What Would A 55 Megaton H Bomb Do

How much damage would a 50 megaton bomb actually do?

A 50MT Hydrogen bomb was detonated by Russians called Tsar Bomba or Mother of all Bombs.The details of what would happen in such an explosion would closely follow what happened in Tsar Bomba test. I am quoting wikipedia here, Although simplistic fireball calculations predicted the fireball would impact the ground, the bomb's own shock wave reflected back and prevented this. The fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release  plane and was seen almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from ground zero.  The subsequent mushroom cloud was about 64 kilometres (40 mi) high (over seven times the height of Mount Everest), which meant that the cloud was above the stratosphere and well inside the mesosphere when it peaked. The base of the cloud was 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide. All buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick), located 55 kilometres (34 mi) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range, were destroyed. In districts hundreds of kilometers from  ground zero wooden houses were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs,  windows and doors; and radio communications were interrupted for almost  one hour. One participant in the test saw a bright flash through dark  goggles and felt the effects of a thermal pulse even at a distance of  270 kilometres (170 mi). The heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns 100 km (62 mi) away from ground zero. A shock wave was observed in the air at Dikson settlement 700 kilometres (430 mi) away; windowpanes were partially broken to distances of 900 kilometres (560 mi). Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows in Norway and Finland. The seismic shock created by the detonation was measurable even on its third passage around the Earth. Its seismic body wave magnitude was about 5 to 5.25.[8] The energy yield was around 8.1 on the Richter scale but, since the bomb was detonated in air rather than underground, most  of the energy was not converted to seismic waves. The TNT equivalent of  the 50 Mt test could be represented by a cube of TNT 312 meters (1023  feet) on a side, approximately the height of the Eiffel Tower.The blast radius of Tsar Bomba is so large that entire Paris would have been 'totally destroyed'.Here is a footage of the explosion

What would happen if a 1000 megaton nuclear bomb was dropped on NYC? How big would the blast radius be?

The largest nuclear weapon ever detonated was the 57—that’s “fifty-seven”—megaton “Tsar Bomba”, a massive Russian hydrogen bomb (fission-fusion-fission device) that was set off in 1961. One megaton equals one million tons of the conventional explosive, TNT.Mushroom Cloud from the Tsar Bomba, 30 October 1961, From a Distance of 100 Miles. This is Probably a Still Frame from the Footage Shown Below.Actual Video Footage of the Tsar Bomba Explosion, Along w/ Part of a History Channel Documentary. Courtesyof YouTube.Various articles on the subject state that the blast caused “total destruction” for a radius of 15 miles, with third degree burns suffered if you were 62 miles away. According to the Wikipedia entry about this weapon, it was so powerful that just one of them would have been enough to completely destroy the city of Paris, along with numerous other population centers in the region.Total Destruction Radius of the Tsar Bomba Superimposed on a Satellite Photo of Paris, France. Courtesy of Wikipedia.Tsar Bomba - WikipediaKeep in mind, we are talking about a 57 megaton bomb—-which, by the way, was capable of nearly twice the firepower demonstrated in its only test; the design originally called for a U-238 “tamper” that would have nearly doubled the blast yield.You are asking about an explosion that would be nearly ten times larger than even the Russian behemoth at its full power as designed. The destruction from such an event is difficult to imagine, but I would say that the following comparison is of some use:The Terrifying True Scale of Nuclear Weapons. Courtesy of YouTube.

What if we detonated a 1 geopton bomb? How much would be destroyed?

The biggest bomb even detonated was 52 megatons, its design was for 104 megatons but was restricted when demonstrated to allow the bomber carrying it to escape the blast.Although simplistic fireball calculations predicted the fireball would hit the ground, the bomb's own shock wave reflected back and prevented this.The fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane and was visible at almost 1,000 km (620 mi) away from where it ascended. The mushroom cloud was about 64 km (40 mi) high (over seven times the height of Mount Everest). The cap of the mushroom cloud had a peak width of 95 km (59 mi) and its base was 40 km (25 mi) wide.All buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick), located 55 km (34 mi) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range, were destroyed. In districts hundreds of kilometers from ground zero wooden houses were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs, windows, doors, and radio communications were interrupted for almost one hour. One participant in the test saw a bright flash through dark goggles and felt the effects of a thermal pulse even at a distance of 270 kilometres (170 mi). The heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns 100 km (62 mi) away from ground zero. A shock wave was observed in the air at Dikson settlement 700 km (430 mi) away; windowpanes were partially broken to distances of 900 kilometres (560 mi).Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows in Norway and Finland. Despite being detonated 4.2 km above ground, its seismic body wave magnitude was estimated at 5–5.25.Sensors continued to identify the shockwaves after their third trip around the world.And thats with only 52 megatons, Weapons of that size are basically non useable, most weapons these days are 200 to 300 kilotons or smaller.