Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re. Correct me if I'm wrong but it

Exercise for the student
R.L. — (archived)

Johannes: "It seems to me that a kilogram of mass has a potential to generate about “9.e16“ joules of energy, why can we get only 250 watts of power out of it."

Ok Johannes, since you understand all this stuff, well here you go... here is a chance to prove it. Just answer this simple little math problem- it requires ONLY the ability to add, subtract, divide and multiply- surely this is no challenge for someone that claims to be able to correct Einstein, right? You may use a calculator...

WHAT is the average power of the detonation of a 1kg cube of TNT? hint, its a bit more than 250 W

Some numbers that may help:

Density of TNT is ~1.6 g/cm3 this depends a bit on your source- some sources say 1.65

velocity of detonation of TNT is ~6900 m/s again, this depends a bit on your source- some sources say 7500m/s

energy released in detonation of one ton of TNT is ~4.2 GJ


You MUST show your work to get credit. It took me 5 minutes to get the numbers needed for the calculation, and 5 minutes to do the calculation (it only took that long because the calculator in windows is clumsy to use)

Answer it- if you are within a factor of 2 of the right answer I will give you an A and admit that you have a slight grasp of physics, and 3rd grade math. Get it wrong, or refuse this simple challenge, and I will continue to treat you like the fraud that you are.

Log in or register to post.

The whole thread (63 posts)