Convert TNT equivalent and Joules

Explosive power calculator, converts the energy of explosions in mass TNT and (mega-, giga-, ...) joules. The TNT equivalent is a common measure of the energy released in an explosion, even if no TNT was involved. 1 kilogram of TNT releases 4.184 megajoules (4.184 * 10^6 joules). TNT is used here as a standard explosive, this was the first "save" explosive.
Please enter one value and select the units. J stands for joules, g for grams and t for tons. The other letters are prefixes, like k for kilo and M for mega. The exponential values refer to joules or kilograms.

Energy:		mJ, 10^-3JkJ, 10^3MJ, 10^6GJ, 10^9TJ, 10^12PJ, 10^15EJ, 10^18ZJ, 10^21
TNT equivalent:		μg, 10^-9mg, 10^-6g, 10^-3kgt, 10^3kt, 10^6Mt, 10^9Gt, 10^12Tt, 10^15

Round to   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15   decimal places.

Examples:
1. The largest man-made explosion, a 1954 Soviet hydrogen bomb, had about 50 megatons (Mt) of TNT equivalent, releasing an energy of 209 petajoules (PJ, 10^15 J).
2. The asteroid impact that sealed the end of dinosaurs 66 million years ago is estimated at 3*10^23 (=300*10^21) joules. This equates to 71.7 teratons, or trillion tons of TNT.

The TNT equivalent is a measure of explosions, or more precisely of the energy released in an explosion. It is often mentioned in connection with large detonations, but is of course also applicable to smaller ones. Fireworks have an explosive force of less than one gram of TNT.
TNT, trinitrotoluene, which is widely used due to its safe use and low price, has a medium to high explosive force for explosives. Black powder has less than half the explosive force, some very special substances achieve higher values, up to more than twice. The well-known plastic explosive Semtex has 1.6 times the explosive force of TNT, so 10 grams of Semtex produce the same size of detonation as 16 grams of TNT.
Many flammable materials, such as wax or wood, have much higher energy densities. The energy from these is just released much slower.

Last updated on 06/30/2025. Author: Jürgen Kummer

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