The Scale of Energy

Subtitles

That was a very pathetic 0.14

joules of energy. Not anything

to be concerned about except maybe

if you're a flea. But something

that releases much more energy

is a clap which is around 11 joules.

Still not much to be concerned about.

But the blow of a hammer is much

more powerful. At around 60 joules,

the blow of a hammer is enough

energy to easily fracture glass,

bones, and even rocks. A firecracker

releases even more energy at around

150 joules. But none of this

is nearly as powerful as you.

Running full speed, an average

person has around 1500 joules

of energy. So...probably don't

run top speed into a brick wall

because...my interpretation of

my moderately deplorable comprehension

capabilities says...that will hurt.

Anyway, it's time to drastically

increase in energy...with a bang.

The muzzle energy of a cannon

is around 560,000 joules, strong

enough to destroy almost anything

in the cannonball's path.

Just a bit higher is a firework

with around 600,000 joules.

A car, traveling at standard

highway speeds, has around 815,

000 joules. An SUV traveling at

the same speed would have around

1 megajoule or 1 million joules.

1 kilogram of TNT releases about

4.2 megajoules.

A fully loaded semi-truck traveling

at typical truck speeds has around

14 megajoules of energy. So if

you were ever wondering if you

could brake-check a semi-truck

and actually stop it...the answer is no.

But don't worry because there

is something else that you stand

even less chance of stopping.

A freight train. When traveling

at the standard freight train

speed, a train has around 4 gigajoules

of energy or around 4 billion

joules or about 286 semi-trucks

or nearly 1 ton of TNT. 1 ton

of TNT being about 4.2 gigajoules.

Nature isn't going to be left

out though. One of the most powerful

events that regularly occurs in

nature is lightning at 7 gigajoules

or 1.7 tons of TNT. It's no wonder

it's so incredibly loud.

But, on April 26, 1986, an event

much worse than a lightning strike

occurred in eastern Europe. The

worst nuclear disaster ever, commonly

known as the Chernobyl disaster

which released the equivalent

of around 10 tons of TNT. But,

the disaster was more a danger

of radiation rather than of the

actual explosion itself. Something

that did have a very deadly explosion,

however, was Little Boy, the

atomic bomb which destroyed Hiroshima.

This explosion was the equivalent

of around 15 kilotons of TNT.

Much higher, though less deadly

due to it being located deep in

mostly uninhabited forest, was

the Tunguska Event . On June 30,

1908, a flash of light nearly

as bright as the Sun was seen

in the far distance. Then, around

10 minutes later, a huge, distant

explosion was heard with an accompanying

shock wave so powerful that it

shattered windows and even knocked

people off their feet hundreds

of kilometers away. Due to the

remoteness of the event, it has

remained largely unstudied. Even

today it is unknown what caused

the explosion, though it is widely

accepted that its probable cause

was from an asteroid which exploded midair.

Regardless of what caused it,

this event is best calculated

to be equivalent to 30 megatons of TNT.

About as much as 2000 atomic bombs!

Well..2000 ordinary atomic bombs.

The Tsar Bomba was the largest

atomic bomb ever detonated. The

resulting explosion being equivalent

to around 50 megatons of TNT,

over 3000 times greater than an

ordinary atomic bomb. The Tsar

Bomba is still the largest explosion

ever made by humans.

But humans, despite all their

disastrous creations, will never

be able to come close to the forces

of many creations in nature.

On May 18, 1980, Mt. Saint Helens

erupted releasing the equivalent

of around 410 megatons of TNT,

more than 8 times that of the

Tsar Bomba! This eruption remains,

to this day, the deadliest volcanic

event in the history of the United States.

But it's certainly not the most

powerful natural disaster.

The eruption of Mt. Tambora,

in 1815, was far more powerful

releasing the equivalent of around

33 gigatons of TNT or about 2.

2 million atomic bombs! But, this

is still not the most powerful

natural disaster.

On May 22, 1960, a massive earthquake

occurred off the coast of Chile

releasing the equivalent of around

17.2 thousand gigatons of TNT

or about 1.1 billion atomic bombs!

This earthquake was so powerful

that it sent tsunamis all the

way across the entire Pacific

Ocean causing hundreds of deaths

even as far as Japan! This earthquake

was the most powerful ever recorded

and is likely the most powerful

natural disaster in recorded history.