Relative effectiveness factor

Relative effectiveness factor (R.E. factor) is a measurement of an explosive's power for military demolitions purposes. It is used to compare an explosives effectiveness relative to TNT by weight only. This is so engineers can substitute one explosive for another when they are figuring out blasting equations that are designed for TNT. For example, If a timber cutting charge requires 1 kg of TNT to work, it would take 0.6 kg of PETN or 2.4 kg of ammonium nitrate to have the same effect.

Some examples of RE factors include


 * Ammonium nitrate = 0.42
 * Black powder = 0.55
 * TNT = 1.00
 * C-4 = 1.34
 * Nitroglycerin = 1.50
 * RDX = 1.60
 * PETN = 1.66
 * Semtex = 1.66
 * HMX = 1.70
 * Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane = 2.04
 * Octanitrocubane = 2.7