Nuclear Fusion vs Nuclear Fission

[i fight by 1 0]

So I see some Nuclear Fusion bombs, but no Nuclear Fission bombs. What the difference between the two, and why aren't there many Fission ones?

[Fubar512 1,350]

So I see some Nuclear Fusion bombs, but no Nuclear Fission bombs. What the difference between the two, and why aren't there many Fission ones?

 

Roughly put, Fission = A-Bomb, Fusion=H-bomb. A-bombs went out of use ( at least in the US and the Soviet Union) by the mid-1950s.

[i fight by 1 0]

A-bombs went out of use (at least in the US and the Soviet Union) by the mid-1950s.

 

Oooh, ok^^.

[Rambler 1-1 9]

I believe that A-bombs had much more radioactive fallout than H-bombs of comprable sizes, and you could get a larger explosion from a smaller H-bomb. The H-bomb is essentially the same type of reaction that happens in the middle of our sun, just not sustainable. It gives off helium and hydrogen rather then the large, unstable radioactive isotopes given off by A-bombs.

[Wrench 9,635]

1flight1:

methinks some basic physics classes are in order. and of course, there's always google....

 

fission - the splitting of atoms, with the resultant release of energy

fussion - the joing of atoms, with the ruslutant release of energy

 

research project: Manhattan Project, and Edward Tellar in his quest fo the 'super bomb' (see also, Bikini Atoll)

 

wrench

kevin stein

[+331Killerbee 840]

Good call Wrench.....

 

I was going to chime in one this one since I worked for the Department of Energy here in Oak Ridge for 10 Years after I left the Marines. I still do Consulting for them......But who wants to think about Work....

Edited April 19, 2009 by 331Killerbee

[Wrench 9,635]

KB, you should have seen the post before I edited myself .... I keep forgetting that Moderators MUST "maintain an even strain".

 

Of coures, NOT everyone here (well, those well under 30) remember the Nuclear Damoclean Sword that hung over our heads for most of our lifetimes....

 

one of my earliest memories (being born in 1957...) was that Fall of 1961 (?? or 62?? --hell, I was only 4 or 5), with my parents scrambling around --and this in Los Angeles mind you, far from the 'scene of the action-- putting together an 'emergency kit' and the little pamphlet from Civil Defense "How to Survive a Nuclear War", iirc the title correctly, because some nut-case parked a few dozen missles just off the southeastern coast.

Things like that tend to taint one's memories...

 

and I was lousey at physics, too....bad math skills

 

wrench

kevin stein

[+331Killerbee 840]

LOL!

[colmack 659]

Bert says what should children do? Duck and Cover! That will save you from them nasty 50 mega ton bombs!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTH when i was growin up I had to worry bout the the Bomb and\or California slipping off into the ocean. luckily Duck and Cover covered both of these contingencies

[+Typhoid 231]

well......

 

strictly speaking - a fusion bomb uses a fission bomb as the trigger.

 

just what else gets hung on around the core.

 

all of the tactical nukes are fission as are the dial-a-yields.

 

as I recollect anyway........

[+331Killerbee 840]

well......

 

strictly speaking - a fusion bomb uses a fission bomb as the trigger.

 

just what else gets hung on around the core.

 

all of the tactical nukes are fission as are the dial-a-yields.

 

as I recollect anyway........

 

Well.......I used to Work at a place called "Trigger Assembly Building" Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Managed by.......Ah, Lets see....Union Carbide...Martin Marietta....UT-Bectel....

 

Just don't ask Me how it's done........I'll go to Jail....

Edited April 19, 2009 by 331Killerbee

[Wrench 9,635]

fission weapons have 'never gone out of style', as they say.

Fission = tactical or battlefield nukes (ala B-61 types)

Fusion = city killers

 

Rright! You need a fission EXPLOSION to triger the fusion IMPLOSION, to force the nuclei together at the pressures and temptures necessary to begin the fusion process. Unlike the Sun (or other stars) we tend to lack the gravity and pressures necessary at standard Terran sea-level

 

Which is another reason the 'uranium-gun type' (Little Boy) bombs fell out of favor for the 'spherical' implosion devices (Fat Man), IIRC I think they also got better yeilds, which are adjustable.

