Hydrogen Bomb vs. Atomic Bomb: What's the Difference?
North Korea is threatening to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean in response to President Donald Trump's request for new sanctions on individuals, companies and banks that conduct business with the country, notoriously incarcerated, according to press reports.
"I think it could be a H-bomb test to an unprecedented level, perhaps over the Pacific," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters this week during a UN General Assembly meeting in the city of NY. CBS News. Ri added that "it depends on our leader".
Hydrogen bombs, or thermonuclear bombs, are more powerful than atomic or "fission" bombs. The difference between thermonuclear bombs and fission bombs begins at the atomic level. [The 10 Greatest Explosions Ever]
Fission bombs, like those used to devastate the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II, work by dividing the nucleus of an atom. When neutrons, or neutral particles, from the nucleus of the atom divide, some strike the nuclei of nearby atoms, splitting them as well. The result is a very explosive chain reaction. Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki exploded with the yield of 15 kilotons and 20 kilotons of TNT, respectively, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
In contrast, the first test of a thermonuclear weapon, or hydrogen bomb, in the United States in November 1952 produced an explosion in the order of 10,000 kilotons of TNT. Thermonuclear bombs start with the same fission reaction as atomic bombs - but most of the uranium or plutonium in atomic bombs is not actually used. In a thermonuclear bomb, an additional step means more of the explosive power of the bomb is available.
First, an ignition explosion compresses a sphere of plutonium-239, the material that will then be subjected to fission. Inside this plutonium-239 well is a chamber of hydrogen gas. The high temperatures and pressures created by the fission of plutonium 239 cause the hydrogen atoms to fuse. This fusion process releases neutrons, which feed back to plutonium 239, dividing more atoms and increasing the fission chain reaction.
Governments around the world use global monitoring systems to detect nuclear testing as part of the effort to enforce the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT, 1996). There are 183 signatories to this treaty, but it is not in force because key nations, including the United States, did not ratify it. Since 1996, Pakistan, India and North Korea have carried out nuclear tests. However, the treaty established a seismic monitoring system that could differentiate a nuclear explosion from an earthquake. The International CTBT Surveillance System also includes stations that detect infrasonic sound whose frequency is too low for human ears to detect - from explosions. Eighty-five radionuclide monitoring stations around the world measure atmospheric precipitation, which can show that an explosion detected by other monitoring systems was in fact nuclear.
"I think it could be a H-bomb test to an unprecedented level, perhaps over the Pacific," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters this week during a UN General Assembly meeting in the city of NY. CBS News. Ri added that "it depends on our leader".
Hydrogen bombs, or thermonuclear bombs, are more powerful than atomic or "fission" bombs. The difference between thermonuclear bombs and fission bombs begins at the atomic level. [The 10 Greatest Explosions Ever]
Fission bombs, like those used to devastate the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II, work by dividing the nucleus of an atom. When neutrons, or neutral particles, from the nucleus of the atom divide, some strike the nuclei of nearby atoms, splitting them as well. The result is a very explosive chain reaction. Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki exploded with the yield of 15 kilotons and 20 kilotons of TNT, respectively, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
In contrast, the first test of a thermonuclear weapon, or hydrogen bomb, in the United States in November 1952 produced an explosion in the order of 10,000 kilotons of TNT. Thermonuclear bombs start with the same fission reaction as atomic bombs - but most of the uranium or plutonium in atomic bombs is not actually used. In a thermonuclear bomb, an additional step means more of the explosive power of the bomb is available.
First, an ignition explosion compresses a sphere of plutonium-239, the material that will then be subjected to fission. Inside this plutonium-239 well is a chamber of hydrogen gas. The high temperatures and pressures created by the fission of plutonium 239 cause the hydrogen atoms to fuse. This fusion process releases neutrons, which feed back to plutonium 239, dividing more atoms and increasing the fission chain reaction.
Governments around the world use global monitoring systems to detect nuclear testing as part of the effort to enforce the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT, 1996). There are 183 signatories to this treaty, but it is not in force because key nations, including the United States, did not ratify it. Since 1996, Pakistan, India and North Korea have carried out nuclear tests. However, the treaty established a seismic monitoring system that could differentiate a nuclear explosion from an earthquake. The International CTBT Surveillance System also includes stations that detect infrasonic sound whose frequency is too low for human ears to detect - from explosions. Eighty-five radionuclide monitoring stations around the world measure atmospheric precipitation, which can show that an explosion detected by other monitoring systems was in fact nuclear.
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