I know that other things are used like hydrogen, but as far as I know, uranium is more common. If all you need is to split an atom to create a nuclear explosion, why use a rare earth metal instead of something more abundant since everything is made of atoms?
In: Physics
Modern implosion-type nuclear weapons are made from highly enriched Plutonium-239.
Uranium-235 is used for gun-type nuclear weapons because Plutonium was found to have a high probability to “pre-initiate” and not reach full yield.
Latest Answers