How does a nuclear weapon work?

Answer 1

There are two basic ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom:

* Nuclear fission - You can split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron. This method usually involves isotopes of uranium (uranium-235, uranium-233) or plutonium-239.
* Nuclear fusion -You can bring two smaller atoms, usually hydrogen or hydrogen isotopes (deuterium, tritium), together to form a larger one (helium or helium isotopes); this is how the sun produces energy.


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Answer 2

Uranium and plutonium will begin a fission chain reaction if accumulated in large enough quantities. There is even one place on earth where it is thought that a natural nuclear reator came to exist due to accumulation of high-grade uranium in algae mats. A sufficient mass to achieve a chain reaction is called the "critical mass".

A nuclear weapon pretty much simply works by using standard explosives to drive together several sub-critical masses into one large critical mass that will cause the fission process to occur.

Answer 3

old nuclear bombs such as fat boy and little man (the bombs we dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki) wer two types of nukes that used high explosives

little man was a gun type
there was a core of reactive uranium at one end of the bomb and at the other end thru a tube was another smaller peice of pure critical mass uranium. they set off some high explosives (stuff like C4) and it fired core #2 at core #1 very fast. the resulting impact split an atom and started a chain reaction that split a few more and realeased the energy in them creating the explosion.

fat boy was a different type (i dont remember the name they used)
it was a sphere with a critical mass pure uranium core and it was surrounded by high explosives. they set off all the high explosives at the same time and the inward pressure of the air and fire and what not pushed the releaseing neutrons back at the core creating some sort of issue witht he core and that split an atom. this atom splitting set off a chain reaction that split more and they released their immense amount of energy and did a whole lot of damage.

Answer 4

simple, when the material in nublear weapon fissions the prompt nuetron get released and increases exponentialy and system becomes super critical and the rest well you know it

Answer 5

nuclear explosion is actually implosion as in from the inside out-- explosion beginning at molecular level. hard to fathom. very scary and then you add the word weapon

Answer 6

theres nuclear in it and it can be triggerd by a button or by throwing it