 

somewhere in my favorites, I had a link to all the Bikini/Eniwetok tests ... fascinated and VERYYYYYY frightening.

 

btw, anyone know where I can find some Xerox timers???? I need about a hundred of them...oh, and some plutonium. It's for my Delorian, of course...

 

wrench

kevin stein

[Fubar512 1,350]

Kev, the B-61 is D.A.Y (dial a yield), therefore, it's not a simple atomic device, but a hydrogen bomb. True, fission is used in its primary, but overall, it's still considered a fusion weapon.

[scouserlad13 0]

Man oh man im lookin forward to studying this lot in physics next term...not. Nahh it should be interesting. Hopefully get to learn a bit more about the Chernobyl disaster. I would be interested in studying that, even though that is a bit more modern history but eh, hopefully get a look in on it...

[+Gepard 10,682]

Nukes are senseless. Kills the civilists while the military capability is astonishingly not really harmed.

Its only for people without balls in the trousers.

[GwynO 16]

Comming from someone in Germany......You've got the "Balls" to even make a Comment on how One's Country should conduct War. Given the past History of Yours.......

 

And Yhea, We've got Balls in our Trousers. They come in Mega Ton Size.......Have a tendency to drop too......Done it twice...One for Each......

:lmaosmiley:

 

One was lower than the other too! Big balls, swing low, hit hard.

[FastCargo 412]

Folks,

 

This thread is straying off topic....

 

FC

[+331Killerbee 840]

Folks,

 

This thread is straying off topic....

 

FC

 

You're right FC......I'm sorry.

Edited April 19, 2009 by 331Killerbee

[Uhu 2]

Kev, the B-61 is D.A.Y (dial a yield), therefore, it's not a simple atomic device, but a hydrogen bomb. True, fission is used in its primary, but overall, it's still considered a fusion weapon.

 

 

Aren't there any boosted fission weapons left? What is the point of having only fusion weapons, even in the small kiloton range of yield?

 

BTW, tins is a nice list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nucle...s#United_States

 

Greets, Uhu

Edited May 31, 2009 by Uhu

[zmatt 2]

I don't know much about physics, but I think your fission bombs are started off with some conventional explosives, while the fusion bombs take a fission reaction to get the juices flowing. The Fission bombs are like a big radioactive explosion, while the fusion bomb is more akin to making a small sun for a few seconds. Either way it's scary stuff. In Hiroshima, the people who were close enough to the explosion had their shadows burned into the sidewalk.

[Wrench 9,635]

That was caused by the gamma-ray burst in those first few microseconds. Their bodies stopped just enough radiation for just long enough to 'cast a shadow', before they ceased to exist.

 

Yea, they used conventional high explosive (RDX, iirc) for the initial triggering. Both in the uranium gun and spherical implosion devices.

 

wrench

kevin stein

[i fight by 1 0]

Oh

Edited May 31, 2009 by i fight by 1

[ONETINSOLDIER 2]

"I have become death, the destroyer of worlds,"

I venture to say that none of us can even imagine the weight on that mans soul seconds after witnessing the culmination of a few years of frantic work.

Yeah, "they" could have gotten it first,,

Yeah, we spared a lot of lives by not invading the japanese mainland,,but Im sure at that point , he knew that those reasons didnt matter anymore, the genie was out of the bottle.

 

"The big bang took and shook the world, shot down the rising sun,

the end has begun,it would hit everyone when the chain reaction is done.

The bigshots try to hold it back, the fools try to wish it away.

And the hopefull depend on a world without end, whatever the hopeless may say."

 

 

just my thoughts on the subject, sorry for straying "off topic"

[JediMaster 451]

Just an FYI...they really don't talk much about the physics of nuclear devices in most university classes. I was a physics major and I think the extent that they talked about it has already been covered more in-depth here (only did 4 yrs).

[Lexx_Luthor 57]

University courses are generally Politically Correct, with some remnant PC leaking through to Phys and Teh Maths. Nucs are the ultimate or end limit of XtreeM non-PC.