whats the difference between an atomic bomb and a nuclear bomb?

Answer 1

Atomic Bomb is actually a type of Nuclear Weapon.

There are two basic types of nuclear weapons. The first are weapons which produce their explosive energy through nuclear fission reactions alone. These are known colloquially as atomic bombs, A-bombs, or fission bombs. In fission weapons, a mass of fissile material (enriched uranium or plutonium) is assembled into a supercritical mass—the amount of material needed to start an exponentially growing nuclear chain reaction—either by shooting one piece of subcritical material into another, or by compressing a subcritical mass with chemical explosives, at which point neutrons are injected and the reaction begins. A major challenge in all nuclear weapon designs is ensuring that a significant fraction of the fuel is consumed before the weapon destroys itself. The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range between the equivalent of less than a ton of TNT upwards to around 500,000 tons (500 kilotons) of TNT.

The second basic type of nuclear weapon produces a large amount of its energy through nuclear fusion reactions, and can be over a thousand times more powerful than fission bombs. These are known as hydrogen bombs, H-bombs, thermonuclear bombs, or fusion bombs. Only six countries— United States, Russia, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, France, and possibly India—are known to possess hydrogen bombs. Hydrogen bombs work by utilizing the Teller-Ulam design, in which a fission bomb is detonated in a specially manufactured compartment adjacent to a fusion fuel. The gamma and X-rays of the fission explosion compress and heat a capsule of tritium, deuterium, or lithium deuteride starting a fusion reaction. Neutrons emitted by this fusion reaction can induce a final fission stage in a depleted uranium tamper surrounding the fusion fuel, increasing the yield considerably as well as the amount of nuclear fallout. Each of these components is known as a "stage", with the fission bomb as the "primary" and the fusion capsule as the "secondary". By chaining together numerous stages with increasing amounts of fusion fuel, thermonuclear weapons can be made to an almost arbitrary yield; the largest ever detonated (the Tsar Bomba of the USSR) released an energy equivalent to over 50 million tons (megatons) of TNT, though most modern weapons are nowhere near that large.

There are other types of nuclear weapons as well. For example, a boosted fission weapon is a fission bomb which increases its explosive yield through a small amount of fusion reactions, but it is not a hydrogen bomb. Some weapons are designed for special purposes; a neutron bomb is a nuclear weapon that yields a relatively small explosion but a relatively large amount of prompt radiation; these could theoretically be used to cause massive casualties while leaving infrastructure mostly intact. The detonation of a nuclear weapon is accompanied by a blast of neutron radiation. Surrounding a nuclear weapon with suitable materials (such as cobalt or gold) creates a weapon known as a salted bomb. This device can produce exceptionally large quantities of radioactive contamination. Most variety in nuclear weapon design is in different yields of nuclear weapons for different types of purposes, and in manipulating design elements to attempt to make weapons extremely small.

Answer 2

They are the same thing, sort of: the "atomic bombs" dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "fission" bombs that blew atoms apart. A "nuclear bomb" usually refers to a "fusion" or "hydrogen" bomb, where atoms are "fused" together. It takes a fission bomb to get the temperatures high enough to create conditions that will allow fusion to occur, so a "nuclear" or "hydrogen/fusion" bomb uses an "atomic/fission" bomb as a trigger. Fission bombs release a lot more radiation per amount of energy released, but hydrogen bombs are much more powerful, although the radiation released from them over time is less of a "radiation pollutant" because of the way the reaction works. They are both "nuclear" bombs because they both use reactions involving the nucleus of an atom, the difference is only in the way the terminology is usually applied.

Answer 3

Different construction? There is a difference between an Atomic bomb and a Hydrogen bomb but the end result of detonation of either makes a mess big enough to spoil your day.

Answer 4

Nuclear and atomic bombs, technically speaking, are NOT the same thing.

Nuclear weapons can be divided into two types - fission weapons and fusion weapons. Atomic bombs are the first type - the earliest weapons were fission devices, colloquially known as atomic bombs or "a-bombs".

Later devices like hydrogen bombs used nuclear fusion and could be many times more powerful than the early "a-bombs."

So you could think of it like this:

All atomic bombs are nuclear devices, but not all nuclear weapons are atomic bombs.

Best to you.

Answer 5

I think that the atom bomb splits the atom, whereas, the nuclear bomb fuses the atoms (nuclear fusion). The latter is more powerful.

Answer 6

A hydrogen bomb is a fusion bomb.

The uranium / plutonium bombs are fission bombs.

Both may properly be called atomic or nuclear bombs.

There are also combinations such as the fisson-fusion-fission bomb which combines features of both types

Answer 7

Terminology in this sphere is obscure. Both terms are right in their way .The confusion comes from a bomb and h bomb.The first used u-235 and u-238 the second used plutonium .The bomb in n.korea was not even as efficient as the hiroshima bomb.

Answer 8

a nuclear bomb is a description of an atomic bomb....the release of a tremendous amount of energy when uranium/plutonium isotopes are destroyed by hurtling nuetrons at them (otherwise known as fission).....a practical application of the E=MC2.....

A hydrogen bomb is different, but also considered a nuclear bomb, however using fusion as stated above by some.

Answer 9

an atomic bomb is similar to what was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a relatively low-yield and area of effect. A modern nuclear bomb is more 'refined' with a larger yield, larger area of effect, and a much bigger explosion.

Answer 10

Not much difference when they explode over desert. Sand at 2000 degrees makes a parking lot of glass.