Discussed Energy Values
1) Energy Content Of The Visible Universe
This is obviously the largest value of energy known, since it incorporates all of the energy that we can observe. This figure should not be confused with the “energy content of the whole Universe”, as only a certain amount of Universe is currently observable by scientists. The rest of the Universe is unseen by us because light from those enormous distances has yet to reach Earth. This means that the currently measured amount of energy in the Universe may be nowhere close to the total amount of energy that it truly contains. This particular figure is obviously an approximation, as very specific measurements are difficult to perform on objects as large as the Universe.
Value In Joules: 10 unvigintillion (1.00 x 1067)
Value In Megatons: 2.39 sexdecillion (2.39 x 51)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 159 sexdecillion (1.59 x 1053)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 75.8 octodecillion (7.58 x 1058)
2) Gravitational Binding Energy Of A Neutron Star
Neutron stars are extremely dense stellar objects that form when a star explodes as a supernova. During this process, the intense heat and pressure inside of the star causes the core to implode. The core, which was once made of dense plasma, now collapses into a much more dense form of matter consisting of neutrons. As the outside layers of the star are blown away, the collapsed core is revealed, which has shrunken to a diameter of around 10 miles or less. This is the neutron star.
Neutron stars have very intense gravitational fields, which gives them a very high “Gravitational Binding Energy” (GBE). The GBE is the amount of gravitational energy that holds an object such as a planet or star together, and therefore is also the amount of energy required to destroy that object. The GBE for a “typical” neutron star, with a diameter of about 6 miles and a mass that is 1.4 times greater than the Sun’s, is about 5.23 x 1046 joules.
It should be noted that this value is for a “typical” neutron star, which may be much different than some of the larger or smaller neutron stars that may exist. This value should be used as a rough guide only.
Value In Joules: 52.3 quathordecillion (5.23 x 1046)
Value In Megatons: 13.7 sextillion (1.37 x 1031)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 833 nonillion (8.33 x 1032)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 396 undecillion (3.96 x 1038)
3) Energy Output Of The Milky Way Galaxy In One Second
The galaxy most familiar to us is quite a spectacle in terms of energy production. Consisting of about 200 billion stars, the Milky Way is a fairly large spiral galaxy. The combined radiation output of these stars shows why the galaxy is such a big producer of power. Some of the energy also comes from supernovae, gamma ray bursts, and hot gas spiraling into black holes.
The luminosity of the Milky Way is about 4.00 x 1037 watts. This means that the Milky Way produces much more than enough energy in one second to vaporize the entire Earth.
Value In Joules: 40 undecillion (4.00 x 1037)
Value In Megatons: 9.56 sextillion (9.56 x 1022)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 638 sextillion(6.38 x 1023)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 303 octillion (3.03 x 1o29)
4) Gravitational Binding Energy Of The Earth
Science fiction has explored the possibility of destroying the Earth in numerous instances. This poses an obvious question: how much energy does it really take to destroy the Earth? To find this out, one must calculate the Earth’s “Gravitational Binding Energy” or “GBE”, which is the amount of gravitational energy that holds a planet together. Conversely, the GBE is also equal to the amount of energy released in the form of heat when a planet is formed.
At first thought, one would think that the GBE could be figured just by calculating how much energy it would take evaporate the planet. This is not the case. If one were to apply only enough heat energy to a planet to vaporize it, gravity would still hold the ball of gas together until it condensed back into a planetary body. Obviously, the planet would be greatly deformed and terrain would be radically different, but the planet would still remain. In order to permanently destroy a planet, one must apply so much heat energy to the planet that the resulting gas molecules travel faster than the escape velocity of that planet. This way, the planet would contain so much energy that gravity could not pull it back together.
It has been said that the Earth would be destroyed if all of the nuclear weapons in the world were detonated simultaneously. This statement has been taken out of context. The fact is that all life on Earth would be destroyed by these nuclear weapons, which would be caused by the radioactive fallout and not just the energy release of the weapons (actually, there are microbes that live miles within the Earth's crust, which may survive even this). All of the energy produced by these weapons doesn’t come anywhere close to the GBE of Earth.
Value In Joules: 240 nonillion (2.40 x 1032)
Value In Megatons: 57.4 quadrillion (5.74 x 1016)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 3.82 quintillion (3.82 x 1018)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 1.82 septillion (1.82 x 1024)
5) Energy Output Of The Sun In One Second
The Sun produces huge amounts of energy, only a small fraction of which actually reaches Earth. This energy is produced in the core of the Sun, where hydrogen fuses on the nuclear level to form helium and other heavier elements. This process is called nuclear fusion, and it is one of the most energetic mechanisms known to mankind. This energy heats up the Sun’s core to over 1 million degrees Fahrenheit which rips the electrons from the atoms present therein, producing a superheated “plasma”.
