What is the blast range of an atomic bomb? What would be a safe distance to be when one goes off?
408657
It depends on four things:\n\n1. Size of the bomb's yield (measured in megatons)\n2. The type of bomb (atomic, hydrogen, etc.)\n3. The terrain around where the bomb detonates (mountains or desert, etc.)\n4. The elevation of the bomb at detonation (some of them are set to explode ABOVE the terrain).\n\nBut, to give you a typical example:\nCommon single MIRV warhead (thermonuclear type bomb that is 10 Megatons, which is equivalent to 10 thousand tons of TNT), exploding 2000 feet over a desert with low rolling hills would have these ranges, in the order in which an instrument would first measure it:\n\n1. XRAY and Gamma Ray effect: 1000 mile diameter. Causes almost all electrical appliances to stop.\n2. Heat from the light: 50 mile diameter\n3. Permanent blindness from the light: 20 miles\n4. 3rd degree skin burns: 18 miles. 2nd degree: 16 miles. 1st degree: 15 miles.\n5. Killed/Bents/Destroyed biological material (animals, Humans and foliage): 12 miles.\n6. Vaporized biological material (animals, Humans and foliage): 10 miles\n7. Vaporized concrete up to 4 feet thick: 5.5 miles.\n8. Physical crater in the Earth, caused by all this: 1 mile in diameter and about 100 feet deep.\n\nThen AFTER the blast: \n- Nuclear radiation "Hot Zone" death in 24-48 hours would be about 25 miles.\n- Nuclear radiation "Hot Zone" sick or die in 30 days would be about 100 miles.\n- Also: Nuclear fallout - up to thousands of miles downwind.\n- Uninhabitable for about 250 years within 50 miles.\n\nHope this helps.\n\nIf this is the best answer, please vote it the best answer. Thanks!
1145071
Khrushchev warned in a filmed speech to the Communist parliament of the existence of a 100 Mt bomb. \nThe Bomb called the Tsar was dropped from a TU 95 at a height of 10.500 metres using a parachute drop.The fireball touched the ground, reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane10,500 metres, and was seen 1,000 km away. The heat could have caused third degree burns at a distance of 100 km. The subsequent mushroom cloud was about 60 km high and 30–40 km wide. The explosion could be seen and felt in Finland, even breaking windows there.[citation needed] Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage up to 1,000 km away. The seismic shock created by the detonation was measurable even on its third passage around the earth.
789523
The area would depend on the size of the warhead on the missle.  If the missle's blast radius is 500 yards then you would keep 1000 yards clear in all directions.  And so on for stronger or weaker warheads.
1035178
If I'm not mistaken, we've tested a number of 20-megaton nukes before, and the fact that you're able to ask this question means that we've survived that first test. :-)  \n\nAs for how big of a nuke it would take to blow up Earth, a couple of issues you'll have to deal with first is what to do about all of the debris that will settle after the nuke goes off, because as it floats back down because of gravity, then gravity itself will hold down all of the matter upon Earth. As to what it would take to cause the most damage, I've gotten to thinking since the 2004 tsunami that if a well-placed nuke was right on major fault lines either in the ocean or possibly on land (like maybe on the New Madrid fault), the tectonic action resulting from the force of the nuclear blast would be much more destructive than the bomb itself, because the shifting of tectonic plates would then cause damage at a much greater radius from ground zero in the resulting earthquake than would just blast waves in an atmospheric explosion.\n\nMaybe that doesn't answer your question, but it's the best I can figure as I am neither a physicist nor a geologist. :-)
153633
Gather enough food, water, and appropriate clothing for at least a few days.  I could fit that in a backpack.\nStart walking or biking out of town; it's best not to drive because the roads would be jammed.\nMinimize my radiation exposure.  Keep concrete buildings between me and the spreading radiation.  Travel upwind or perpendicular to the prevailing wind.\nGet as far away as my legs will carry me before stopping.\nMake sure my government then proceeds to destroy whoever is responsible for setting off the bomb.
780706
none, the 2 different bombs you are trying to get at are usually called atomic and hydrogen bombs\n\natomic (that was dropped over Japan 1946) is uncontrolled splitting (fission) of uranium whereas in the nuclear power reactors this is done slowly -- the reaction is controlled.\n\nhydrogen bomb was never tested over human population (only atoll Bikini) is a synthesis (fusion) of hydrogen into helium. This reaction produces the energy from the Sun and it is still in a research mode here on earth to get this reaction under control.\nIt would be much more effective source of energy than the nuclear one.
493742
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/bomb.html\nhttp://hydrogen.kiwiki.homeip.net/\nhttp://whyfiles.org/186ed_teller/3.html
256020
Kids bits in brackets :)\n\nAn atom bomb works by firing a proton/neutron (a little part of an atom) at a mass of uranium (nuclear material) the proton goes into the uranium and eventually hits and joins with an atom of uranium, that atom is now unstable (a bit like too many people on a ladder) so to make it self stable it loses some protons (some people fall off the ladder), usually 2 or 3 (that's the bit they call fission), these fire off and hit other atoms repeating the process in a chain. if the amount of uranium is small then a lot of the protons fly out of the uranium and do nothing, however if there is enough uranium the protons are contained in the mass and break up even more atoms, leading to a catastrophic chain reaction (KaaaaBOOOOOOM)!!! \n\n***Try shouting the last part it should get a few laughs :)\n\nPS. because the uranium lost more protons than was originally put into it as extra, it is no longer standard uranium, this is called a uranium isotope.\n\nbrubeck_take5 yeah I remember the ping-pong ball video... really cool, wouldn't mind seeing that again... gonna see if I can find it... let you know :)\n\nhere goes... thing the slow motion one is the best\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/trap_sideview_slow_high.wmv\n\nbut if you want to look at them all\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/mousetrap_reactor.html
955270
I won't do it for you, but here is what you need to do:\n\nFind the height at which the explosion occurs = h.\n\nFind the horizontal component of momentum at the instant before the explosion (which is actually the entire momentum, since there is no velocity in the vertical direction at that instant!) = Mtot x Vhoriz =m1 (Mtot is the entire shell).......(1)\n\nNow, the total momentum the instant after the explosion is:\n\n(M1 x 0) + (M2 x V2) .......(2)(since the large part of the shell stops travelling horizontally, and is already not travelling vertically) Where V2 is the horizontal velocity of the small part of the shell.\n\nSince momentum is conserved, these two quantities are equal, so:\n\nMtot x Vhoriz = M2 x V2, so you can calculate V2, the new horizontal velocity of the small part of the shell.\n\nNow, simply calculate the time taken for the shell to travel vertically to the ground using s = 1/2at^2, and from V2, you can calculate the horizontal distance travelleed by the small part of the shell...presto!
