The Chicxulub impactor, which is believed to have caused the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs around 66 million years ago, is estimated to have had a diameter of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). The energy required to cause such an explosion would be immense.
The specific energy released during an impact depends on various factors, including the velocity of the impactor, its mass, and the composition of the object and the target. However, a commonly used estimation is the impact energy calculated using the kinetic energy equation:
E = (1/2) * m * v^2
Where: E is the kinetic energy m is the mass of the object v is the velocity of the object
Assuming a typical density for an asteroid of around 2,000 kg/m^3, the mass of the Chicxulub impactor can be estimated to be approximately 1.06 × 10^17 kilograms (106 trillion metric tons). The velocity of the impactor is estimated to have been around 20 kilometers per second (12 miles per second).
By plugging these values into the equation, the estimated kinetic energy of the Chicxulub impactor is approximately 1.43 × 10^23 joules, or 34 teratons of TNT equivalent. To put this into perspective, it is roughly 2 million times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated.
It's important to note that this estimation represents the kinetic energy of the impactor upon collision with the Earth's surface. The actual effects of the impact, including the release of additional energy due to heat, shockwaves, and the formation of a large crater, would have contributed to the overall destructive power and environmental consequences of the event.