What is the blast range of a single atomic bomb? I need this for a story I'm writing.
2007-02-19 07:19:36 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
how big would it have to be to blow up washington D.C.?
2007-02-19 12:00:43 · update #1
once more this is just for a book I'm writting,
2007-02-19 12:01:15 · update #2
That's going to depend upon several factors - Most important are these:
The size of the bomb - How many kilotons or megatons is it? Is it atomic (fission) or nuclear (fusion)?
How the bomb is detonated - Airburst? How far above ground? Groundburst? Burrowing? How far below ground?
Terrain? A bowl-shape will tend to keep the blast localized, a flat shape will allow it to spread.
I've attached a link to a range calculator for you that's kinda cool in a sick sort of way.
Hope this helps!
EDIT: Ahh! I'm assuming you're talking about a terrorist attack on Washington, DC for your book then - We'll assume a groundburst located right in front of the White House (e.g. in a truck) - Can you specify what the scenario is? But with these parameters, you can figure a 10kt bomb would destroy everything out to 1/3 of a mile while 10MT would destroy everything out to 3 miles - and mind you, radioactivity and fires would be out even further. How much capability are you giving the bombers in your book?
Orion
2007-02-19 09:35:13 · answer #1 · answered by Orion 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Russia detonated a bomb measuring 120 megatons that is 120 million tons of TNT.A modern city of say 4 to 5 million people or more would vaporised for a range of 80 miles from the centre of that blast,The shock wave and blast would destroy every building in that range.120 miles out the death and destruction would be 80-90% b per cent.People inside buildings and underground
would be accounted for by the man made earthquake.
Even a small atom bomb has horrendous problems.
Have a look at pictures of Hiroshime.
2007-02-24 19:33:53 · answer #2 · answered by melbournewooferblue 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It depends on the size of the material in the bomb. The Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima contained a 13 Kiloton device resulting in the immediate destruction of a 1 mile area and fire destruction around 4 miles.
Fat Man, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, was a 21 Kiloton bomb and destroyed around 1.6 miles. This number is skewed though since Nagasaki is in a valley which limited the size of the blast front.
2007-02-19 07:28:48 · answer #3 · answered by Mr. Pibb 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the size of the bomb. to blow up washington you would need a bomb about the size of the Hiroshama
2007-02-26 15:45:28 · answer #4 · answered by lifeshaggy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How many Megatons is it?
It makes a difference in the blast radius. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were small bombs compared to what we have now.
2007-02-19 07:27:11 · answer #5 · answered by kyrie_eleison_gr 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they do no longer stay to tell the story on the threshold of the blast: that's way too warm. even though, they're greater proof against the radiation that the bomb produces, so those cockroaches that are some distance sufficient away will stay to tell the story even nonetheless human beings would die from radiation poisoning.
2016-10-16 00:54:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a sigle atom bomb will create a blast radius of 5 mile1
is washing ton dc bigger than five miles you must know.
2007-02-27 03:50:56 · answer #7 · answered by chad m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the blast range itself is about 3 miles,bot people can die up to 400 miles away from radiation burns.as happened in Hiroshima in 1945
2007-02-26 20:38:31 · answer #8 · answered by fatdadslim 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By specifying Atom Bomb you have limited yourself to kilotons and not megatons. For DC, perhaps 15kt. DC isn't very big.
2007-02-21 12:06:58 · answer #9 · answered by iraq51 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How big a bomb are you wanting to set off?
2007-02-19 07:53:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