Melting ice cubes and metal doors require a significant amount of energy. For example, to melt an ice cube with a mass of 50 grams, it would take 16,700 joules. To melt a metal door, you need to increase the temperature to the melting point and then liquefy it, with the total energy required depending on the mass and type of metal.
Estimating the power needed to melt a metal door involves making educated guesses about the material. For instance, if a starship door were made of aluminum, it would have a density of 2,700 kilograms per cubic meter, a melting temperature of 660 degrees Celsius, a specific heat capacity of 900 joules per kilogram per degree Celsius, and a latent heat of fusion of 3.96 x 10^5 joules per kilogram.
Assuming the metal melted by Qui-Gon Jinn in a certain scene weighs about 2.7 kilograms, the total energy required to melt this aluminum can be calculated. Using a certain calculation method, it was determined that melting this amount of aluminum would require 2.6 million joules of energy.
The power output needed to melt the metal in 11.5 seconds was calculated to be 2.28 x 10^5 watts, which is equivalent to 305 horsepower. This level of power is comparable to that of a high-powered car engine.
As for lightsabers, while they may draw energy from another dimension rather than relying on batteries, estimating the power output of a lightsaber can help determine the energy it would require. Since lightsabers do not run out of power in the Star Wars films, it can be assumed they have a long-lasting energy source.
