH at exactly the time of strike. This time was documented in a newspaper that was read in the "future" and applied in the present past (the time they are in during the scene). In summary it takes 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to energize (power) the time machine. In the end of the movie Doc Brown has figured a way to use garbage to power the car because he has been to the future and the future is GREEN. Jan 29 07, 1:35 AM

What-A-Mess

Post Script...... See the movie. It is one of the most referenced pop-culture topics. The following video is performed by Biff (Tom Wilson - second billing in the movie) who has done next to nothing since the movie because of character association. This video covers a lot of the points of the movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y Jan 29 07, 1:42 AM

What-A-Mess

Good choice of words. "Spark"! Jan 29 07, 10:57 AM