What is the detonation velocity of a nuke?

The blast wind at sea level may exceed one thousand km/h, or ~300 m/s, approaching the speed of sound in air. The range for blast effects increases with the explosive yield of the weapon and also depends on the burst altitude.

How big is an atomic bomb explosion?

It was dropped by the United States on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. (See Sidebar: The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb.) The explosion, which had the force of more than 15,000 tons of TNT, instantly and completely devastated 11.4 square km (4.4 square miles) of the heart of this city of 343,000 inhabitants.

What is the blast radius of a nuclear bomb in miles?

An air burst 9 megaton nuke has about a 25 mile radius of damage ranging from total to minor. Minor damage is limited to broken windows via the air blast. It has a 3rd. degree burn radius of 20 miles.

What is the shockwave of an atomic bomb?

A fraction of a second after a nuclear explosion, the heat from the fireball causes a high-pressure wave to develop and move outward producing the blast effect. The front of the blast wave, i.e., the shock front, travels rapidly away from the fireball, a moving wall of highly compressed air.

How strong is the shockwave of a nuclear bomb?

Within a 6-km (3.7-mile) radius of a 1-megaton bomb, blast waves will produce 180 tonnes of force on the walls of all two-storey buildings, and wind speeds of 255 km/h (158 mph). In a 1-km (0.6-mile) radius, the peak pressure is four times that amount, and wind speeds can reach 756 km/h (470 mph).

How fast do shock waves travel when an explosion occurs?

The initial blast from the explosion will create a shock wave traveling at over 2,000 mph (3218.688 kph). It eventually slows down as the air pressure equalizes.

What is the speed of a nuclear explosion?

At the center of the blast, next to the casing of the bomb, it would be thousands or perhaps tens of thousands of feet per second. But it slows down as the distance from the bomb increases and the temperature falls.

What happens to the blast wave after a nuclear explosion?

The Blast Wave A fraction of a second after a nuclear explosion, the heat from the fireball causes a high-pressure wave to develop and move outward producing the blast effect. The front of the blast wave, i.e., the shock front, travels rapidly away from the fireball, a moving wall of highly compressed air.

What is the velocity of the shock?

The velocity of the shock is conveniently expressed by the Mach number “M”, the ratio between the shock velocity and the local speed of sound. M is always greater than 1, indicating supersonic motion.