# How many tons of TNT do I need to vaporize Nebraska? Need Answer Fast **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032 "2018-06-13T16:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/1 "2018-06-13T16:43:17Z")
In one of my favorite movies, “Aliens” there is a line where they say this area is going to be a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska. So I’ve decided to vaporize an area the size of Nebraska with a nuke. How many equivalents tons of TNT do I need? Since the explosion in the movie seems to be a hemisphere, let’s assume that I actually want to vaporize an area 200,356 km² (the size of Nebraska) and not a explosion that would encompass Nebraska. Further, let’s assume by vaporize this means effected by the blast and heat wave of the nuclear detonation sufficient to level all buildings in the effected area as opposed to literal vaporization (although if somebody wants to tackle that, well, cool). _beep_ launch now? _beep_ Not yet, we still need to calibrate the warhead. I mean … ummm… \ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/2 "2018-06-13T16:49:45Z")
Subtle but important question: How many bombs do you want to use? It’s going to be a lot harder with one big nuke than with a bunch of smaller ones with the same total megatonnage. After a while, a bigger nuke doesn’t mean a larger area of damage, but just that the area of damage is even more vaporized-er. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/3 "2018-06-13T16:57:43Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > In one of my favorite movies, “Aliens” there is a line where they say this area is going to be a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska. > > So I’ve decided to vaporize an area the size of Nebraska with a nuke. How many equivalents tons of TNT do I need? I would say that “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” and “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” are different. Vapors tend to be larger than the thing they once were. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/4 "2018-06-13T17:13:38Z")
As a Nebraskan, I’m slightly concerned about this thread. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/5 "2018-06-13T17:32:28Z")
Don’t worry, it will be just as flat after as it was before. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/6 "2018-06-13T17:36:32Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I would say that “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” and “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” are different. Vapors tend to be larger than the thing they once were. A gallon of water will yield about 3000 gallons of vapor at the same pressure. A gallon of Liquefied Natural Gas will yield about 600 gallons of gas at room temperature / pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Perderabo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Perderabo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perderabo)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/7 "2018-06-13T17:38:24Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > I would say that “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” and “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” are different. Vapors tend to be larger than the thing they once were. Another pesky issue is that we think of Nebraska as two dimensional while a vapor cloud seems much more three dimensional. What is the volume of Nebraska? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/8 "2018-06-13T17:38:52Z")
> **[Effects of nuclear explosions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions)** > > The effects of a nuclear explosion on its immediate vicinity are typically much more destructive and multifaceted than those caused by conventional explosives. In most cases, the energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated within the lower atmosphere can be approximately divided into four basic categories: > Depending on the design of the weapon and the location in which it is detonated, the energy distributed to any one of these categories may be significantly higher or lower. The physical bl... A 1 MT blast will cause “destruction of most civilian buildings” to a 6.2-km radius, an area of 120 km[sup]2[/sup]. Simple math gets you to 1659 devices, or 1.659 gigatons. However, these are round blast zones, so you don’t get complete AND uniform coverage. You’ll actually need a closer spacing than 12.4 km between grounds-zero if you want to perfectly obliterate every square inch of your target area; this will require 2.6 gigatons. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/9 "2018-06-13T17:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Subtle but important question: How many bombs do you want to use? It’s going to be a lot harder with one big nuke than with a bunch of smaller ones with the same total megatonnage. After a while, a bigger nuke doesn’t mean a larger area of damage, but just that the area of damage is even more vaporized-er. Let’s say the least number possible. > [@](#): > > I would say that “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” and “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” are different. Vapors tend to be larger than the thing they once were. True enough. I’m assuming the first one is going to be really hard to compute because it would need to known what is being vaporized to figure out to what degree it will expand. I’m trying to avoid that complication. ---
**Author:** ![am77494](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d2c977/32.png) [@am77494](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/am77494)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/10 "2018-06-13T17:49:53Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Since the explosion in the movie seems to be a hemisphere, let’s assume that I actually want to vaporize an area 200,356 km² (the size of Nebraska) and not a explosion that would encompass… From Wikipedia, the severe damage radius for the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs was was 2 km. > **[Effects of nuclear explosions](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_nuclear_explosions#/media/File%3AAbombdamage1945.svg)** > > The effects of a nuclear explosion on its immediate vicinity are typically much more destructive and multifaceted than those caused by conventional explosives. In most cases, the energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated within the lower atmosphere can be approximately divided into four basic categories: > Depending on the design of the weapon and the location in which it is detonated, the energy distributed to any one of these categories may be significantly higher or lower. The physical bl... That’s roughly 12 sq km. So 200, 356 km2 will need about 17,000 of these bombs. These bombs were 16 kilotons and 22 kilotons. So roughly 340,000 kilotons will be needed. Of course, modern bombs are more efficient and I am assuming an equal distribution which may effect the final numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/11 "2018-06-13T18:04:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Subtle but important question: How many bombs do you want to use? It’s going to be a lot harder with one big nuke than with a bunch of smaller ones with the same total megatonnage. After a while, a bigger nuke doesn’t mean a larger area of damage, but just that the area of damage is even more vaporized-er. Yeah, I remember reading that a nuke can only be so big. Any bigger and all the explodey stuff get launched out into orbit. So in order to achieve the OP’s objective, it would have to be a bunch of smaller bombs. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/12 "2018-06-13T18:08:37Z")
Maybe spread out an extremely wide carpet of thin TNT layer? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/13 "2018-06-13T18:09:00Z")
> [@Perderabo](#): > > Another pesky issue is that we think of Nebraska as two dimensional while a vapor cloud seems much more three dimensional. What is the volume of Nebraska? Not sure but it’s pretty shallow. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/14 "2018-06-13T18:12:03Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > Don’t worry, it will be just as flat after as it was before. 😃 That’s not a worry. I just worry about all the destruction of the…, the loss of the cultural value of…uh, the wondrous variety of… corn porn, something about the Huskers, … hmmmm…Carhenge? OK, I’ll drop it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/15 "2018-06-13T18:14:50Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > As a Nebraskan, I’m slightly concerned about this thread. Well Colibri was pretty calm about getting plowed into the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/16 "2018-06-13T18:17:06Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > That’s not a worry. I just worry about all the destruction of the…, the loss of the cultural value of…uh, the wondrous variety of… corn porn, something about the Huskers, … hmmmm…Carhenge? > > OK, I’ll drop it. If by Carhenge you mean Cadillac Ranch don’t worry - it’s outside Amarillo, TX. So fire away. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/17 "2018-06-13T18:18:36Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > That’s not a worry. I just worry about all the destruction of the…, the loss of the cultural value of…uh, the wondrous variety of… corn porn, something about the Huskers, … hmmmm…Carhenge? > > OK, I’ll drop it. Kidding aside, I thought the [Great Platte River Road Archway Monument](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Platte_River_Road_Archway_Monument) was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/18 "2018-06-13T18:19:36Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > If by Carhenge you mean Cadillac Ranch don’t worry - it’s outside Amarillo, TX. So fire away. [http://carhenge.com/](http://carhenge.com/) - Alliance, Nebraska Mind you I have no problem with losing Amarillo either. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/19 "2018-06-13T18:21:25Z")
[Carhange](http://carhenge.com/) Vaporizing Nebraska would also destroy a pretty nice Cabella’s in Sidney, NB. Oh, well. Sacrifices must be made. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/20 "2018-06-13T18:24:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Well Colibri was pretty calm about getting plowed into the ocean. The magical bulldozer kindly teleports people in its way into a giant O’Neill habitat with a breathable atmosphere and limitless refills on Caipirinhas. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032.md?page=2)