Nuclear Bomb: How it Works in detail. Atomic vs Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb)
Nuclear Bomb: How it Works in detail. Atomic vs Hydrogen bomb (H-bomb)
Hydrogen bomb how does it work? The bomb on Hiroshima released the energy equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. The first hydrogen bomb released the energy equivalent of 10,000,000 tons of TNT.
While the atomic bomb like the one that was dropped on Hiroshima worked on the principle of releasing energy through the splitting of atoms – also called fission, a hydrogen bomb does something that releases even more energy, and that is it fuses atoms together. Fusion is even more powerful than fission. It is the same process that powers our sun.
How does fusion work? The fusion bomb creates energy by combining two isotopes of hydrogen called deuterium and Tritium to create helium. A large amount of energy is released when these two isotopes fuse together to form helium because a helium atom has much less energy than these two isotopes combined. This excess energy is released in the explosion. Lithium-deuteride is what most hydrogen bombs today use as their fuel.
But how does the process of fusion actually occur? Ordinarily the nuclei of two atoms cannot be combined because these nuclei have strong positive electrical charges and repel each other. It turns out that if you increase the temperature by millions of degrees, it is possible to combine nuclei together. The temperatures needed are astronomical - higher than even that at the center of the sun – 100 million degrees Celsius.
This is when the electrons orbiting the nuclei is stripped away from the nucleus and the nuclei and electrons are floating around freely in a kind of high temperature soup. At this temperature, the nuclei can get very close to each other and the strong nuclear strong force binds the protons and neutrons together to form a helium nucleus and a free neutron.
So how is a temperature of 100 million degrees achieved? This is where the fission or atomic bomb inside the hydrogen bomb enclosure comes in. The purpose of the fission bomb is to to heat up the fusion reaction to this 100 million of degrees. A hydrogen bomb is three bombs in one - an ordinary chemical bomb, a fission bomb, and a fusion bomb. The chemical bomb initiates the fission bomb which initiates the fusion bomb.
A small atomic bomb is located at the top of the casing. The top of the sphere contains conventional chemical explosives surrounding a sphere of beryllium mirror casing, inside of which is a smaller uranium or plutonium sphere about 4 to 6 inches in diameter. Below this atomic bomb is the hydrogen or fusion bomb. It consists of a cylinder made of uranium, the fuel for the fusion reaction, lithium deuteride sits inside the cylinder. And at the core of this cylinder sits a rod of plutonium. #nuclearbomb #hydrogenbomb In between the fission and fusion bomb is Styrofoam. First, the fission bomb is detonated by exploding conventional chemical bombs in sequence, this forces the sphere of plutonium 239 or Uranium 235 to implode on itself. The implosion of this material creates a critical mass which results in an atomic explosion.
This fission explosion creates high energy gamma rays and X-rays which heat up the Styrofoam turning it into plasma. The plasma reflects off the beryllium-lined walls and focuses its energy on the fusion cylinder. These x-rays travel at the speed of light, so they reach the hydrogen fuel sooner than the physical shock wave from atomic bomb. This is important because if the shock wave reached there first, the fusion bomb would be blown apart before it could create fusion reactions.
The heat and pressure of the plasma compresses the fusion cylinder causing the lithium-deuteride to react. This releases tritium. The Tritium and deuterium fuse to form Helium and more neutrons. The neutrons cause the uranium casing and plutonium rod to undergo more fission reactions. This causes more pressure on the lithium-deuteride, producing more fusion, and releasing more neutrons which cause more fission. This positive feedback loop of fission-fusion-fission-fusion reactions goes back and forth until a huge explosion occurs ripping everything apart.
All of these events happen in about 600 billionths of a second. The result is a huge explosion. And where does all this energy come from? The sum of all atoms after the explosion would be less than the sum of all the atoms before the explosion. This mass is converted to energy using Einstein’s famous equation E=MC^2.
#Hydrogenbomb #Atomicbomb
And exactly how much mass is converted to energy? To give you an idea, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima converted 700 miligrams of mass into energy. The total uranium used was 55 lbs. A hydrogen bomb however converts about a kilogram or 2 lbs of mass to pure energy. But in order to convert this much, you have to start with about 140 kilos or 300 lbs. of hydrogen.
Only six countries have such bombs —China, France, India, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Content
0.03 -> Mankind had never seen anything like it.
When it was unleashed on people in an
4.5 -> effort to stop a war, all people saw was
a blinding light followed by complete
9.57 -> darkness and destruction. it was August 6
1945. It was the most powerful weapon
15.269 -> ever created by mankind.
it's shockwave turned everything in a
19.68 -> one-mile radius into rubble.
