Is atomic bomb and nuclear bomb the same?

Answer 1

No, I don't believe so anyway. You see, an Atomic Bomb has an explosion made of the ripping of atoms whereas a nuclear bomb is either a Fission or Fusion reaction(fission=the splitting of molecules/fusion=the joining of atoms to create molecules)Ex. The sun is a giant nuclear explosion/reaction when the atoms of Uranium molecules separate to make a fission reaction and those same atoms join with other atoms to make a fusion reaction and recreating molecules to procede to the fission stage where the process is redone again and again and... etc.

Fun Fact: Only two atomic bombs have been dropped one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki No nuclear bombs have ever been dropped in war.

-Zazzer acc;)

The above is one of the most confused explanations/understandings I have ever seen. For one thing "ripping of atoms" is confused, it really is just a way of saying fission yet its use implies something different from and probably weaker than fission is happening. Molecules are not involved here either, only atomic nuclei (this is a serious confounding of chemical reactions and nuclear reactions, which happen in entirely different parts of atoms and involve about three orders of magnitude difference in energy). Another thing the reaction in the sun does not involve uranium, the sun (as any star) only operates on fusion and at its current stage of life can only fuse hydrogen into helium. There is no such thing as a fission-fusion... and repeat cycle in any star. No star can ever produce elements large enough and heavy enough to fission, only supernova explosions are powerful enough to do that. The two Fission bombs dropped on Japan in the war could equally validly be called Atomic bombs or Nuclear bombs.

Atomic and Nuclear are basically interchangeable terms in this area. Both refer to energy obtained from the binding energy of atomic nuclei.

There are two types of reactions involved:

• Fission - breaking of large heavy atomic nuclei into smaller lighter ones.
• Fusion - combining of small light atomic nuclei into larger heavier ones.

From the 1945 Trinity test through 1951 all atomic/nuclear bombs were Fission bombs. After the 1952 Ivy Mike test, atomic/nuclear bombs could be Fusion bombs. However a Fusion bomb is very complex, needing at minimum:

1. A Fission bomb trigger stage to generate x-rays to drive the implosion of the Fusion stage.
2. A rod shaped Fission bomb "sparkplug" the length of the Fusion stage to ignite fusion at maximum compression of the Fusion stage.
3. A cylindrical Fusion bomb stage.
4. A cylindrical metal tamper around the bomb to hold it together for a few extra microseconds, to keep the reaction going and get a good yield. (Note: this tamper is usually made of depleted uranium because of its high density. however a depleted uranium tamper is able to absorb the high energy fusion neutrons and fission, making it responsible for about 90% of the yield and fallout of such bombs.)

Therefor a typical Fusion bomb is really a fission-fission-fusion-fission bomb.

Most modern Fusion bombs improve the efficiency of and miniaturize the fission trigger by using a hollow core deuterium/tritium gas fusion booster design. A Fusion bomb designed this way is really a fission/fusion-fission-fusion-fission bomb.

All currently operating atomic/nuclear reactors are Fission reactors. Work has been going on since the early 1950s to make a Fusion reactor (as it should be cleaner and its fuel is more available), but none has reached "breakeven" (ability to generate enough energy to operate itself) let alone generate enough excess energy to operate as a powerplant.

BTW, the "Fun Fact" is also completely false and confused. Many many atomic bombs have been dropped from airplanes or fired as missile warheads, beginning in 1945 and ending in either 1961 or 1962. The two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were thee only ones actually used in war.

Please excuse my "micro-thesis" on the subject, but there were so many things needing correction and/or clarification.

Answer 2

Yes, the terms "atomic bomb" and "nuclear bomb" are often used interchangeably to refer to a type of weapon that releases energy from nuclear reactions. An atomic bomb specifically refers to a bomb that uses fission reactions to generate explosive energy, while a nuclear bomb can also refer to other types of nuclear weapons like fusion bombs.