User blog:Skaffolding/as

According to this site, different levels of strength can be approximately rounded to being capable of these feats in Vampire: The Masquerade. So for this calculation I'll be roughly working out the value for each one.

Base Vampire Levels
These levels can all be attained by any Vampire, not needing the use of Disciplines to reach.

1
1 strength can "Crush a beer can", according to this source most beer cans are made from alluminium, so I'll use that for the calc. 1 Alluminium can weighs 14.9 grams and the density of Alluminium is 2.7 g/cc. This means we're looking at 5.52 cc of Alluminium being crushed, I'll use the yield strength which is 35 MPa (used 6061 since it's the most common) this gives an energy of (5.52 x 35 =) 193.2 joules, or Athlete level

2
2 strength can "Break a wooden chair", according to this the average dining chair weighs 25 pounds. Density of white oak is 0.6 g/cc, so we have a volume of (25 /2.2 x 1000 /0.6 =) 18,940cc. White oak has a max shear strength of 2,000 psi or 13.8 MPa. So the fragmentation energy is (18,940 x 13.8 =) 261,372 joules, or Wall Level. However this is only if the entire chair is fragmented, for the sake of a low-end I'll reduce the result by 50% which gives 130,686 joules. Still wall level.

3
3 strength can "Break down a wooden door", according to this source a solid core door should have a mass of around 58lbs. Using 0.6 g/cc again this gives a volume of (58/2.2*1000/.6 =) 43,940 cc. Assuming white oak again we get (43,940 x 13.8 =) 606,364 joules. Halving it again since complete fragmentation isn't specified, and that's Wall Level

4
4 strength can "Break a 2'x4' board", according to this source, the average thickness of a plank of hardwood is 3/4 inches. Since it's 2 feet x 4 feet, this gives us a volume of (12x12x0.75 =) 96 cubic inches. That's 1573.158144 cc. Meaning that fragmentation is... 21,710 joules..... or 7% as much as 3 strength....well okay then

5
5 strength can "Break open a metal fire door". Assuming steel composition, which has a shear strength of 500 MPa I'll use the same volume as the wooden door, which was 43,940 cc. This gives us a shearing energy of (43,940 x 500 =) 21,970,000 joules. Halving it gives 10,985,000 joules or Wall Level+

Discipline-only Levels
These levels can only be achieved through the use of Disciplines, even the lowest strength level of 6 requires exceptionally high natural strength and at least a single dot in Potence to enhance it further, the highest of 10 requires both world-level natural strength and phenomenally high mastery of Potence (5 dots).

6
6 strength can "Throw a motorcycle" and this is where things become INCREDIBLY irritating. In order to work out maximum throwing distance, I need to multiply strength by five- meaning that strength 6 can throw an object a max of (6x5 =) 30 yards. This is 27.432 metres. Now it's difficult to approximate a speed, so I'll try to estimate based on 2 assumptions. 1. The motorcycle is one metre off the ground at the beginning of the throw. 2. The motorcycle's speed can be worked out based on this falling time calculator.

Mass of a motorcycle is 400lbs or 182 kilograms. Now assuming it's movement stops when it hits the ground, that would mean the motorcycle would be in the air for 0.3 seconds according to the freefall calculator.

This means it's crossing a distance of 27.432 metres in 0.3 seconds, which gives us a speed of 91.44 metres/second. Kinetic energy = Mass x Speed^2 /2. So the kinetic energy is (91.44^2 x 182 /2 =) 760,876 joules.

7
7 strength can "Flip over a small car". Now this is kind of an easier one, assuming the car just needs to be lifted to an angle greater than 90* and allowed to flip itself, we can calculate the GPE required to do that.

Midsized car weighs 1,590 kilograms and has a width of 1.83 metres. That means that in order to lift one half of the car up to a great enough height for it to flip, the energy required would be (1,590 x 1.83 /2 x 9.81 =) 14,272.0785 joules. That's street level....HMMMMM

8
8 strength can "Break a 3' lead pipe". Using an average diameter of 1/2 an inch we get a radius of 0.635 centimetres. Using the formula for volume of a cylinder (Radius^2 x pi x height), we get a volume of (0.635^2 x 3.142 x 91.44 =) 115.85 cc. Assuming 80% hollowness this is 23.17 cc. Hardness (tensile strength) of lead is 30-65 MPa I'll use an average of 48. This means that the shear strength is 36 (most metals have a shear strength equal to 75% of their tensile strength) which makes the destruction of a single lead pipe 834.12 Joules, or Peak Human level.... I don't think the people at White Wolf know how bad lead is....

9
9 strength can "Punch through a cement wall". This is a VERY simple one. Cement walls have a minimum thickness of 8 inches, 10 if they're higher than 8 feet I'll use the value for 10 since it seems fair to assume that "punch through a cement wall" doesn't mean "punch through the thinnest cement walls but not average ones". 10 inches is 0.254 metres and the area of a human fist is 0.043 M^2 this gives us a volume of 0.011 cubic metres. I'll use violent fragmentation for this particular feat beacuse the destroyed volume is about as big as the size of debris that would constitute fragmentation normally, which would imply the punch was just pushing a single chunk out of the wall. Violent fragmentation of cement is 69 j/cc, which gives us a destruction energy of (69 x 0.011 x 10^6 =) 759,000 joules. That's Wall Level, or STILL LESS THAN STRENGTH 5

10
10 strength can "Rip open a steel drum". Empty oil drum weighs 20kg and is made of steel. Density of steel is 7.75 g/cc, which gives us a volume of (20,000 / 7.75 =) 2,581 cc. Shear strength of steel is 500 MPa as established above, so fragmentation energy is (2,581 x 500 =) 1,290,500. Halving it as before gives 645,250 joules, that's Wall Level and an Angry Skaff

Willpower Levels
These levels can only be attained during situations where a Vampire is using their equivalent of a human's adrenalin rush, in-game they require a Willpower roll to achieve.

11
11 strength can "Punch through 1" sheet metal". 430 cm^2 x 2.54 gives a volume of 1,092.2 cc. I'll be using violent fragmentation for the reasons I stated above, which for steel should equal the tensile strength- or 850 MPa This gives us a violent fragmentation energy of (1,092.2 x 850 =) 928,370 joules. That's Wall Level again.

13
13 strength can "Throw a station wagon". Same calculation as the motorcycle feat for strength 6, only replacing the weight with 2,080 kg

Freefall time = 0.3 seconds. Throwing distance = (12 x 5 = 60 yards, or 54.864 metres). Throwing speed = (54.864 / 0.3 = 182.88 M/s).

The kinetic energy is (182.88^2 x 2,080 /2 =) 34,782,898.176 joules. That's Small Building Level FINALLY! HA!

14
14 strength can "Throw a van". Weight of a light van caps at 3.5 metric tons which means once more the same throwing calc. Distance = 59.436, time = 0.3 and mass = 3,500 which means the kinetic energy = (198.12^2 x 3,500 /2 =) 68,690,185.2 joules. Still Small Building Level

15
15 strength can "Throw a truck". Sec-....th....fourth verse, same as the first. Now with 11,793kg to put them in a hearse. Distance = 68.6 metres, time = 0.3 seconds, mass = 11,793 kg. This gives us a speed of 230 M^2 and a kinetic energy yield of (230^2 x 11,793 /2 =) 311,924,850 joules. That's Small Building Level

Summary
1 strength = 10-A

2 strength = 9-B

5 strength = 9-B+

13 strength = 9-A