The amount of energy released by the Sun every second is approximately 3.845 x 1026 joules. This value will vary somewhat depending on the source from which the information is gathered, and is sometimes listed as 2.8 x 1026 or 4 x 1026 joules.
Value In Joules: 385 septillion (3.85 x 1026)
Value In Megatons: 92.1 billion (92.1 x 1010)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 6.14 trillion (6.14 x 1012)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 2.92 quintillion (2.92 x 1018)
6) Chicxulub Asteroid Impact
The most well-known theory formulated to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs is the Impact Theory. This theory proposes that a gigantic asteroid impacted the Earth, which released so much energy that a giant dust cloud enveloped the planet. This dust, which would have blocked out the Sun, would have killed many plants. The herbivorous dinosaurs would have died of starvation, and the carnivorous ones would soon follow.
A meteorite crater discovered off the coast of Mexico seems to be a good candidate for this lethal impact. This asteroid would have been 3.72 miles wide and would have impacted at a speed of 54,000 miles per hour. The energy released would be at least 100 million megatons, which is far greater than all of the nuclear weapons on the planet combined. Although this would have been sufficient to cause extinction, some scientists believe that a larger asteroid may have been involved, resulting in an explosion as large as 1 trillion megatons.
The exact energy released by the dinosaur-killing asteroid is under debate, but it can be safely assumed to be at least in the range of millions of megatons. How this figure was obtained is not given.
Value In Joules: 418 sextillion (4.18 x 1023)
Value In Megatons: 100 million (1.00 x 108)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 6.66 billion (6.66 x 109)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 3.17 quadrillion (3.17 x 1015)
7) Melting Of Mauna Loa
Perhaps one of the more gnawing questions on some of your minds is the energy requirement for destroying a mountain. This is somewhat difficult to calculate since mountains vary greatly in size and the definition of “destroy” is a somewhat blurry concept. For instance, when is a mountain “destroyed”? When it is sliced into two pieces? One thousand pieces? Pummeled to dust? In order to reconcile this question, it is probably best to consider a more definable concept, such as melting the mountain.
Melting a mountain requires more energy than breaking a mountain into tiny fragments, because melting it disrupts all of the intermolecular bonds in the mountain, whereas fragmentation only disrupts some. Since I was unable to locate information online about this, I was forced to perform the calculations myself. I used the largest mountain on Earth, Mauna Loa, as the subject for the calculations.
Mauna Loa is made mostly of basalt, so for simplicity’s sake, I assumed that the entire mountain is composed of this material. Since Mauna Loa has a volume of 9,600 cubic miles, and basalt has a density of about 3 g/cm3, then Mauna Loa weighs about 14 billion tons. Using various thermodynamic properties of basalt (specifically, its heat capacity, heat of fusion, and melting point), I was able to arrive at the approximate energy requirement for melting the mountain: 5,300 megatons. However, this should be taken as only approximate, since the specific heat capacity of a material changes as it's temperature rises.
Value In Joules: 22 quintillion (2.20 x 1019)
Value In Megatons: 5,300 (5.30 x 103)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 351,000 (3.51 x 105)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 167 billion (1.67 x 1011)
8) Krakatau Eruption Of 1883
Commonly referred to as “Krakatoa” in the modern age, this volcano produced a spectacular eruption that killed over 36,000 people. The eruption is often sighted as “the loudest sound in recorded history”. The explosion destroyed the majority of the volcanic island itself, and sent out a gigantic plume of volcanic ash. This ash is believed to have cooled the entire planet by a couple of degrees for several years.
Measuring the energy released by a volcano is very difficult. Many websites give a value of 100, 150 or 200 megatons for this eruption, while others give values as high as 5,000 megatons. The lower values probably encompass only the amount of thermal energy given by the largest eruption. The largest value of 5,000 megatons probably takes into account the total energy released by the entire volcanic scenario, including seismic, hydrothermal, and mechanical energy. Since volcanic eruptions are not contained phenomena with well-set parameters, the results of these calculations can only be taken as approximations.