It unleashed energy and radiation that
23.519 -> killed a hundred and forty thousand
people in the industrial city of
26.939 -> Hiroshima Japan. As powerful as this bomb was, mankind has since invented a weapon
33.36 -> that is hundreds of times more powerful.
Today, we have thermonuclear weapons, also
38.489 -> called the hydrogen bomb. To give you an
idea of its power, if the original
42.51 -> Hiroshima bomb was dropped in New York
City, it would destroy everything in a
47.43 -> one-mile radius. But if a hydrogen bomb
was dropped there, heaven forbid, it would
52.86 -> not just destroy everything in a
one-mile radius,
55.17 -> it would make into rubble everything in
a ten-mile radius. This would be a total
61.05 -> calamity. The world now has over 10,000
such bombs capable of easily destroying
67.26 -> every single person on our planet many
times over. What makes these weapons so
72.81 -> powerful? How do they actually work?
That's coming up right now.
83.13 -> The bomb on Hiroshima released an energy equivalent
of 15,000 tons of TNT. The first hydrogen
88.92 -> bomb released the energy equivalent of
10 million tons of TNT.
93.479 -> While the atomic bomb like the one that
was dropped on Hiroshima worked on the
98.07 -> principle of releasing energy through
the splitting of atoms, also called
101.34 -> fission - see my video on that - a
hydrogen bomb does something that
105.479 -> releases even more energy - and that is it
fuses atoms together. Fusion is even more
111.81 -> powerful than fission. It is the same
process that powers our Sun. And when
116.52 -> fission is combined with fusion in a
hydrogen bomb, it creates energy orders
121.56 -> of magnitude higher than fission alone, making
the hydrogen bomb hundreds to thousands
126.57 -> of times more powerful than atomic bombs.
How does fusion work? The fusion portion
132.15 -> of the bomb creates energy
by combining two isotopes of hydrogen
135.87 -> called deuterium and tritium to create
helium. Unlike a natural hydrogen atom
141.87 -> that is made of one electron orbiting
around one proton, these isotopes have
147.09 -> extra neutrons in their nuclei. A large
amount of energy is released when these
151.8 -> two isotopes fuse together to form
helium, because a helium atom has much
157.02 -> less energy than these two isotopes
combined. This excess energy is released.
162.05 -> One of the main problems with creating
the hydrogen bomb was obtaining the
166.17 -> Tritium. Scientists found that they could
generate this on the spot inside the
171.12 -> hydrogen bomb with a compound
combining Lithium and Deuterium.
174.99 -> The result was a dry, solid, stable powder
called Lithium Deuteride. So this is what
180.63 -> most hydrogen bombs today use as their
fuel. But how does the process of fusion
185.64 -> actually occur? Ordinarily the nuclei of
two atoms cannot be combined because
190.68 -> these nuclei have strong positive
electrical charges and repel each other.
194.97 -> This is why scientists chose hydrogen as
the best candidate for fusion because it
199.29 -> has only one proton and thus would have
less electrical charge than atoms with
204.45 -> multiple protons in their nuclei. But if
the nuclei repel each other, how do they
208.8 -> fuse? It turns out that if you increase
the temperature by millions of degrees,
212.82 -> it is possible to combine nuclei
together. As the temperature increases
217.05 -> the atoms speed up. But an extraordinary
increase in speed of the atoms is needed
222.03 -> in order to give them a chance to
overcome their natural repulsion. The
226.26 -> temperatures needed are astronomical,
higher than even that at the center of our
231.3 -> Sun - 100 million degrees Celsius. The
center of the Sun is 15 million degrees
236.31 -> Celsius. At this temperature the isotopes
become a form of matter called plasma.
241.35 -> This is when the electrons orbiting the
nuclei are stripped away from the
245.4 -> nucleus, and the nuclei and electrons are
floating around freely in a kind of high
249.81 -> temperature soup. At this temperature, the
nuclei can get very close to each other.
