Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear reactions that occur in nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors are not chemical reactions, strictly speaking. Chemical reactions involve the formation and breaking of bonds through the sharing of electrons which are outside of the nucleus, while nuclear reactions involve the formation breaking of atomic nuclei. Keep that distinction in mind as you read this answer.

Hydrogen bombs fuse two nuclei to form a new nucleus. Atomic nuclei are composed of two types of smaller parts, called protons and neutrons. A hydrogen atom composed of one proton and one neutron are smashed into another hydrogen atom composed of one proton and two neutrons. A new atom is formed, a helium atom with two protons and two neutrons. The extra neutron flies away as well.

It turns out that this new nucleus and the extra neutron have less energy than the two starting hydrogen atoms. The extra energy is released as heat and light. This amount of energy is rather large (as far as the atomic scale is concerned), and when a very large number of these nuclear reactions occur, as in a hydrogen bomb, the total amount of energy can be enormous.

The "h" in "h-bomb" stands for "hydrogen." The hydrogen bomb is a type of nuclear weapon that uses nuclear fusion to release energy.

About the same number of square miles as the island of Eugelab in Eniwetok atoll in the pacific used to have. In 1952 it turned from a coral island to a crater in the Ivy Mike 10 megaton test shot.

Nuclear weapons are made by the process of nuclear fission or fusion. This involves splitting or combining atomic nuclei to release an enormous amount of energy. The materials needed for nuclear weapons, such as uranium or plutonium, are obtained through the enrichment process.

The source of the energy. In nuclear weapons it comes from the nucleus of the atoms, in conventional weapons it comes from the electrons orbiting the atoms.

Or, another way to say it is that nuclear weapons depend on release of sub-atomic energy while conventional explosives rely on chemical energy. In a conventional explosive, the energy comes from breaking the bonds of complex multi-atom molecules, taking one complex molecule and turning it into several smaller, simple molecules. In a nuclear weapon, the bonds holding individual neutrons and protons together inside a single atom's nucleus are broken or changed, resulting in a whole new atom (or several new atoms). Nuclear fission takes a single, large atom and breaks it into two smaller atoms (plus several neutrons). Nuclear fusion takes two very small atoms and creates a slightly larger atom (plus a free neutron or proton).

The differences is that the bonds between atoms in a molecule are much, much weaker than the bonds between subatomic particles. Several thousand times, in fact, so breaking just one sub-atomic bond results in the same amount of energy released as from breaking thousands of molecular bonds.

Besides the difference in energy source, a chemical weapon really only produces two effects: a blast wave and a thermal wave. A nuclear weapon, however, produces four effects: blast wave, thermal wave, "pure" radiation (gamma/X-Rays, etc., plus the associated EMP), and radioactive by-products.

Nuclear weapons are used primarily as a defensive threat. Basically saying "you can't attack us, because if you do, we'll turn you into a radioactive hole in the ground." So using them as a threat to prevent nations from attacking is their main "pro."

The cons are that they really only work against nations and large entities (as a defensive threat). They don't do much to discourage small factions or terrorist groups, since we cannot possibly hold through with our threat of using them. They also have a lot of cons if actually used, in terms of loss of life, long-term destruction of the area they hit and the uproar that will come from the world after its use.

Applications of plutonium:

- explosive in nuclear weapons

- nuclear fuel in nuclear power reactors

- the isotope 238Pu is used as energy source in spacecrafts or other applications (radioisotope thermoelectric generators)

- neutron generator, as Pu-Be source

This would be the emission of thermal radiation during detonation. Ionizing radiation is also emitted at the speed of light at this time as well, but I wouldn't consider this to be the most relevant immediate destructive action.

blast. its slower but causes the most immediate destruction.

Nuclear bombs have devastating effects, causing widespread destruction and loss of life. They also have long-lasting environmental consequences, such as radiation contamination that can persist for decades and impact ecosystems and human health. Additionally, the potential for nuclear weapons to fall into the wrong hands or be used unintentionally poses a significant global security risk.

An atomic bomb uses a nuclear fission reaction. This involves splitting the nucleus of a heavy atom, such as uranium or plutonium, into smaller nuclei, releasing a large amount of energy in the process.

both r useless

Sometimes "atom" bomb is also used to describe a hydrogen bomb. Strictly, historically speaking, the atom bomb works via the energy released when a heavy atom nucleus such as uranium is split (called nuclear fission). This is also the energy source for nuclear power stations. A hydrogen bomb works via the energy released on fusing (called nuclear fusion) two light atoms (such as hydrogen) together - the huge pressure needed is derived from an atom bomb. This situation arises because the atoms towards in the middle of the periodic table are more stable, than those nearer the ends. A lot of electricity is derived nowadays from nuclear fission (nuclear power stations) but no significant power has yet been derived from nuclear fusion, though a lot of work is being done on it.

Hydrogen bombs, or thermonuclear explosives, are one form of nuclear weapon, gaining a tremendous increase in explosive power from the fusion of atoms. This is the opposite of the fission reaction, which generates energy by splitting a larger atom into smaller ones. But the fusion bombs currently used require a fission trigger, which means they still produce radioactive fallout, just less for the equivalent energy yield.

Plutonium. It is named after the ROMAN god Pluto.

That's why the Lybians were after Doc Brown in Back to the Future...

The force released by a nuclear bomb is typically measured in kilotons or megatons of TNT. For example, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima released an energy equivalent to approximately 15 kilotons of TNT. The force generated from a nuclear explosion is determined by the size and type of the bomb.

