How does Einstein’s famous E=mc2 relate to a nuclear bomb?

Question

I get the basics, energy equal mass times velocity squared, but how does that create a nuclear reaction large enough to make a bomb?

In: Physics

Answer 1

If you gathered up all the protons and neutrons inside the core of the nuclear bomb after it exploded and weighed it it would weigh slightly less than before it exploded. The lost mass is accounted for by it being converted to energy.