Whats the difference between an Atom bomb and a Hydrogen bomb
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Whats the difference between an Atom bomb and a Hydrogen bomb

[From: ] [author: ] [Date: 11-04-22] [Hit: ]
which are better terms for the two kinds, is straightforward.Fission bombs split heavy elements into lighter ones to get the energy.Fusion bombs merge lighter elements into heavier ones to get the energy.In both cases, fusion or fission,......

So bottom line, atomic and hydrogen bombs are terms used and derived from history more than from physics. However, the difference between fission and fusion bombs, which are better terms for the two kinds, is straightforward. Fission bombs split heavy elements into lighter ones to get the energy. Fusion bombs merge lighter elements into heavier ones to get the energy.

In both cases, fusion or fission, the energy is derived from the mass deficiency that occurs during the fission or fusion. In both cases, the mass before the reaction is greater than the mass after the reactions. And that difference, the deficiency, is where the energy comes from as in e = dM c^2, where dM is the amount of mass deficiency.

Fusion bombs are way more powerful than fission bombs. In fact, to get the hydrogen isotopes to fuse, a fusion bomb uses a small fission bomb to create the heat and pressure needed for the fusion process. But even the most powerful fusion bomb ever exploded, the 50 MT Tsar Bomba of the former Soviet Union, was just barely a blip on the USGS seismographic scale. Compared to the recent 9.0 earthquake off Japan, your H-bomb is a mere nat on Mother Earth's skin.

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A Hydrogen bomb explodes in the same manner, except it also uses a fusion reaction to help fuel further fission reactions. (Fission is the "splitting" of an atom per say) The actual energy released by the fusion reaction is negligible. The reason they use the hydrogen bomb is that it can get almost double the power for less materials. It was originally thought that you could only trigger one fission reaction at once, limiting the nuclear weapons power. This type of weapon was the same as the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of Hydrogen in the fusion reaction that fuels fission, is the reason they are called "Hydrogen Bombs".

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An "atom bomb" is a fission bomb. It uses nuclear fission (the breaking up of heavy nuclei into smaller ones) to generate the energy.
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