You have probably read in history books about the atomic bombs used in World War II. You may also have seen fictional movies where nuclear weapons were launched or detonated (Fail Safe, Dr. Stragelove, The Day After, Teastament, Fat Man and Littel Boy, The Peace Maker, just to name a few). They're on TV, too -- Jack Bauer struggles to stop a nuclear bomb detonation on the TV show "24." In the news, while many countries have been negotiating to disarm their arsenals of nuclear weapons, other countries have been developing nuclear weapons programs.
We have seen that these devices have incredible destructive power, but how do they work? In this article, you will learn about the physics that makes a nuclear bomb so powerful, how nuclear bombs are designed and what happens after a nuclear explosion.
We have seen that these devices have incredible destructive power, but how do they work? In this article, you will learn about the physics that makes a nuclear bomb so powerful, how nuclear bombs are designed and what happens after a nuclear explosion.
Nuclear bombs involve the forces, strong and weak, that hold the nucleus of an atom together, especially atoms with unstable nuclei. There are two basic ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom:
Nuclear fission - You can split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron. This method usually involves isotopes of uranium (uranium-235, uranium-233) or plutonium-239.
Nuclear fusion -You can bring two smaller atoms, usually hydrogen or hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium), together to form a larger one (helium or helium isotopes); this is how the sun produces energy
In either process, fission or fusion, large amounts of heat energy and radiation are given off.
To build an atomic bomb, you need:
A source of fissionable or fusionable fuel
A triggering device
A way to allow the majority of fuel to fission or fuse before the explosion occurs (otherwise the bomb will fizzle out)
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