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.