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Could somebody explain exactly how a hydrogen bomb is supposed to work? I have a pretty basic idea, but I need more info.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but there is also another design where two subcritical peices are fired together to produce a superctical mass. I.e. one piece is at the end of a tube. The other piece is at the other end. An explosive is detonated behing that pieve and rams it into the other.The most basic bomb design includes a fission bomb which consists of several "lenses" of chemical explosive (lense-shaped to direct the blast) around a core of enriched uranium.
Originally posted by pmb
Correct me if I'm wrong but there is also another design where two subcritical peices are fired together to produce a superctical mass. I.e. one piece is at the end of a tube. The other piece is at the other end. An explosive is detonated behing that pieve and rams it into the other.
Pete
I believe that it was only used for ONE: one of the bombs we dropped on Japan. And I think it was a uranium bomb, not a plutonium one.Originally posted by LURCH
Yes, I think it's usually reffered to as a "plutonium gun" design. But AFAIK, this design is only used for fission bombs, and not fusion. Although I can see where it might work for fusion, if one of the pieces has lithium deuterate in it. I've just never heard of it.
That was what I was referring to.But AFAIK, this design is only used for fission bombs, and not fusion.
Originally posted by russ_watters
I believe that it was only used for ONE: one of the bombs we dropped on Japan. And I think it was a uranium bomb, not a plutonium one.
Hi again Lurch,Originally posted by LURCH
Oh yeah, that's right. "Fat Man" (Hiroshima) was a shaped-charge implosion device, but "Little Boy" (Nagasake) was a Uranium-gun design.
Tritium is created by cosmic ray type spallation reactions or by impinging fast neutrons on nitrogen N^14(n,T)C^12. DT reactions are the copious source of fusion created 14.5 MeV neutron in a vacuum tube type gadget in which a hot positively charged T-salted "cathode" boils off a beam of tritons that are accelerated at 180 kilovolts into a negatively charged Deuteron salted "plate". Also, not unlike white powder Li-tritide other tritium salting such as Hafnium-DT/DD, Uranium-DT/DD used the fusion aspect to replace the neutron source of stockpiled fission weapons. The little pellet that earlier,pre-1951, was filled with Polonium/Beryllium, was replaced with DD and/or DT salts that were squeezed at pressures in excess of 6 megabars. The upshot of the change was: with the Po-Be iniator, only 6 neutrons were typically avaiable in the 5 microsecond reflected decompression wave window after which criticallity dropped below "one"; the new pellet produced up to 10^10 neutrons during the same window. Thanks for your audience. Cheers, JimContinuing posting by LURCH
NEO, wow, much better description. More accurate in the details. But, are you saying that the tritium is produced and then stored within the device? I thought the whole reason for mixing the deuterium with lithium was so that tritium would not need to be stored, because it would be produced during the fission stage.
Uhmm, Lurch, you've got that, the names and the targets, backwards...http://www.atomicmuseum.com/tour/dd2.cfm"Originally posted by LURCH
Oh yeah, that's right. "Fat Man" (Hiroshima) was a shaped-charge implosion device, but "Little Boy" (Nagasake) was a Uranium-gun design.
Hi VB,Originally posted by VBPhysics
That H bomb design is the Russian one. Not that it makes much difference, but I think the American design had a single chem lens.
Originally from the www.my.ohio.Voyager[/URL](DOT)net site[/b]
Plutonium is one of the most toxic substances known. If inhaled, a thousandth of a gram can cause massive fibrosis of the lungs, a painful way to go. Even a millionth of a gram in the lungs will cause cancer. If eaten, plutonium is metabolized like calcium. It goes straight to the bones where it gives out alpha particles preventing bone marrow from manufacturing red blood cells. The best way to avoid inhaling plutonium is to hold your breath while handling it. If this is too difficult, wear a mask. To avoid ingesting plutonium orally follow this simple rule: never make an A-bomb on an empty stomach.[/quote]
Followed by this 'lovely' (Sarcasm) piece of advice...
