How can I get my DeLorean to 88 miles per hour without a train?
I got pulled into 1885, just like Doc and Marty (Or I'm one of them, assuming I can get IP rights :)). I need to go back to the future, which means that I need to get my Ford Pinto time machine up to . . . well, you know, 88 miles per hour.
The thing is, I don't have a train handy, and the car can't propel itself.
Is there anything I can do to escape? What can I do?
Constraints: The car must be occupied by time travelers, who must survive the experience. There is no unobtainium nor anything else not available historically. Ideally, the location is constrained to wherever Hill Valley, CA is geographically, but presumably you can transport a Ford Pinto anywhere by horse/ship.
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Hill Valley is, apparently, somewhere in the Sierra Nevada range in Northern California. That fact, as well as its name, should make it clear that the region has an abundance of hills, which are handy little devices capable of converting potential energy into kinetic energy. All you have to do is bring the DeLorean to the top of a hill and give it a slight push. You'll be able to clear 88 miles per hour with no problem.
How can you get the DeLorean up there, though, given that the car apparently can't propel itself? Well, horses are apparently allowed, so you might consider tying a few to the car and lugging it up a convenient mountain.
My inspiration here is from downhill skiing, where some skiers can hit 90+ miles per hour. Speed skiers can go even faster, on courses one kilometer long. If you can minimize friction, then you can go pretty darn fast with this car.
The conversion is $$mg\Delta h=\frac{1}{2}mv^2\to v=\sqrt{2g\Delta h}\to \Delta h=\frac{v^2}{2g}$$ This gives me a vertical drop of about 80 meters in order to reach 88 miles per hour, assuming that virtually no energy is lost to friction. Even assuming large frictional losses, it seems like this is doable.
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