All Topics  
Nuclear explosion

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Nuclear explosion
 
 
  Topics Nuclear explosion Topic Home

A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high-speed nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction

In nuclear physics, a nuclear reaction is the process in which two atomic nucleus or subatomic particles collide to produce products different from the initial particles....
. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission
Nuclear fission

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the atomic nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts, often producing free neutrons and lighter atomic nucleus, which may eventually produce photons ....
, nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple like-charged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus....
 or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device.

Atmospheric nuclear explosions are associated with "mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud

A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect....
s", although mushroom clouds can occur with large chemical explosions, and it is possible to have an air-burst nuclear explosion without these clouds.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Nuclear explosion'
Start a new discussion about 'Nuclear explosion'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Nuclear Fireball
A nuclear explosion occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from an intentionally high-speed nuclear reaction
Nuclear reaction

In nuclear physics, a nuclear reaction is the process in which two atomic nucleus or subatomic particles collide to produce products different from the initial particles....
. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission
Nuclear fission

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the atomic nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts, often producing free neutrons and lighter atomic nucleus, which may eventually produce photons ....
, nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple like-charged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus....
 or a multistage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device.

Atmospheric nuclear explosions are associated with "mushroom cloud
Mushroom cloud

A mushroom cloud is a distinctive mushroom-shaped cloud of condensed water vapor or debris resulting from a very large explosion. They are most commonly associated with nuclear explosions, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect....
s", although mushroom clouds can occur with large chemical explosions, and it is possible to have an air-burst nuclear explosion without these clouds. Nuclear explosions produce large amounts of radiation
Radiation

In physics, radiation describes any process in which energy emitted by one body travels through a medium or through space, ultimately to be absorbed by another body....
 and radioactive debris.

History

In 1964, all nuclear and many non-nuclear states signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. The treaty permitted underground tests.

The primary application to date has been military (i.e. nuclear weapons). However, there are other potential applications, which have not yet been explored, or have been considered but abandoned. They include:

  • Nuclear pulse propulsion, including using a nuclear explosion as asteroid deflection strategy.


  • Power generation; see PACER


  • Peaceful nuclear explosions


Nuclear weapons are largely seen as a 'deterrent' by most governments; the sheer scale of the destruction caused by a nuclear weapon, and awareness that a full-scale nuclear war would likely cause a catastrophic global extinction event, have prevented any serious consideration of their use in warfare.

Nuclear weapons


In the history of warfare, two nuclear weapons have been detonated — both by the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, during the closing days of World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
. The first event occurred on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 dropped a uranium
Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-gray metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table that has the chemical symbol U and atomic number 92....
 gun-type device code-named "Little Boy
Little Boy

Little Boy was the codename of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945 by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets in the 393d Bomb Squadron of the United States Army Air Forces....
" on the Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese city of Hiroshima
Hiroshima

The Japanese city of is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Honshu, the largest of Japan's islands....
. The second event occurred three days later when, again, the United States dropped a plutonium
Plutonium

Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive chemical element. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when plutonium oxide....
 implosion-type device code-named "Fat Man
Fat Man

Fat Man is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945, at 11:02 a.m....
" on the city of Nagasaki. These bombings resulted in the immediate deaths of around 120,000 people and even more over time. The use of these weapons was and remains controversial. (See Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuclear warfares near the end of World War II against the Empire of Japan by the United States at the executive order of President of the United States Harry S....
 for a full discussion).

Nuclear testing


Nuclear tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion....
s. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons have staged tests of them. Testing nuclear weapons can yield information about how the weapons work, as well as how the weapons behave under various conditions and how structures behave when subjected to nuclear explosions. Additionally, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength, and many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states
List of countries with nuclear weapons

Nations that are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as the nuclear club. There are currently nine states that have successfully detonated nuclear weapons....
 publicly declared their nuclear status by means of a nuclear test.

Effects of nuclear explosions


The dominant effects of a nuclear weapon (the blast and thermal radiation) are the same physical damage mechanisms as conventional explosives, but the energy produced by a nuclear explosive is millions of times more per gram and the temperatures reached are in the tens of megakelvins.

See also

  • Visual depictions of nuclear explosions in fiction
    Nuclear weapons in popular culture

    Since their public debut in August 1945, nuclear weapons and their potential effects have been a recurring motif in popular culture, to the extent that the decades of the Cold War are often referred to as the "atomic age."...