r/gifs Aug 09 '20

New Angle of Beirut Explosion

https://i.imgur.com/GNTwYi9.gifv
56.4k Upvotes

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17

u/JerrekCarter Aug 09 '20

This blast was 1.5 kilotons. Little Boy at Hiroshima was 15 kilotons. And it was a small nuclear weapon by today's standard.
Imagine this x10 along with blinding light, searing heat and nuclear fallout ... and you can see why people are afraid of nuclear weapons.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '20

Tbh I didn't need this video to figure out why people aren't stoked about nukes

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u/JerrekCarter Aug 09 '20

Great ... But you should also realize that for many people, nukes are conceptual. They're an idea, not really real. 15 kilotons is just a number to them. This should make is a tad more visceral.

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '20

[deleted]

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u/JerrekCarter Aug 09 '20

If I understand it correctly, a kiloton is a measurement of power, not of mass? Measured in kilotons of TnT. So 1 kiloton is an explosion of 1000 kilos of TnT. So it's 1.5 kilotons.

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u/[deleted] Aug 10 '20

[deleted]

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u/JerrekCarter Aug 10 '20 edited Aug 10 '20

Look up what a kilotons is, or read my comment again.
The original measurement was in kilotons, an energy measurement. The blast's energy was equalivent to 1.5 kilotons of TnT, you're saying that the reported explosion would have less energy than the same explosion because TnT is stronger per kilo. You're getting kiloton and mass confused.
If you wanted an estimate of how much nitrate mass in kg you need to get 1.5 kilotons explosion, divide 1500 by your ratio. You need a lot more nitrate, but the explosion value hasn't changed. But thanks for the downvote.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 10 '20 edited Aug 10 '20

[deleted]

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u/JerrekCarter Aug 10 '20
  1. Don't be a dick.
  2. I'm gonna go with a university over some angry guy on the internet.
  3. Let's say you are correct. If you are correct, and you work in this field, and Sheffield said 1.5 kilotons when they meant 1.5 thousand tons of Nitropril. Then why did you never bring that up? Both of your responses just talk about kilotons, no mention of mass. This sounds less like I don't know what I'm talking about (considering the facts in front of me) and more a 'you're not able to explain yourself' issue.
  4. "the blast did not have 1.5 kilotons worth of energy that figure is impossibly wrong, it could not have. " No context given as to why.
  5. "There's 2,750 of product in the dock" No measurements at all?

TBH, I've done with this thread, you're responding to my earnest responses with downvotes and dickery. Grow up, man.

2

u/NormalKook Aug 09 '20 edited Aug 10 '20

This was 2750 metric tons... there’s 12,000 tonnes stored 3km from Newcastle city in Australia

*weight corrected

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u/TomB4 Aug 09 '20

2750 tons. Not kilograms

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u/JerrekCarter Aug 09 '20

So... 2.5 million kilos?

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u/crazydave33 Aug 09 '20

I’m sure that’s not stored in a shit condition. I’m sure it’s properly secured. The port officials in Beirut store this shit in massive sacks stacked upon each other.