| The basic components in an
atomic bomb include the fuel and some sort of detonation
device such as TNT. In fission bombs, the fuel is
separated into two sub-critical mass parts so the bomb does
not explode accidentally. When the bomb is detonated, the two
subcritical masses
get smashed together to
form one supercritical mass. This supercritical mass is
then able to sustain a chain reaction. Then a neutron is fired at
this mass to start a chain reaction that leads quickly to a
gigantic nuclear explosion. Below is a diagram of a
basic uranium bomb. Of course, the real bomb has much
more things in it such as devices for detonation, antennas for
receiving radio signals, etc.
Another way to detonate a
nuclear fission, bomb is by using an implosion method.
An
explosion outside of the surface of a regular subcritical mass
of uranium235 or other fissionable material causes the explosion
shock wave to go inward to the fissionable core which compresses
the core to a supercritical mass that will explode. To
learn why getting uranium235 to a supercritical mass gives off
so much energy, go to the Nuclear
Fission page.
The more powerful fusion bomb, on the
other hand is much more complicated than this. Fusion is
the exact opposite of fission. Instead of splitting an
atom, it smashes two together to create an even greater amount
of energy. Go to the Nuclear
Fusion page, for more info. The fusion bomb is sometimes called the
fission-fusion bomb because in order for nuclear fusion to
happen, a great amount of energy is required to smash these
atoms together. Nuclear fission is the only process that
can create such a tremendous amount of energy. In a fusion
bomb such as the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear fission bomb is first
made. Then hydrogen fuel is added to undergo the fusion
process. Sometimes, a fusion bomb is made with uranium
casing which will undergo fission when exposed to the blast of
the fusion. This would then result in a
fission-fusion-fission bomb, adding greatly to the power of the
bomb. Because of the way the bomb is designed, there is no
limit to how big the hydrogen bomb can be. Today's largest
known bombs are over between 50-100 megatons, which, as you can
see, is much greater than the first atomic bomb that was
approximately 10 kilotons.
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