TNT Equivalent

TNT equivalent is a semi-scientific method for quantifying the power of explosions, most popularly used for nukes. It equates energy to a certain mass of exploding TNT. A gram of TNT (trinitrotoulene) explodes with energy between 4100 to 4602 joules. To standardize for calculations, it's agreed that 1 gram of TNT equivalent energy equals 1000 calories (1 kcal) or exactly 4184 joules. As evidenced with nukes, TNT equivalence mostly used as "tons of TNT" and their multiplications with scientific prefixes "kilotons" and "megatons".
Name 	Energy Content
gram of TNT... 	4.184 kJ (4.184 x 103 J)
kilogram of TNT....	4.184 MJ (4184 x 106 J)
ton of TNT... 	4.184 GJ (4184 x 109 J)
kiloton (kt)... 	4.184 TJ (4184 x 1012 J)
megaton (Mt)... 	4.184 PJ (4184 x 1015 J)
The power of various attacks is quanified in energy, which is almost always converted into TNT equivalent (usually tons or its variants with scientific prefixes), regardless of the attack's nature. Explosions, laser beams and physical punches are all converted to the same TNT equivalent system, occasionally causing confusion for the newcomers.
Alternatively if you feel confused by the various scientific prefixes, here's a quick rundown on them:Extended System of Units
See also:
- Calculations
- Comprehensive Energy Scale
- Foe
- Gravitational Binding Energy
- Nuke
Category:Terms