# 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:** 2
**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, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/21 "2018-06-13T19:01:06Z")
Aren’t _most_ things in the world outside of Amarillo, TX? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/22 "2018-06-13T19:29:05Z")
Also depends on what you mean by _vaporize_. If you hit 4 cities (Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, & Grand Island), you could kill off about 1/3 of the population, and destroy most of the transportation, logistics, and power generation systems – that would pretty much make the whole state a casualty. ---
**Author:** ![K2500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K2500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K2500)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/23 "2018-06-13T19:52:13Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > [http://carhenge.com/](http://carhenge.com/) - Alliance, Nebraska > > Mind you I have no problem with losing Amarillo either. Losing Amarillo would put a big damper on any future nuke plans. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/24 "2018-06-13T20:04:24Z")
STRATCOM being based at Offutt, I’d worry about Nebraska vaporizing most of the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/25 "2018-06-13T20:15:28Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > STRATCOM being based at Offutt, I’d worry about Nebraska vaporizing most of the rest of the world. I had a relative in the AP back when. He got to work on the lowest basement floor of the big old SAC bunker there checking IDs of generals before letting them in. It was pretty safe and secure to say the least. While the underground floors are presumably immune from BeepKillBeep’s anger, the aboveground floors are still pretty [hefty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Air_Command#Nuclear_Bunkers,_SAC_Ground_Alert,_and_transfer_of_SAC's_Fighter-Escort_Wings). It would take more than a couple direct hits of H-bombs to vaporize that. That’s not by accident. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/26 "2018-06-13T20:27:36Z")
Maybe just pop off a nuke and open up the Yellowstone hot spot, let the volcano do all the work for ya … wouldn’t be vapor but a couple hundred feet of 800ºC pumy rock would achieve the same results … ---
**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, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/27 "2018-06-13T21:11:53Z")
I’m fascinated by this idea of an upper limit to the kaboominess of a nuke. I’m hoping Chronos (or somebody) will supply some more detail. Let’s say the amount need is 2.5 GT spread out over many bombs. If I had a bomb of say 250 GT, why wouldn’t this work? I cannot use a lot of nukes, because I only have a limited and small supply of AI-controlled helpers. And once again, I’ve said too much. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/28 "2018-06-13T21:49:55Z")
Aliens also says > [@](#): > > …with a blast radius of 30 kilometres, equal to about 40 megatons. And “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” is not the same as “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” However, I applaud your efforts to get rid of Nebraska and I ask that you let me hit the button. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/29 "2018-06-13T22:44:06Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > I’m fascinated by this idea of an upper limit to the kaboominess of a nuke. I’m hoping Chronos (or somebody) will supply some more detail. Let’s say the amount need is 2.5 GT spread out over many bombs. If I had a bomb of say 250 GT, why wouldn’t this work? > > I cannot use a lot of nukes, because I only have a limited and small supply of AI-controlled helpers. > > And once again, I’ve said too much. Because the Earth is round. Now, 250GT might be enough, if it was detonated high enough. But, it’s also 100x more than you need. This was the reasoning behind the reduction of our missile’s power - why spend more on a bigger explosion, when you can put 12 smaller warheads on the same rocket, and do much more damage. ---
**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, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/30 "2018-06-13T22:50:50Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Aliens also says > And “a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska” is not the same as “vaporizing an area the size of Nebraska” > > However, I applaud your efforts to get rid of Nebraska and I ask that you let me hit the button. I am aware. In the OP I state a “cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska”. However, I think compute the power to produce such a cloud would be rather difficult due to a lack of information, i.e. what exactly is being vaporized, so I changed the outcome. However, I’m all for somebody computing the power to produce a cloud of vapor the size of Nebraska. ---
**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, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/31 "2018-06-13T22:52:39Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Because the Earth is round. > Now, 250GT might be enough, if it was detonated high enough. > But, it’s also 100x more than you need. This was the reasoning behind the reduction of our missile’s power - why spend more on a bigger explosion, when you can put 12 smaller warheads on the same rocket, and do much more damage. So you mean that when the explosive blast gets big enough the energy stops becoming an even bigger blast because it just shoots off into space? I.e. when the the energy vector of the blast is a tangent (more or less) to the surface of the Earth? My AIs are officially disappointed we cannot do this with a single big bomb. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/32 "2018-06-13T23:10:23Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > So you mean that when the explosive blast gets big enough the energy stops becoming an even bigger blast because it just shoots off into space? I.e. when the the energy vector of the blast is a tangent (more or less) to the surface of the Earth? > > My AIs are officially disappointed we cannot do this with a single big bomb. That’s one reason. The other is that the explosion is roughly spherical, so it scales as the inverse cube of the yield. So a weapon that is 1,000 times as powerful as another only causes 10x the damage. So, in theory, you could build a single bomb that could wipe Nebraska off the map (small loss…), but it would have to be really, really big. Interestingly, the Tsar Bomba, at full 100MT yield, was calculated to be able to cause fatal burns over an area nearly size of Pennsylvania, if detonated the optimal altitude. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/33 "2018-06-13T23:22:40Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > Don’t worry, it will be just as flat after as it was before. 😃 Well, maybe a little concave. ---
**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 14, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/34 "2018-06-14T13:25:41Z")
To be strictly correct, you could do it with a single really big bomb. But the size of the bomb needed grows inconveniently fast compared to the amount of destruction. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/35 "2018-06-14T13:36:51Z")
He Who Walks Behind The Rows is not amused. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/36 "2018-06-14T13:52:25Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > Don’t worry, it will be just as flat after as it was before. 😃 I was going to say it was a trick question. The answer is ZERO! ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/37 "2018-06-14T14:54:18Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > However, I applaud your efforts to get rid of Nebraska and I ask that you let me hit the button. Whadju got against Nebraska? Note that I’m not particularly _for_ Nebraska, but [ul] [li]Florida[/li][li]Texas[/li][li]California[/li][li]Ohio[/li][/ul] well before we turn all the corn into flakes. ---
**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 14, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/38 "2018-06-14T15:13:13Z")
You could try one of Teller’s [10 GT bombs](http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/09/12/in-search-of-a-bigger-boom/). ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/39 "2018-06-14T15:22:07Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Vaporizing Nebraska would also destroy a pretty nice Cabella’s in Sidney, NB. > > Oh, well. Sacrifices must be made. Man, you must **really** be using a lot of explosive if bombing Nebraska would have effects in New Brunswick as well. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032/40 "2018-06-14T15:35:47Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > 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. > > > [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > > > I’m fascinated by this idea of an upper limit to the kaboominess of a nuke. I’m hoping Chronos (or somebody) will supply some more detail. Let’s say the amount need is 2.5 GT spread out over many bombs. If I had a bomb of say 250 GT, why wouldn’t this work? > > > > I cannot use a lot of nukes, because I only have a limited and small supply of AI-controlled helpers. Betcha both of you read about it here: **[How big can a nuclear weapon get?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=542910)** [On maximum yield/splodiness] **[What is the largest nuclear bomb that could be built?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=671669)** [On bomb mechanics and arsenals] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-tons-of-tnt-do-i-need-to-vaporize-nebraska-need-answer-fast/816032.md?page=3)