If an atom bomb makes a huge blast, do we have insane amounts of energy in our bodies that are just not accessible?

Question

Do all atoms have these massive amounts of potential energy or are there specific atoms used in these bombs?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Nuclear energy is effectively released as atoms ‘seek out’ a neutral state; the element iron. Lighter elements can be fused to achieve iron, heavier elements can be split to move towards it.

Fusing all of the elements within a human into iron would indeed create a huge blast, but there is no real way to do such a thing.

That said, it is very difficult to fuse or split most atoms, and so nuclear bombs must use specific ones. U-235, for example, but not even other uranium.