Value In Joules: 20.9 quintillion (2.09 x 1019)
Value In Megatons: 5,000 (5.00 x 103)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 331,000 (3.31 x 105)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 159 billion (1.59 x 1011)
9) Mt. St. Helens Eruption Of 1980
The eruption at Mt. St. Helens is quite an infamous one. The enormous energy released caused the side of the mountain to collapse and fall away. The explosion killed thousands of animals and left nearby forests enveloped in layer of lifeless gray ash. Many websites list the eruption as producing only 24 megatons of energy, but this was most likely the amount of thermal energy produced by the largest explosion. The value encompassed here includes all of the energy released by the volcano that was associated with its eruption, such as seismic, hydrothermal, and mechanical energy.
Value In Joules: 1.9 quintillion (1.90 x 1018)
Value In Megatons: 454 (4.54 x 102)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 30,300 (3.03 x 104)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 14.4 billion (1.44 x 1010)
10) "Tsar Bomba" Nuclear Bomb
“Tsar Bomba” is the code name given to the most powerful weapon ever created by mankind. Developed and detonated by the former Soviet Union, this device had an original design yield of 100 megatons, though it was intentionally reduced to 50 megatons just before it was tested. The device was dropped from a Tu-95 aircraft at about 34,500 feet, and was detonated at about 13,000 feet above ground level. The enormous blast created a mushroom cloud that rose to a height of 210,000 feet, and a shockwave that circled the Earth 3 times.
Some U.S. sources listed the bomb as releasing 57 megatons, but the Soviet Union proclaimed it as being only 50 megatons. The weapon used a combination of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion to produce the titanic energy generated by the bomb.
Value In Joules: 209 quadrillion (2.09 x 1017)
Value In Megatons: 50 (5.00 x 102)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 3,300 (3.30 x 103)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 1.62 billion (1.62 x 109)
11) Energy Content Of 1 Kilogram Of Matter
If any scientific equation stands out in the mind of the world, it is E=mc2. This formula tells us that matter can be converted directly into energy, and it also tells us how much energy is present in matter. The equation is surprisingly simple to work out as well. The “E” represents the amount of energy, in joules, that is present in a given amount of matter. The “m” represents the mass of that particular piece of matter, in kilograms. The “c” is the speed of light, expressed in meters per second. Thus, we can calculate the amount of energy present in 1 kilogram, or any amount, of matter.
Since we are looking for the energy content of 1 kilogram of matter, we will let the value for “m” equal 1. The speed of light is 298 million meters per second. Squaring this gives us a value of 88.8 quadrillion. Multiplying 1 by 88.8 quadrillion, we can tell that 1 kilogram of matter contains 88.8 quadrillion joules of energy, or 21.2 megatons.
This energy is produced in its entirety when equal masses of matter and antimatter collide with one another. 1 kilogram of matter touching 1 kilogram of antimatter would thus yield an energy release of 178 quadrillion joules, or 42.4 megatons.
Value In Joules: 88.8 quadrillion (8.88 x 1016)
Value In Megatons: 21.2 (2.12 x 102)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 1,410 (1.41 x 103)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 673 million (6.73 x 108)
12) "Fatman" Nuclear Bomb
“Fatman” is the code name for the infamous atomic weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. This was the second of two nuclear devices used in World War II. This was the stronger of the two bombs, rated at 22 kilotons. Its explosive power was based on nuclear fission, much like its weaker partner “Little Boy”, although the mechanism by which the chain reaction was initiated was fundamentally different.
Value In Joules: 92.0 quadrillion (9.20 x 1013)
Value In Megatons: 22/1000 (2.20 x 10-2)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 1.50 (1.50 x 100)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 698 million (6.98 x 105)
13) "Little Boy" Nuclear Bomb
“Little Boy” is the code name for the infamous atomic weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. This was the first of two nuclear devices used in World War II. The bomb was deployed from a B-29 bomber and was detonated over 1,000 feet above the ground, sending a deadly shockwave throughout the city. “Little Boy” used uranium as its explosive material, which produced its energy via a nuclear fission reaction.
Many sources give slightly different figures, such as 10, 12 or 20 kilotons. These values do not deviate much from one another, and so an average figure of 15 kilotons seems satisfactory as a measurement of the bomb’s yield. The explosive power was probably figured by military scientists who worked on the device, and the exact method of calculation is most likely top secret.
Value In Joules: 62.8 quadrillion (6.28 x 1013)
Value In Megatons: 15/1000 (1.50 x 10-2)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 1.00 (1.00 x 100)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 476 million (4.76 x 105)
14) Typical Lightning Bolt
The power of a lightning bolt is awe-inspiring and potentially deadly. Each bolt varies greatly in shape and length, but each carries a surge of electronic energy that may equal or exceed a gigajoule. Interestingly, a lightning bolt’s power is not that great in comparison to other objects around you. For instance, the completely filled gas tank of some cars contains more energy than some lightning bolts. A typical bolt contains between 1 and 10 billion joules of energy. Taking an average of those two extremes, one comes to a middle ground of about 5 billion joules.
