Patrick Healy Moran, MIT
The energy content of bombs and explosions is measured in equivalent tons of TNT. A one-kiloton explosion is equivalent to detonating one-thousand tons of TNT, also a one-megaton is equivalent of one-million tons of TNT. The explosion of one ton of TNT releases approximatly 4.2 × 1012 joules of energy; for comparison, it takes almost 6.0 ×104 joules to warm up a cup of coffee. The Trinity test, a plutonium fueled bomb had an estimated yield of 21 kilotons, and left a crater 2.9 meters deep and 335 meters wide.
| Explosive Yield (tons of TNT) | Event | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.30E-05 | « 1 kT | Fireworks | Roman Candle (Class 1.4G pyrotechnic) |
| 1.20E-04 | « 1 kT | M67 grenade | Commonly-used hand grenade |
| 1.00E-03 | « 1 kT | Rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) | RPG-7 with GTB-7G round |
| 5.00E-01 | 0.0005 kT | Tomahawk Cruise Missile | |
| 1.10E+01 | 0.011 kT | GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) | “The Mother of All Bombs” Most powerful non-nuclear explosive ever used in combat. Used by the United States in Afghanistan in April 2017. |
| 1.50E+04 | 15 kT | Little Boy | Dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan on 6 August 1945 |
| 2.00E+04 | 20 kT | Fat Man | Dropped by the United States on Nagasaki, Japan on 9 August 1945 39,000-80,000 deaths |
| 1.30E+07 | 13 MT | 1 typical nuclear submarine | |
| 2.40E+07 | 24 MT | Eruption of Mount St. Helens | 1980 volcanic eruption in Washington, USA |
| 5.00E+07 | 50 MT | Tsar Bomba | Hydrogen bomb tested by the USSR in October 1961 Largest bomb ever detonated |
| 1.40E+10 | 14,000 MT | Total combined US and Russian nuclear arsenals | |
| 1.00E+14 | 100,000,000 MT | Chicxulub Impact | Asteroid impact that lead to KT extinction |