I understand that an atomic bomb works by detonating fuel (uranium or plutonium) that sparks a chain reaction of fission so every atom causes the fission of more atoms until the fuel is used up. But I don’t understand 2 parts of this process:
1. Why does the fuel (uranium atoms) blow up? I see some sources saying the atoms are being split, but other sources say atoms are being smashed into each other. Which is it? And why does performing that action cause an atom to violently explode?
2. Once the fission is happening and growing exponentially through the fuel, why doesn’t it set off a chain reaction with the atmosphere? Why exactly can’t uranium spark the fission of nitrogen? Why does the chain reaction stop when the uranium is gone?
I know other atomic bomb questions have been asked, but in my research I couldn’t find these answers. Thanks so much!
In: Chemistry
1. The fuel produces a fuckton of energy enclosed in the bomb, that’s how bombs works and that’s why it explodes. There are two kinds of nuclear bombs, fission and fusion. Fission is uranium or plutonium being split, and fusion is hydrogen being smashed together, so both can be true. It violently explodes because energy is being produced.
2. Fission only produces energy in elements that are heavier than iron, you need fusion to create energy for nitrogen. Nitrogen does actually fuse together in a nuclear bomb, but the rate at which heat is dissapated from the nuclear blast is much faster than the rate at which energy from fusion of nitrogen. This was calculated before the first nuclear test.
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