Fusion versus Fission?

Question

Why Does Fusion bombs release more energy...Seems splitting atoms in Fission would release more of the Strong Nuclear Force then Fusing atoms or does it have to do with the Helium produced in Fusion that expands further covering more ground taking energy with it

Answer 1

Even if it would be right from the point of view of "per atom" (actually, it is not, but I will get to that later), hydrogen is much lighter than uranium is, so the same mass of hydrogen contains a lot more atoms.

That said, there is the a very non symmetrical profile to the nuclear binding energy curve, as a function of nuclear mass. See attached link for the curve. Note how much energy there is going from hydrogen to helium, as opposed to going from uranium to an element about half as heavy.

Answer 2

The reason that fusion releases more energy than fission is that the resulting nucleas of a fusion reaction is vastly more stable than the nucleus of the two previous hydrogen isotopes. This release in energy is several Mega-electron volts per nucleus. While fission, the resulting energy release is a fraction of a Mega-electron volt, these heavier nuclei are not bound together as strongly because the nuclear force is short ranged. So, when you perform fusion, the addition of the protons and neutrons add to the nuclear bonding force greatly, but when dealing with the large nuclei of fusion reactions, the nuclear force is not acting between all particles in the nucleus and this can only be minimized.

Answer 3

Vincents answer and link are good. For an alternative, look at it this way: U235 has each nucleon surrounded by hundreds of others. Tritium has one proton and two neutrons. Going from Uranium to Thorium Th231 doesn't change the nuclear environment much so the energy change is small (with all respects to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Going from Tritium (and deuterium) to Helium dramatically changes the nucleus and hence the energy. Subtract four from 235 and who will notice, but double the number of protons and baboom.

Answer 4

It's all a matter of weight, or mass. There is simply more mass converted to energy with hydrogen fusion than with uranium or plutonium fission. Now as to WHY the fall from proton to alpha particle is more energetic than the fall of U235 to say bismuth, I don't think our knowledge of the inner workings of the nucleus is sophisticated enough to know exactly, but perhaps in the future.....

Answer 5

Fusion demands marvelous extremes of warmth and tension. so a procedures, all fusion reactions we are able to producing in the worldwide make a noisy noise and complete themselves without notice, the place fission is controllable.

Answer 6

fusion releases more energy because in fusion reactions, more mass is converted into energy, in fission, less mass is "lost" so less energy is gained