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

Short answer, yes.

Good ol’ Einstein, remember?

E=mc^2 is, among other things, a measure of how much energy is contained in a given mass of matter.

Edit: that said, atomic weapons do ise special materials – relatively unstable isotopes of uranium (old school) or plutonium. Not unstable in the sense of nitroglycerin, but unstable in that they can relatively easily be used to start and/or fuel a nuclear reaction.

Even so, the energy exchange is no where near 100% efficient – there is a LOT more energy potential in those atoms than is released in a nuclear explosion.