eli5: How does an H bomb work?

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How does simply splitting one atom expel so much energy? There’s no way that much energy could fit into a hydrogen atom. There’s only one electron, which has the energy. How does one atom make a big explosion?

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30 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hydrogen bombs do not split an atom. They are actually creating a helium atoms through the fusion of two hydrogen atoms. And because the helium molecule has less binding energy than the hydrogen atoms, there’s a release of energy when the reaction happens

Anonymous 0 Comments

Very little energy in one atom.

But bombs are more than one atom. They’re lots of atoms in a chain reaction.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hydrogen bombs do not split an atom. They are actually creating a helium atoms through the fusion of two hydrogen atoms. And because the helium molecule has less binding energy than the hydrogen atoms, there’s a release of energy when the reaction happens

Anonymous 0 Comments

Very little energy in one atom.

But bombs are more than one atom. They’re lots of atoms in a chain reaction.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fission bombs split atoms. Many atoms. H-bombs get their energy from the opposite process, fusing atoms. Again, though, fusing *lots* of atoms.

A regular bomb works off of a lot of explosive. Nukes are the same idea, but the explosive has a lot more energy per atom.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Very little energy in one atom.

But bombs are more than one atom. They’re lots of atoms in a chain reaction.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Hydrogen bombs do not split an atom. They are actually creating a helium atoms through the fusion of two hydrogen atoms. And because the helium molecule has less binding energy than the hydrogen atoms, there’s a release of energy when the reaction happens

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fission bombs split atoms. Many atoms. H-bombs get their energy from the opposite process, fusing atoms. Again, though, fusing *lots* of atoms.

A regular bomb works off of a lot of explosive. Nukes are the same idea, but the explosive has a lot more energy per atom.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fission bombs split atoms. Many atoms. H-bombs get their energy from the opposite process, fusing atoms. Again, though, fusing *lots* of atoms.

A regular bomb works off of a lot of explosive. Nukes are the same idea, but the explosive has a lot more energy per atom.

Anonymous 0 Comments

An H-bomb is a fusion weapon. Atoms are combined to make bigger atoms

This is as opposed to a fission bomb, which works by splitting very large atoms into smaller atoms.

The part that is probably really confusing about this is that every fusion bomb also has a fission bomb built into it.

The only place we know of where fusion occurs naturally is at the center of a star where the high temperatures and pressures needed for fusion to occur are present.

The only way we know of to reproduce those conditions outside of a star is the brief moment of time after a fission bomb explodes.

So to create a fusion bomb, you take a fission bomb and pack the fusion bomb material right next to it, such that right after the fission reaction goes off, the conditions will be just right to kick off the fusion reaction in the fusion part of the bomb.