Atomic Bomb

Subject : Science and Technology

Context:

The Secretary of Energy on Friday nullified a 1954 decision to revoke the security clearance of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a top government scientist who led the making of the atomic bomb in World War II but fell under suspicion of being a Soviet spy at the height of the McCarthy era.

About Atomic Bomb

The atomic bomb is also known as A-bomb, atom bomb, nuclear bomb, or nuclear warhead.
The atomic bomb gets its destructive property from nuclear fission reactions or from the combination of nuclear fission or fusion reactions.
Nuclear fission: It is a process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or smaller nuclear fission products and usually some by-product particles. Hence, fission is a form of elemental transmutation.
Atomic bombs too realize an enormous amount of energy when exploded and cause mass destruction.
This explosion is caused due to the nuclear fission reaction where the splitting of nuclei of a heavy element like uranium, and plutonium takes place

The Explosion of Atomic Bomb

When the neutron strikes the nucleus of a uranium-235 or plutonium-239 isotope, it causes the nucleus of the atom to split into two fragments, each of which is a nucleus with about half the protons and neutrons of the original nucleus.
When the splitting takes place, a high amount of heat, gamma rays, as well as two or more neutrons are released.
Under certain conditions, the neutrons are made to fission more with uranium nuclei, which then emit more neutrons that split more nuclei. This series multiplies, resulting in an explosion.

Hydrogen Bomb

The hydrogen bomb (or) h bomb is also known as the thermonuclear bomb. These bombs have greater destructive power compared to atomic bombs.
These hydrogen bombs are the result of nuclear fusion reactions. The uncontrolled chain reaction that is self-sustaining under high temperatures takes place through a process known as nuclear fusion.
Nuclear Fusion : Reaction which involves combining two or more atomic nuclei to create one or more distinct atomic nuclei and subatomic particles is known as nuclear fusion.
Energy released or absorption of energy is given as the difference in the mass between the reactants and products.
Nuclear fusion weapons feature two main components:
Main components of the primary stage are Uranium-235 and or Plutonium-239.
A separate nuclear fusion secondary stage featuring a thermonuclear fuel: deuterium, tritium, or lithium deuteride.
Deuterium and tritium are isotopes of hydrogen, which provide ideal interacting nuclei for the fusion process. At present, lithium-6 deuteride is used as weapon fuel.

The Explosion of Hydrogen Bomb

The explosion of a Hydrogen bomb or H bomb takes place in two stages, primary stage and secondary stage, namely.
In the primary stage, fissionable uranium is used to establish a fission chain reaction. This, in turn, produces explosions and creates a high temperature of several million degrees.
It also produces a huge amount of radiation containing a large number of neutrons. The force and heat of this explosion are reflected back by a surrounding container of uranium and are streamed towards the secondary stage.
The secondary stage features the lithium-6 deuteride. The heat generated in the primary stage supports the fusion reaction and causes a huge explosion that blows the uranium container apart.
The entire hydrogen bomb explosion takes place in a fraction of a second.