641828
500ft\nbut you still have to be careful of whats behind your target.
616386
There are many different measures for destructive ability.\n\nTypically this is measured in units of energy.  For bullets, they measure the kinetic energy of the bullet which is then given in Joules (a measure of energy).  For atomic bombs the common measure is kilo-tons which is a measure of energy as well that can be converted to Joules (just a whole lot of them).  A kilo-ton is about 4,200,000,000,000 Joules.  A .45 bullet has about 450 Joules.\n\nLasers also impart energy on their targets.  The measure is typically in megawatts.  A megawatt is 1,000,000 Joules per second that it is applied.\n\nThe number of Joules doesn't tell you quite enough though.  The reason is because a single Joule of energy well aimed, could kill a person, but if you go out running in the sun, you will receive thousands of Joules in a short period of time from the Sun (which is obviously not destroying you).\n\nThe amount of energy that it takes to heat a cup of coffee is considerably more than the amount of energy it takes to fire most bullets, yet you can safely drink the coffee and the energy contained (as heat) within it.
182942
It won't withstand a hit from a US bomb, but I don't think you asking for protection from US bombs, if you are my advice would be move to someplace they aren't bombing.
39526
Size: length - 3 meters, diameter - 0.7 meters. \nWeight: 4 tons. \nNuclear material: Uranium 235. \nEnergy released: equivalent to 12.5 kilotons of TNT. \nCode name: "Little Boy". ps it went off in hiroshima
946850
Most insects would not survive the actual explosion; the heat would just be too much. However certain insects, like cockroaches, are very resistant to radiation. They would survive the fall-out far better than more complex organisms.
347934
IF YOU DON'T BLOW UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD YOU'LL BE A MILLIONAIRE \nSERIOUSLY HOW MUCH RADIATION WOULD HAPPEN
1160742
Completely dependent on the megaton yield and geography, e.g., mountains reflecting the blast wave or shielding from the heat wave.\n\nSettle for Washington DC. Virtually no one in an area of about 40-65 square miles would survive.\n\nTo visualize the destructiveness of a nuclear bomb, imagine a powerful strategic nuclear weapon detonated above the Pentagon, a short distance from the center of Washington, D.C.  Imagine it is a "near-surface" burst--about 1,500 feet above the ground--which is how a military planner might choose to wreak blast damage on a massive structure like the Pentagon. Let us say that it is an ordinary, clear day with visibility at 10 miles, and that the weapon's explosive power is 300 kilotons--the approximate yield of most modern strategic nuclear weapons. This would be far more destructive than the 15-kiloton bomb detonated at Hiroshima or the 21-kiloton bomb detonated at Nagasaki. \n\nThe detonation of a 300-kiloton nuclear bomb would release an extraordinary amount of energy in an instant--about 300 trillion calories within about a millionth of a second. More than 95 percent of the energy initially released would be in the form of intense light. This light would be absorbed by the air around the weapon, superheating the air to very high temperatures and creating a ball of intense heat--a fireball. \n\nBecause this fireball would be so hot, it would expand rapidly. Almost all of the air that originally occupied the volume within and around the fireball would be compressed into a thin shell of superheated, glowing, high-pressure gas. This shell of gas would compress the surrounding air, forming a steeply fronted, luminous shockwave of enormous extent and power--the blast wave. \n\nBy the time the fireball approached its maximum size, it would be more than a mile in diameter. It would very briefly produce temperatures at its center of more than 200 million degrees Fahrenheit (about 100 million degrees Celsius)--about four to five times the temperature at the center of the sun.\n\nThis enormous release of light and heat would create an environment of almost unimaginable lethality. Vast amounts of thermal energy would ignite extensive fires over urban and suburban areas. In addition, the blast wave and high-speed winds would crush many structures and tear them apart. The blast wave would also boost the incidence and rate of fire-spread by exposing ignitable surfaces, releasing flammable materials, and dispersing burning materials. \n\nWithin minutes of a detonation, fire would be everywhere. Numerous fires and firebrands--burning materials that set more fires--would coalesce into a mass fire. (Scientists prefer this term to "firestorm," but I will use them interchangeably here.) This fire would engulf tens of square miles and begin to heat enormous volumes of air that would rise, while cool air from the fire's periphery would be pulled in. Within tens of minutes after the detonation, the pumping action from rising hot air would generate superheated ground winds of hurricane force, further intensifying the fire.\n\nVirtually no one in an area of about 40-65 square miles would survive.
610389
It's about the size of a suitcase!\nThey call it a suitcase nuke because it fits in a suitcase and it's about .300 kilotons, much much lighter and less powerful.