[quote][b]Originally from the [PLAIN]www.my.ohio.Voyager[/URL](DOT)net site[/b]
Step 2: Assembling the A-Bomb
Now that you've acquired the enriched uranium, all that's left is to assemble your A-bomb. Go find a couple of stainless steel salad bowls. You also want to separate your 10 pounds of U-235 into two hunks. (Keep them apart!) The idea is to push each half your uranium into the inside of a bowl.
[b]Take one hunk of your uranium and beat it into the inside of the first bowl[/b]. Uranium is malleable, like gold, so you should have no trouble hammering it into the bowl to get a good fit. Take another five-pound hunk of uranium and fit it into a second stainless steel bowl. These two bowls of U-235 are the "subcritical masses" which, when brought together forcefully, will provide the critical mass that makes your A-bomb go. Keep them a respectful distance apart while working because you don't want them to "go critical" on you... At least not yet.[/quote]
It should be clearly noted (by anyone with a brain) that the manner of getting U[sup]235[/sup] to generate 'neutron expulsions' is by COMPRESSION!
Hammering a metal is a form of "attempted compression", hence you could easliy arrive at the idea that pounding away at your malleable u[sup]235[/sup] is likely to generate "neutronal emissions", the radioactivity, (hence DOSE) that that is.
Please DON'T try this at home, or anywheres else for that matter!
Originally posted by russ_watters
I believe that it was only used for ONE: one of the bombs we dropped on Japan. And I think it was a uranium bomb, not a plutonium one.
Uhmm sure 'bout that?? Beryllium is used (AFAIK) because it is a hard/strong enough metal to be able to withstand the explosion that propels the "soon to be fissioned" material together, nothing to do with that actual explosion from fission or fusion.Originally posted by dodger
So far (i think) that no one has mentioned the use of Beryllium in nuclear device. It is placed between the nuclear material and the explosives to increase the efficeincy of the explosion by reflecting neutrons back into the active area. With this, instead of 11Kg Pu only 4Kg would be needed (with an explosion equivalent o Nagasaki). The most crazy thing of this is that 4Kg of Pu is about the size of an orange and can destry so much.
Originally posted by Mr. Robin Parsons
Uhmm sure 'bout that?? Beryllium is used (AFAIK) because it is a hard/strong enough metal to be able to withstand the explosion that propels the "soon to be fissioned" material together, nothing to do with that actual explosion from fission or fusion.
Not to the best of my knowledge, or by my "hand" ('typing fingers' actually) either...but that link I had, above, is pretty detailed...I supposeOriginally posted by pallidin
I am sure that it can be safely assumed that no sensitive information, direct or implied, is being or will be conveyed on this thread.
A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, uses fusion reactions to release a significantly larger amount of energy compared to an atomic bomb, which uses fission reactions. This makes a hydrogen bomb much more powerful than an atomic bomb.
A hydrogen bomb requires a combination of two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, along with a fissionable material, such as uranium or plutonium. Additionally, a hydrogen bomb needs a trigger, usually a small atomic bomb, to initiate the fusion reaction.
A hydrogen bomb relies on the fusion of hydrogen nuclei, or protons, to release energy. This is achieved by compressing and heating hydrogen isotopes to extreme temperatures and pressures, similar to those found in the core of the sun. The fission reaction from the trigger bomb provides the necessary energy and pressure to start the fusion reaction.
The energy released from a hydrogen bomb is measured in megatons, which is equivalent to one million tons of TNT. This is significantly more powerful than the energy released from an atomic bomb, which is measured in kilotons. A hydrogen bomb explosion can also produce a greater amount of radiation compared to other explosives.
The detonation of a hydrogen bomb can lead to widespread destruction and devastation, including the destruction of buildings, infrastructure, and loss of human life. The explosion also produces a large amount of radioactive fallout, which can have long-lasting effects on the environment and human health. The use of hydrogen bombs in warfare has the potential to cause catastrophic consequences and is highly discouraged by the international community.