The Hydrogen Bomb, H-bomb, or thermonuclear bomb is a bomb atomic that has the larger potential from destruction .
Its operation stems from a fusion process, which is why it can also be called a fusion pump. It's the most powerful weapon on the planet.
Atomic Bomb vs Hydrogen Bomb
The atomic bomb may be composed of uranium 235 ( 235 U) or plutonium 239 ( 239 Pu), which are heavy chemical elements. The hydrogen bomb, as the name implies, is made up of hydrogen (H), which is a light element.
The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (composed of uranium 235 and plutonium 239 respectively) resulted from the process of fission (splitting of the nucleus of the atom).
The hydrogen bomb resulted from the process of fusion (the joining of the nucleus of the atom). Thus, the process atomic is a main difference between as bombs .
Learn more at Atomic Bomb.
How It Works
The explosion of the hydrogen bomb stems from the process from fusion , which takes place at very high temperatures, about approximately 10 million degrees Celsius.
The isotopes of hydrogen (H), called deuterium (H2 ) and tritium (H3 ), come together. Isotopes have the same number of protons and electrons, but not neutrons.
By joining together, the nucleus of the atom generates even more energy. This is because helium nuclei are formed, whose atomic mass is 4 times greater than that of hydrogen.
Thus, from a light core, the core becomes heavy. Therefore, the process of fusion is many or thousands of times more violent than that of fission.
Ability of Destruction
The destruction capacity of the hydrogen bomb is measured in megatons . One megaton is equivalent to one million tons of dynamite. The atomic bomb, in turn, has a destructive power equivalent to a thousand tons of the same chemical explosive.
Remember that in the two situations in which it was used (during World War II), the atomic bomb destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan.
Find out how it happened at the Hiroshima Bomb.
Enewetak Atoll
On November 1, 1952, a nuclear test, named Ivy Mike, was carried out by the United States of America (USA) at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The result was so violent that it opened a crater about 2 kilometers in diameter.
It was an island uninhabited since the end of World War II, when it had been turned into a nuclear testing ground.
People started returning to the island in the 70's and the US started a work from decontamination . In 1980 the island was considered free of contamination.
Learn about the health impacts caused by the biggest nuclear accident in history at the Chernobyl Accident.
Bikini Atoll
BiKini Atoll, located in the Marshall Islands, was also used by the US between 1946 and 1958.
There, more than two dozen hydrogen bombs were detonated, which is why the atoll became uninhabitable. BiKini Atoll has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project, led by the US, was responsible for creating the atomic bomb in the 1940s.
It was directed by physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer. The physicist Edward Teller (1908-2003), a participant in this project, is considered the father of the hydrogen bomb.
Another participant was Philip Morrison (1915-2005). The American physicist worked on the creation of nuclear reactors.
See entrance exam questions on the subject in the list we have prepared :Exercises on radioactivity.