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The critical mass of plutonium is lower, plutonium is not so expensive as highly enriched uranium, the technology to obtain plutonium is more simple than the isotopic separa-tion of uranium, etc.

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What 2 radioactive elements were chosen for the atomic bomb?

Uranium-235 and plutonium-239 were the two radioactive elements chosen for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.


How many kilograms of Uranium-238 did the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki each contain?

None. The first atomic bomb was made with enriched uranium. Note: There is a "slight technicality" with this one. Here's the deal. Any time that a small quantity (or a slightly larger quantity) of uranium is found, either in nature or in the physics lab, there will be a tiny bit of plutonium in the sample. Only the tiniest bit, but it will be there. Uranium's isotopes are all unstable, and they will decay by spontaneous fission or alpha emission. Within that decay environment, a few atoms of uranium are transformed into atoms of plutonium. As stated, it's a "technicality" as such, but it's a fact.


Which type of fissionable material is used in an atomic bomb?

Either highly enriched uranium-235 or reactor produced plutonium.


Does a hydrogen bomb contain uranium?

Yes, a Thermonuclear Weapon (or Hydrogen Bomb) contains a core of Plutonium-239 and Uranium-235. A hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear fusion device) is triggered by a conventional thermonuclear fission bomb, and therefore has a core of fissionable materials such as U-235 and Pu-239. The fission device acting as a trigger is in turn triggered by conventional chemical explosives.


Is plutonium as dense as the element uranium?

The density of uranium is 19,1 g/cm3. The density of plutonium is 19,816 g/cm3.