>> Not sure if this is the proper place to put this, but...
>>
>> I need help with the physics of a mid-air explosion.  I have a ship 
>> travelling
>> in an atmosphere, at about 4000 units per clock.  It is supposed to 
>> explode in
>> mid-air, but I am wondering how the resulting debris would travel.  Would 
>> it
>> travel both to the ground and to an eventual stop, or what.
>>
>> Any knowledge would be most appreciated.
>
> The solid fragments will fly off in all directions, with the total 
> momentum equal to the total momentum of the ship before the explosion.
>
> Acceleration will be be comprised of an amount from gravity (constant 
> acceleration, straight down), plus a component of drag (directly opposite 
> current motion, directly proportional to velocity, directly proportional 
> to cross-sectional area, inversely proportional to mass). Remember that 
> velocities and accelerations are all vector values. Choose the right 
> coefficient of drag and you will have a convincing path of motion for each 
> particle.
>
> The fireball is gaseous, and while it may have a large mass, it will also 
> have a very large wind resistance, and less gravity, so its trajectory 
> will depart from the solid fragments very quickly.
>
> You will probably need to do some math to step through each frame leading 
> up to the frame that you're rendering.

There is also blast shadow, objects behind other objects will pick
up less of the momentum from the blast, and be thrown in slightly
different directions because of deflection of the gaseous wave.

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