Sahara Desert question

[UglyKittyCat238]

What would be the attack potency if one can be able to reduce the entirety of the Sahara Desert into glass?

 

[Mephistus]

386400000 m^3 of sand

Density of sand is 1602 kg / m^3

1602 * 386400000 = 619012800000 kg

Specific Heat Capacity of sand is 830 j/kg

Starting Temperature (Let's go with ~80°C or 353.15 kelvin for really fairly conservative estimates for the end result)

Specific Heat Capacity of sand is 830 j/kg

Temperature needed to turn sand into glass is 1700 C or 1973.15 kelvin

Temperature change = 1973.15 - 353.15 = 1620 kelvin

Energy = 619012800000 * 830 * 1620 = 8.32324611E17 joules / 198 megatons of TNT / 7-A tier

Granted an explosion would need to do a lot more than that due to area and all, but this would be minimal, unless you can more readily interpret there to be like a boom to glass from like the epicenter or something since no more context here I can use (which maybe the feat you are referencing fits that description better lol)

 

[Sus]

Why is starting temperature 80 instead of the average temperature in the sahara?

 

[Mephistus]

What is the temperature difference between the sand at the surface of the Sahara desert and that of the sand a few feet below it?

Jozef Mitros's answer: It depends where. Area of the Sahara desert is huge, 9,200,000 square kilometers (3,600,000 sq mi). The highest sand surface temperature can easily reach 80°C or 176°F or more while a few feet below the surface could be 25°C or 77°F. Therefore the temperature difference cou...

www.quora.com

 

[Sus]

Oh, okay

Using the maximum surface temperature for a lowball isn't bad

 

[ElajRuengies]

386400000 m^3 of sand

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than 386.4 million cubic meters of sand in the Sahara.
The Sahara has a surface area of about 9.2 million km2, or 9.2 trillion m3, but only about 25% of the Sahara is actual sand and dunes. Multiple that by the average depth 9.2 trillion * 0.25 * 42 m average depth = 96.6 trillion cubic meters.

So the end result should be (96.6 tril / 486.4 mil) about ~200,000 times higher.

Density of sand is 1602 kg / m^3

1602 * 386400000 = 619012800000 kg

Specific Heat Capacity of sand is 830 j/kg

Starting Temperature (Let's go with ~80°C or 353.15 kelvin for really fairly conservative estimates for the end result)

Specific Heat Capacity of sand is 830 j/kg

Temperature needed to turn sand into glass is 1700 C or 1973.15 kelvin

Temperature change = 1973.15 - 353.15 = 1620 kelvin

Energy = 619012800000 * 830 * 1620 = 8.32324611E17 joules / 198 megatons of TNT / 7-A tier

198 MT * 200000 = 39.6 Teratons, or Country level / 6-B

 

[UglyKittyCat238]

I'm pretty sure there's a lot more than 386.4 million cubic meters of sand in the Sahara.
The Sahara has a surface area of about 9.2 million km2, or 9.2 trillion m3, but only about 25% of the Sahara is actual sand and dunes. Multiple that by the average depth 9.2 trillion * 0.25 * 42 m average depth = 96.6 trillion cubic meters.

So the end result should be (96.6 tril / 486.4 mil) about ~200,000 times higher.

198 MT * 200000 = 39.6 Teratons, or Country level / 6-B

Thanks. Let's say they both turn the Sahara into glass and evaporate the Mediterranean in a single attack. What would be the attack potency then?

 

[ElajRuengies]

Thanks. Let's say they both turn the Sahara into glass and evaporate the Mediterranean in a single attack. What would be the attack potency then?

Previous result, plus vaporization of Water (~2575 j/cm3) * volume of Mediterranean Sea (4.39 million km3) (that's about 45.5 times the volume of all the sand in the Sahara- while the Sahara's larger in surface area the Mediterranean Sea is much deeper than the sand)

Or 2575 * 10^6 cm3/m3 * 10^9 m3/km3 * 4390000 km3 = ~11.3 septillion joules, or ~2.7 Petatons (Continent level/6-A), which utterly dwarfs glassing the Sahara in terms of energy

 

[UglyKittyCat238]

Previous result, plus vaporization of Water (~2575 j/cm3) * volume of Mediterranean Sea (4.39 million km3) (that's about 45.5 times the volume of all the sand in the Sahara- while the Sahara's larger in surface area the Mediterranean Sea is much deeper than the sand)

Or 2575 * 10^6 cm3/m3 * 10^9 m3/km3 * 4390000 km3 = ~11.3 septillion joules, or ~2.7 Petatons (Continent level/6-A), which utterly dwarfs glassing the Sahara in terms of energy

And is that both the Sahara and Mediterranean or just the Mediterranean?

 

[UglyKittyCat238]

Previous result, plus vaporization of Water (~2575 j/cm3) * volume of Mediterranean Sea (4.39 million km3) (that's about 45.5 times the volume of all the sand in the Sahara- while the Sahara's larger in surface area the Mediterranean Sea is much deeper than the sand)

Or 2575 * 10^6 cm3/m3 * 10^9 m3/km3 * 4390000 km3 = ~11.3 septillion joules, or ~2.7 Petatons (Continent level/6-A), which utterly dwarfs glassing the Sahara in terms of energy

Thanks. Nvm the last question. Figured it was both.

 

[Mephistus]

only about 25% of the Sahara is actual sand and dunes

Wow

Also not positive on that depth, some sources site 100 meter as a better average, but i suppose thats safer