253.5 -> And when they get as close as one times
ten to the negative 15 meters apart, then
257.85 -> the strong nuclear force which is
present only at very close distances, and
261.989 -> is responsible for keeping protons and
neutrons glued together, takes over and
267.06 -> combines the protons and neutrons together to form
269.85 -> a Helium nucleus and a free neutron. But
how is a temperature of 100 million
274.89 -> degrees achieved? This is where the
fission or atomic bomb inside the
280.29 -> hydrogen bomb enclosure comes into play. The
purpose of the fission bomb is to
284.34 -> provide the energy needed to heat up the
fusion reaction to this 100 million
288.72 -> degrees. So how do they work together? A
hydrogen bomb is actually three bombs in
293.28 -> one. It contains an ordinary chemical
bomb, a fission bomb like the one dropped
297.66 -> on Nagasaki, and a fusion bomb. All three
work in concert. The chemical bomb
303.03 -> initiates the fission bomb, which
initiates the fusion bomb. To understand
307.62 -> how the fission and fusion bombs work
together, it's important to understand
311.94 -> how the bomb is put together. In a
ballistic missile the bomb is usually
315.96 -> located at the top, inside the cone
portion of the missile. Here is where the
320.49 -> hydrogen bomb vessel sits. The casing of
the bomb is lined with beryllium. This
325.11 -> acts as a mirror to reflect the neutrons
back into the casing rather than
330.78 -> allowing them to escape the vessel. A
small atomic bomb is located at the top
334.62 -> of the casing. It's shaped like a sphere.
The top of the sphere contains
338.37 -> conventional chemical explosives
surrounding a sphere of beryllium mirror
342.66 -> casing, inside of which is a small
uranium or plutonium sphere, about four
348.27 -> to six inches in diameter. Below this
atomic bomb is the hydrogen or fusion
352.71 -> bomb. It consists of a cylinder made of
Uranium. The fuel for the fusion reaction,
358.14 -> Lithium Deuteride sits inside the
cylinder. And at the core of the cylinder
362.43 -> sits a rod of Plutonium. In between the
fission and fusion bombs is an encasing
367.95 -> made of styrofoam. And here is how it all
works together. First the fission bomb is
373.62 -> detonated by exploding conventional
chemical bombs in sequence. This forces
378.3 -> the sphere of plutonium 239 our uranium
235 to implode on itself. The implosion
384.63 -> or compression of this material creates
a critical mass which results in a chain
389.73 -> reaction of neutron splitting atoms
apart and creating more neutrons, which
394.26 -> split more atoms apart. The chain
reaction results in an atomic explosion.
398.51 -> This fission explosion creates high
energy gamma rays and x-rays which heat
403.27 -> up the styrofoam and turns it into
plasma. This plasma reflects off the
407.74 -> beryllium-lined walls and focuses its
energy on the fusion cylinder. These
412.69 -> x-rays travel at the speed of light, so
they can reach the hydrogen fuel sooner
416.5 -> than the physical shockwave from the
atomic bomb. This is important because if
421.54 -> the shock wave reached there first, then
the fusion bomb would be blown apart
425.65 -> before it could create fusion reactions.
The heat and pressure of the plasma
429.52 -> compresses the fusion cylinder causing
the lithium deuteride to react. This
434.68 -> releases Tritium. The Tritium and
Deuterium fuse to form helium and more
439.57 -> neutrons. the neutrons cause the Uranium
casing and Plutonium rod to undergo more
444.85 -> fission reactions. This causes more
pressure on the Lithium Deuteride, not
450.34 -> only from the outside in but also from
the inside out. This produces more fusion
455.44 -> which releases more neutrons, which causes
more fission. This positive feedback
460.51 -> loop of fission-fusion-fission-fusion
reactions goes back and forth until a
465.31 -> huge explosion occurs ripping everything
apart. Amazingly all these events happen
470.98 -> in only about 600 billionths of a second,
550 billions of a second for the fission
476.71 -> bomb implosion, and 50 billionths of
a second for the fusion bomb. The result
481.42 -> is an immense explosion with a 10
million ton yield, 700 times more
486.67 -> powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. And
where does all this energy actually come
491.35 -> from? Well, if you could weigh all the
atoms of the fuel before the explosion
495.88 -> and all the atoms released after the
fusion, the sum of all atoms after the
500.98 -> explosion would be less than the sum of
all the atoms before the explosion. This
506.08 -> difference in mass is converted to
energy using Einstein's famous equation
509.89 -> E equals MC squared. And exactly how much
mass is converted to energy? To give you
515.919 -> an idea, the bomb dropped on Hiroshima
converted 700 milligrams of mass into
521.02 -> energy, about 1/3 the mass of a U.S.
penny. The total uranium used was 55
527.89 -> pounds. A hydrogen bomb however converts
about a kilogram, or two pounds of mass
533.21 -> to pure energy. But in order to convert
this much you have to start with about
537.44 -> 140 kilos, or 300 pounds of hydrogen fuel.
Only six countries have such bombs -China,
544.31 -> France, India, Russia, the United Kingdom,
and the United States. Almost all the
549.41 -> nuclear weapons deployed today are
hydrogen bombs because they are much
552.77 -> smaller and lighter, and so can be
deployed in intercontinental ballistic
556.399 -> missiles. These things don't just kill,
they annihilate. We humans have become
561.62 -> quite efficient at it.
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