What energy transformations occur when a nuclear bomb explodes?

Answer 1

1, 2, 3, boom!The first energy transformation is chemical in nature. High explosive of some type is detonated to push to pieces of either enriched uranium or plutonium together very rapidly. The high explosive is actually burned in fraction of a second, just as gasoline burns very radidly in a car engine.

The next energy transformation occurs when the two pieces of fissionable material rush towards each other. The atomic particles emited by each piece cause more particles to be knocked loose from both pieces, resulting in a 'chain reaction', where so many particles are emitted that the process is self-sustaining. As the number of nuetrons knocked loose increases, very high temperatures are acheived. Very quickly, all available nuetrons are separated from the atoms of the fissionable material, resulting in a brief period of temperatures of millions of degrees Celsius. This is what is called an atom bomb, or a fission bomb, and is the kind of weapon used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War Two.

A thermonuclear, or hydrogen, bomb, incorporates the above steps, but continues the procss into nuclear fusion, where hydrogen atoms are hurled together at such velocities that they fuse into helium atoms, and, at the same time, release huge amounts of energy. Temperatures reach hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius for a fraction of a second, in a fireball which expands rapidly, cooling as it does so.

So, chemical compounds are burned rapidly, resulting in high temperatures and pressures, which trigger a fission reaction, where atoms of fissionable material actually desintegrate in a flash of temperatures high enough to permit hydrogen to fuse with itself, releasing even higher temperatures. Thus, there are three entirely separate and distinct energy transformations when a thermonuclear weapon is detonated.

Answer 2

When a nuclear bomb explodes, nuclear potential energy is converted to kinetic energy as the atoms split. This kinetic energy is then transformed into thermal and radiant energy in the form of intense heat and light. Finally, some of the energy is released as shock waves, which carry away mechanical energy.