19 May
2016
19 May
'16
8:09 p.m.
Nuts! I think I'm off by a factor of 1,000, so the compression ratio is a far more interesting 3,400:1. 15000/4.4 = 3409. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNT_equivalent At 06:52 PM 5/19/2016, Henry Baker wrote:
To a zeroth order approximation, the output of Little Boy was less than or similar to the energy cost of its HEU separation, so Little Boy merely enabled a WWII airplane to carry 15,000 kg of TNT in a 4,400 kg bag. This is a "compression ratio" of only 3.4:1. (I hope I got my units right!)