So i know that nukes have bits of uranium separated, on detonation they combine and uranium reaches critical mass and everything go boom. And I know that nukes are detonated in the air, several hundred meters above ground.
So my questions are:
– how is the detonation carried out, does the nuke auto detect when its ~1000 meters above ground and detonate itself? What’s the mechanism?
– is there a way to cancel the detonation by clicking an off button somewhere? Surely there has to be an off switch, it would be stupid not to.
– if there’s an off switch, what happens afterwards, does the nuke fly back or does it still hit the target and not detonate?
– lets assume a nuke is close to the target but the off button is pressed, so detonation has been canceled, but it still hits the ground at whatever high speed nukes travel at, can it still go off just because of the impact or are they very durable?
In: Physics
Nuclear weapons are incapable of impact detonation. They require a bunch of well-times explosives to go off, and be in just the right shape. This is orchestrated by an electronic detonator. While detonation systems vary, it appears that radar and atmospheric pressure were two common fuse types for detecting altitude.
There is no cancelling a launched nuke – at least not that we know of. If such a system were installed into a missile or bomb, all it would do is abort detonation but the weapon would still physically collide with its target. If you’re going to launch one, you must be certain that you want to ruin a whole lot of people’s days *before* you turn the key.
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