A Fusion Bomb (also called a Hydrogen Bomb, H-bomb, or Thermonuclear Bomb) is one of two main types of nuclear weapons. The fusion bomb relies on the fusion of light isotopes (usually of hydrogen and sometimes helium) to create a large amount of its energy. This is different from fission bombs, that release energy by inducing a neutron chain reaction to split large atoms in metals like Uranium 235 and Plutonium 329. The fusion bomb was invented in the decade after the first nuclear weapons were designed in the early 1940's.

The fusion bombs in use today all rely on a fission bomb first stage (called a "primary") to compress and heat a second fusion stage (called a "secondary"). The second stage has a thick shell of dense metal (which can be a fissionable metal, but need not be) on the outside and is filled with fusion fuel (hydrogen isotopes, or more usually a lithium-hydrogen compound [LiD]). It is usually round. In the center of the fusion fuel is another piece of fissile metal (usually Plutonium 239) called a "spark plug." These two stages are placed inside a case of dense metal, usually shaped like a peanut, with one stage at each end.

When the fission primary goes off, x-ray radiation floods down around the fusion secondary instantly heating its metal shell and causing it to implode inwards as it outer layers explode away. This is called "radiation implosion." As the shell of the secondary implodes, it compresses both the fusion fuel and the "spark plug." The "spark plug" quickly is crushed to such a density that it is supercritical and it fissions and explodes against the fusion fuel which is still being crushed inward by the radiation implosion. The effect is that the fission primary is pushing inward on the secondary while the spark plug (basically another fission bomb) explodes outward--the fusion fuel is caught between. That fuel is heated and compressed (and any lithium transmuted) to such a degree that fusion can finally occur. The lite isotopes fuse and some mass it converted into huge amounts of energy. A large number of fast neutrons are also produced. if the casing of the bomb or the metal shell of the secondary are made of uranium of a similar fissionable metal, these neutrons will fission the metal producing even more energy (this can almost double the yield in designs that use such metals as well as increasing fallout dramatically.) It is possible to add additional fusion stages, (which has been done in practice), though any number of additional ever-larger stages is possible.

Thus, theoretically, a fusion bomb of unlimited size can be build. While most nuclear weapons existing today are fusion designs, most of them are no larger than the largest fission bomb (500kt), since military needs actually favor smaller weapons over big yields.

All of the biggest nuclear bombs ever built have been fusion bombs. The largest bomb detonated was a fusion bomb that was equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT. The largest fission bomb tested was only one 100th as powerful, yielding 500 kilotons (half a million tons of TNT), which is still more than 20 times more powerful than the weapon dropped on Nagasaki.

No, a nuclear reactor cannot detonate like a nuclear bomb. Nuclear reactors use controlled fission reactions to generate heat for electricity, while nuclear bombs use uncontrolled chain reactions to create an explosion. The design and purpose of a reactor prevent it from causing a nuclear explosion.

Basically, a chemical booster rocket propels it into space, once in space the warhead bus separates from the booster rocket, the booster rocket fall toward earth and burns up, the warhead bus maneuvers to aim the warhead(s) at the target(s) and releases the warhead(s). When a warhead arrives at its target at the preset burst height/depth it detonates.

There are many other detail steps I have skipped over to keep it simple.

Nuclear bomb strength is expressed in terms of yield, equivalent to kilotons or megatons of TNT (trinitrotoluene); e.g., the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945 had a yield of 21 kilotons, or 21,000,000,000 grams of TNT. This caused total destruction within a radius of 1.6 kilometers, temperatures within the blast radius of 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and winds of 624 miles per hour. It is estimated that up to 75,000 people were killed immediately.

Hydrogen bombs were made during the 1960s with theoretical estimated yields of 100 megatons, to give you an idea of how much force that is, the 1908 Tunguska comet or meteoroid event is estimated to have produced a force between 10 and 15 megatons; it destroyed 830 square miles of forest. The island of Manhattan is 22.96 square miles.

The mechanical energy in a nuclear bomb is typically released as a result of the explosive force generated by the rapid chain reaction of nuclear fission or fusion. The exact amount of mechanical energy can vary depending on the size and yield of the bomb, but it is usually in the range of millions to billions of joules.

Breast attenuation in a nuclear stress test refers to the reduced amount of radiation that reaches the heart due to absorption by breast tissue. This can affect the accuracy of the test results by making it difficult to visualize the heart adequately. Techniques such as prone imaging or adjusting camera angles may be used to minimize this effect.

Nuclear bombs typically use fissile materials like uranium-235 or plutonium-239. These materials undergo a nuclear chain reaction, releasing vast amounts of energy in the form of an explosion. Other chemicals are used in the explosives that compress the fissile material to achieve a supercritical mass for the nuclear reaction to occur.

0 to a few 100,000 depending on height/depth of burst, distance from burst, terrain, and fallout distribution. If detonated at least 5 to 10 miles from the nearest person it is likely nobody would be hurt at all (like Trinity test).

It will if it is fused for airburst. This is selected to maximize the area and severity of blast and thermal flash effects.

You can't, it is always generated. However "clean" fusion bombs can be designed that reduce the fallout compared to a conventional fusion bomb of the same yield to about 5%. However the cost to build these "clean" bombs is significantly higher per megaton of yield than conventional fusion bombs.

actually no one knows. You are never close enough to tell. In theory they are not silent but do not break the sound barrier as some people would think. In theory they are not that loud. Just an educated guess but turn your tv all the way up and that is "supposed" to be how loud it is.