Here’s The Difference Between A
Hydrogen Bomb And An Atomic Bomb
The Internet went
crazy on 6th January when North Korea claimed to have
tested a hydrogen bomb. Although a lot of experts are looking into the matter
to ascertain if that’s true or not, US is unconvinced. However, some sort of
nuclear blast did happen. We decided that now would be time to explain to our
readers the difference between an atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb.
Remember the bombs
that ended the World War II basically? Yup, Nagasaki and Hiroshima were the
victims of those bombs – they were atomic bombs. They managed to kill over
200,000 persons and the sites are still suffering from post-explosion trauma
and effects. A Hydrogen bomb is known to be 1,000 times more powerful than the
atomic bomb according to nuclear experts.
Fission
vs. fusion
When it comes down to
H-bomb and A-bomb, the real difference lies between the methods being used to
create energy. We have two known approaches; fission and fusion. The fission is
the process of splitting an atom into smaller ones and the elements used are
plutonium and uranium. Each split of an atom releases an immense amount of
energy – the same process is used in nuclear power plants.
But if you squash the
atoms quickly and closer to one another, a chain reaction starts thus releasing
an amount of energy that can cause quite a catastrophe – atomic bomb. There are
two different models of an atomic bomb, however, the basic idea of each is
fission. The following shows a Reuters illustration of the above-mentioned
variations of an atomic bomb; implosion-type fission bomb and the gun-type
fission bomb.
Hydrogen bombs employ
a method of creating energy that is much more extreme when compared with
A-bomb. The method used is known as fusion. Fusion is the name given to the
process of joining two or more atoms together via reaction. This process is
what powers stars such as sun – just to give you an
idea of the power of fusion. That is the reason why many experts are being
skeptic about North Korea’s claims of testing a hydrogen bomb because it is
quite a feat to achieve fusion on Earth. According to Yang Uk, a senior
research fellow at the Korea Defence and Security Forum said that North Korea
has most likely carried out the testing of a ‘boosted’ fission device and not
an actual fusion device.
You can see a boosted
atomic bomb and a hydrogen bomb below. A unique form of ‘heavy’ hydrogen or
deuterium (green) is the crucial working element for these bombs. To carry out
fusion, a ton of energy is required that is achieved by detonating a fission
bomb first. H-bombs, therefore, are two bombs actually; a fission bomb AND a
fusion bomb. A boosted fission bomb unloads a blast of really strong X-ray
radiations that are focused onto the fusion bomb causing it to detonate.
For all of the humanity’s sake, let’s hope no
one is able to make and test out an actual H-bomb.
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