Value In Joules: 5 billion (5 x 109)
Value In Megatons: 12/10,000,000 (1.20 x 10-6)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 796/100,000,000 (7.96 x 10-6)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 37.9 (3.79 x 101)
15) Planck Energy
The Planck Energy is an important concept in quantum physics and is considered to be a fundamental unit of energy. The Planck Energy, by definition, is the amount of energy that a subatomic particle contains when its Compton Wavelength is equal to the Planck Length, which is theoretically the smallest length possible. This is an extraordinarily large amount of energy on the subatomic scale and particle accelerators have yet to produce a particle with this magnitude of energy. Understanding the properties of a subatomic particle that contains the Planck Energy is helpful in developing a Unified Field Theory which encompasses the realms of Quantum Theory and Relativity, although this too has evaded complete scientific understanding.
Value In Joules: 1.96 billion (1.96 x 109)
Value In Megatons: 468/1,000,000,000 (4.68 x 10-7)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 313/100,000,000 (3.13 x 10-6)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 14.8 (1.48 x 101)
16) Chemical Energy In 1 Gallon Of Gasoline
Gasoline is a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons and various additives that serve to smooth the combustion process. Alone, gasoline does not provide any energy, and therefore must be chemically reacted with air at high temperatures to produce power. As far as liquid chemicals go, gasoline provides a very large amount of energy during combustion. In fact, gasoline produces more energy when it is burned than an equivalent volume of TNT does during an explosion.
Value In Joules: 132 million (1.32 x 108)
Value In Megatons: 315/10,000,000,000 (3.15 x 10-8)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 21/10,000,000,000 (2.10 x 10-6)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 1 (1.00 x 100)
17) Electrical Energy In 1 AA Battery
Batteries use chemical reactions to produce electricity. As electrons travel from one molecule to another, they carry kinetic energy with them. Batteries are designed to tap into this source of energy and use it to generate an electric current. The strength of this current varies greatly depending on the size, design, and chemical composition of battery that is used. A very common type of battery is the relatively small “AA” that is used to power a variety of small electronic equipment.
As one would expect from such a small device, it does not contain very much energy. The energy content of a typical AA battery is about 1,000 joules. This is obviously an average value, as the exact energy content can be expected to vary depending on the brand of battery that is considered.
Value In Joules: 1,000 (1.00 x 103)
Value In Megatons: 239/1,000,000,000,000,000 (2.39 x 10-14)
Equivalent In "Little Boy" Bombs: 160/10,000,000,000,000 (1.60 x 10-11)
Equivalent In Gallons Of Gasoline: 758/100,000,000 (7.58 x 10-6)
Extra Information
18) Destroying The Universe
Perhaps the most “ultimate” question regarding energy is “how much energy is required to destroy the Universe?”. It’s an intriguing question, but getting the answer is incredibly difficult. For instance, one would have to know the true size of the Universe. Currently, it is believed that the Universe is several billion light-years across. However, this is the measured size of the visible Universe, which may, in fact, be a great deal smaller than the actual size the of the Universe. The Universe might potentially be infinitely large, in which case, no amount of energy could destroy it.
Another problem is the shape of the Universe. Although it is generally accepted that space-time is curved, the exact form and topology of the Universe is under much debate and we lack sufficient data to come to a final conclusion on this matter. This curvature of space-time could greatly affect the energy requirements for destroying the Universe, so information of this type is vital.
Perhaps the most problematic issue that arises from this question is the properties of space-time itself. How much energy would be required to destroy a given amount of space-time? Can space-time even be “destroyed”? So far as we can tell, the only affect that energy has on space-time is that it changes its curvature. The more energy there is, the more curved space-time becomes. It has been theoretically proposed that at high enough energy levels, space-time breaks down into a chaotic, bubbly state called “quantum foam”. However, the space-time technically isn’t “destroyed”, even at these energy levels.
Also, assuming that one can have enough energy to destroy the Universe, where would one get sufficient amounts of it? The Universe already contains all of the energy that exists, and it is not destroyed by this energy, so where would one get any extra energy? One could argue that extra energy exists in parallel universes, but this is unproven and ways of extracting this hypothetical energy have not been found.
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