The A-Bomb
The A-bomb is the main nuclear bomb. It is an extremely strong bomb. The energy comes from a fusion process, where nuclei of the isotopes of hydrogen combine to form heavier helium nucleaus. The incredible power can equal up to 1 million tons of TNT. The size of the bomb can be very varied which makes the bomb able to be dropped from a variety of planes. Large rockets can carry multiple warheads to deliver to seperate targets. In 1905, Albert Einstein, showed his theory of relativity. He showed the relation between mass and energy as the infamous E=mc2. It means that a given mass (m) is associated with an amount of energy (E) equal to this mass multiplied by the square of the speed of light(c). So a very small amount of matter can equal an incredible amount of energy. When a suitable nucleus like uranium fissions, it breaks up into a pair of nuclear fragments which releases energy. At the same time, the nucleus emits a number of fast neutrons, which are the same type of particle that initiated the fission of the uranium nucleus. That creates a chain reaction letting a continuous release of energy.
Detonating Atomic Bombs
There are many ways to detonate a bomb. The easiest way is when a projectile made of fission material is fired at a same material somewhere else so they weld together into a supercritical assembly. Another way is implosion. It is used in a sphere shaped weapon. The outer part of the sphere has a layer of closely fitted, specially shaped devices which consist of high explosive. It is designed to concentrate its blast toward the center of the bomb. Each segment of the high explosive is equipped with a detonator, which is wired to all the other segments. An electricle impulse explodes all the high explosive simultaneously, resulting in a detonation wave that converges toward the core of the weapon. At the core is a sphere of fissile material, compressed by the pressure called implosion. When the density is increased, a supercritical assemply is produced. The chain reaction proceeds for a millionth of a second. The temperature rises to tens of millions of degrees and the rapid expansion causes a powerful explosion.
Bomb Information
History of Nuclear Weapons
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