Embedded Files
On this page, you will find all the data sets used in the videos of the explosion series,
to compare with your research, to use in your lectures, or to simply play with.
Our exploration of the physics of explosions starts with Trinity, the first nuclear test of July 16th 1945. Throughout the series we periodically come back to this example, enriching the description of this historic explosion by progressively adding layers of measurements. This recurring example is described in more detail on its own page.
Our collection of explosions
Our collection of explosions
In addition to Trinity the videos of the explosion series use a number of data sets illustrating explosions from tiny laser-induced blasts to conventional and nuclear explosions.
Each tab of the spreadsheet is associated with an explosion, except for the last tab labelled "PARAMETERS", which summarizes the parameters for each explosion and computes a number of associated quantities discussed in the episodes of the series.
"Bare index" (see Episode 6)
If only an upper bound is available for the mass m, then this index is an lower bound (hollow symbols in plots).
Index (see Episode 6)
The speed of the shock wave in the far field is taken to be exactly the sound speed (Σ/ρ)^1/2. However, the initial speed when it can be measured may be different from (E/m)^1/2 (see Episode 5), the deviation being given by the dimensionless constant delta_Em.
Also included are the initial Mach number (N^1/2) and radix (N^1/6).
Prefactor of Taylor's regime (reduced explosivity - see Episode 3)
Value obtained by fitting the data for the time range abiding to the 2/5 scaling law between the radius and the time.
Reduced Taylor-Sedov constant
Dimensionless constant giving the agreement between the fitted prefactor K and the mechanical ratio of Taylor's regime.
Initial speed (see Episode 5)
If data are available for the initial regime before Taylor's range, then this speed is obtained by a linear fit of the radius evolution. If no data are available but a reliable mass m is provided, then the speed is estimated from the ratio of energy and mass, assuming delta_Em=1 (noted by the symbol #). If no data are available and no reliable value of ejected mass m, then the value provided for the initial speed is a lower bound based on the upper bound of the mass inferred by the earliest data point abiding to Taylor's regime (noted by the symbol >). In that case delta_Em is set to 1 by default.
Dimensionless constant of the initial regime (see Episode 5)
Dimensionless constant giving the agreement between the fitted initial speed c0 and the mechanical ratio of energy and mass. When a value of mass is not available and/or when a fit of the initial speed is not possible, the value of delta is set to 1 by default.
Values of the characteristic lengths and times of the initial and late crossovers (Episodes 4 and 5)
The bare values consider all dimensionless prefactors (the deltas) to be equal to 1. The actual values (denoted with a superscript star) take into account the dimensionless constants. (We will discuss all of this in future videos beyond the explosion series).
A minority of the data sets curated on this page were obtained from tables provided in the original papers. In these cases, the precision of the measurements is that provided by the authors. All the other data sets were obtained by extraction from published figures. In these cases, the precision is set by the size of the symbols. If you are looking for data with higher precision, please contact the authors of the original studies.
If you use the data sets curated here, please cite the original papers with a disclaimer that the data extraction done by us may have slightly altered the measurements.
Please contact us to suggest additional data sets within the explosion domain, or to validate or challenge the ones we have used in the explosion series. All data sets in the spreadsheet above correspond to detonations but we would love to add data on deflagrations (see Episode 6).
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