Terajoule facts for kids

The terajoule (TJ) is a huge unit of energy. It's equal to one trillion (1,000,000,000,000) joules! To give you an idea, 1 TJ is about 0.278 gigawatt-hours (GWh), which is often used when talking about large amounts of energy.

What is a Terajoule?

A terajoule is a way to measure very large amounts of energy. Imagine a joule as a tiny amount of energy, like the energy needed to lift a small apple one meter. A terajoule is a trillion of those tiny joules! It helps scientists and engineers talk about the energy in big events or objects without using super long numbers.

Real-World Examples of Terajoules

Terajoules help us understand the energy involved in powerful events. Here are a few examples:

Energy from a Historic Event

• About 63 TJ of energy was released by the atomic bomb that exploded over Hiroshima during World War II. This shows how much energy can be packed into a single event.

Energy in Space

• The International Space Station (ISS) is a massive spacecraft orbiting Earth. It weighs about 450 megagrams (which is 450,000 kilograms!). It moves incredibly fast, at about 7.7 kilometers per second. Because of its huge mass and speed, its kinetic energy (the energy of motion) is roughly 13 TJ.

Energy in Nature

• In 2017, Hurricane Irma was a very powerful storm. At its strongest, its peak wind energy was estimated to be around 112 TJ. This gives you an idea of the immense power that natural events like hurricanes can have.