Useful Tables

Section 12.0 Useful Tables

Nuclear Weapons Frequently Asked Questions

Version 2.03: 17 May 2006

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12.0 Useful Tables

CONVERSION FACTORS

Unit              Equivalent To

1 kt              10^12 calories

                  4.19x10^12 joules

                  4.19x10^19 ergs

                  2.62x10^31 eV

                  2.62x10^25 MeV

                  fission of 0.241 moles of material (1.45x10^23 nuclei)

                  fission of approx. 57 g of material

                  1.16x10^6 kilowatt-hrs

                  3.97x10^9 BTU

1 eV              1.602177 x 10^-12 erg

                  11606 degree K

1 Bar             10^5 pascals (nt/m^2)

                  10^6 dyne/cm^2

                  0.98687 atmospheres

                  14.5038 PSI

1 calorie         4.1868 J

Convenient Energy Content Approximations

Fission of U-233:  17.8 kt/kg

Fission of U-235:  17.6 kt/kg

Fission of Pu-239: 17.3 kt/kg

Fusion of pure deuterium: 82.2 kt/kg

Fusion of tritium and deuterium (50/50): 80.4 kt/kg

Fusion of lithium-6 deuteride: 64.0 kt/kg

Fusion of lithium-7 deuteride

Total conversion of matter to energy: 21.47 Mt/kg

Fission of 1.11 g U-235: 1 megawatt-day (thermal)

IMPORTANT UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

Quantity Measured           Unit      Symbol  Formula

Microscopic Cross Section   Barn       b      10^-24 cm^2

Radioactivity               Becquerel  Bq     1 decay/sec

                            Curie      Ci     3.7x10^10 decay/sec

Absorbed Radiation Dose     Gray       Gy     1 J/Kg

                            Rad        None   100 erg/g (.01 J/Kg)

Biological Equivalent Dose  Sievert    Sv     Grays*Q

                            Rem        None   Rads*RBE

Absorbed Gamma/X-Ray Dose   Roentgen   R      94 erg/g

Immediate Explosive Energy  Kiloton    kt     10^12 calories

Radiation Biological Effect None       RBE

Radiation Quality Factor    None       Q

Pressure                    Bar        None   10^5 pascals (nt/m^2)

PHYSICAL CONSTANTS

[All constants are exact to the precision given]

Quantity                    Symbol    Value            Unit

Speed of Light in Vacuum      c     2.99792458 x 10^10 cm/sec

Planck Constant               h     6.62608 x 10^-27   erg-sec

Avogadro Constant            N_A    6.02214 x 10^23    atom/mole

Molar Gas Constant            R     8.3145 x 10^7      erg/(mole K)

Boltzmann Constant            k     1.3806 x 10^-16    erg/K

Stefan-Boltzmann Constant   sigma   5.670 x 10^-5      erg/cm^2 K^4 sec

Perfect Gas Standard Volume  V_0    2.2414 x 10^5      cm^3

Atomic Mass Constant         m_0    1.66054 x 10^-24   g

                             m_0    9.31494 x 10^8     eV