Atomic bomb

Atomic Bomb

  The basic components in an atomic bomb include the fuel and some sort of detonation device such as TNT.  In fission bombs, the fuel is separated into two sub-critical mass parts sothe bomb does not explode accidentally.  When the bomb is detonated, the twosubcritical masses get smashed together to form one supercritical mass.  This supercritical mass is then able to sustain achain reaction.  Then a neutron is fired at this mass to start a chain reaction that leads quickly to a gigantic nuclear explosion.  Below is a diagram of a basic uranium bomb.  Of course, the real bombhas much more things in it such as devices for detonation, antennas for receiving radio signals, etc.
 Another way to detonate a nuclear fission, bomb is by using an implosion method.  An explosionoutside of the surface of a regular subcritical mass of uranium235 or other fissionable material causes the explosion shock wave to go inward to the fissionable core which compresses the core to asupercritical mass that will explode. 
     The more powerful fusion bomb, on the other hand is much more complicated than this.  Fusion is the exact opposite of fission.  Instead of splitting an atom,it smashes two together to create an even greater amount of energy.   The fusion bomb is sometimes called the fission-fusion bomb because in order for nuclear fusion to happen, a great amount ofenergy is required to smash these atoms together.  Nuclear fission is the only process that can create such a tremendous amount of energy.  In a fusion bomb such as the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear fissionbomb is first made.  Then hydrogen fuel is added to undergo the fusion process.  Sometimes, a fusion bomb is made with uranium casing which will undergo fission when exposed to the blast of the fusion. This would then result in a fission-fusion-fission bomb, adding greatly to the power of the bomb.  Because of the way the bomb is designed, there is no limit to how big the hydrogen bomb can be. ...