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Sun 1 Jul, 2018 04:45 am
Can someone calculate the approximate impact on the earth (as in a mining explosion), of 1 ton of dynamite.
And also the equivalent impact of say a 1 ton rock dropped from 10 meters.
Trying to estimate this for writing purposes, I very roughly got:
Impact of 1 ton of dynamite, Work = approx 1/2 megawatt.
Equivalent dropping a 1 ton rock 10 meters, approx 2/3 megawatt. Probably way off.
I didn't work very long at this and as I'll never be confident of getting the answer right, thought I'd ask some people in the know.
Appreciate any feedback.
@hillaryfail-itwasme,
I ton of TNT is
defined as 4.184 gigajoules. I know you asked for dynamite, but TNT is a standard unit. You can Google the difference if you want.
One metric ton (1000kg) 10 meters in the air has potential energy equal to (1000kg)*10m*9.8m/sec^2 = 98,000 kg.m^2/sec^2 = 98 kJ
@hillaryfail-itwasme,
Engineer is correct.
You should also be careful. A watt is not a unit of work. A watt is a unit of power (how quickly something is doing work).
It doesn't make any sense to say that the work is 1/2 megawatt. That would be like saying that the distance between Boston and New York is 65 mph. That is the reason that Engineer gave his answer in Joules (which is a unit of work).
Thanks guys.
Problem solved. I guess it would take dropping a rock over 1000 tons to create a seismic shock wave as strong as 1 ton dynamite. So not plausible for my story purpose.
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