What makes a nuclear bomb so powerful, is it just the enriched uranium being blown up that does it?
339420
The atomic bomb uses nuclear fission ( the splitting of the nucleus of an atom)and the hydrogen bomb uses nuclear fusion (the bringing together of 2 nuclei, which is what happens in the Sun.). \nUranium ore occurs naturally in a state that cannot be used in most reactors or to make nuclear weapons. Enriching the uranium makes it easier to use in reactors. The enrichment process increases the amount of the fissionable uranium-235 isotope. Uranium enriched to contain less than 20 percent uranium-235 is called low enriched uranium. Uranium enriched to contain 20 percent or greater uranium-235 is highly-enriched uranium that can be directly used to make nuclear weapons. This is because it is more unstable, i think.
913702
I got interesting answers to this question and it may be the only time I gave a Shiraz best answer\n\nHEY, you people who advocate "nuking". Do you know the effects of nuclear bombs?
446799
Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium consists mostly of the 238U isotope, with about 0.72 % by weight as 235U, the only isotope existing in nature in any appreciable amount that is fissionable by thermal neutrons.\n\nEnriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation.\n\nDuring the Manhattan Project enriched uranium was given the codename oralloy, a shortened version of Oak Ridge alloy, after the plant where the uranium was enriched. The term oralloy is still occasionally used to refer to enriched uranium.\n\nThe 238U remaining after enrichment is known as depleted uranium (DU), and is considerably less radioactive than even natural uranium, though still extremely dense. It is useful for armor, armor penetrating weapons and other material density applications.
256020
Kids bits in brackets :)\n\nAn atom bomb works by firing a proton/neutron (a little part of an atom) at a mass of uranium (nuclear material) the proton goes into the uranium and eventually hits and joins with an atom of uranium, that atom is now unstable (a bit like too many people on a ladder) so to make it self stable it loses some protons (some people fall off the ladder), usually 2 or 3 (that's the bit they call fission), these fire off and hit other atoms repeating the process in a chain. if the amount of uranium is small then a lot of the protons fly out of the uranium and do nothing, however if there is enough uranium the protons are contained in the mass and break up even more atoms, leading to a catastrophic chain reaction (KaaaaBOOOOOOM)!!! \n\n***Try shouting the last part it should get a few laughs :)\n\nPS. because the uranium lost more protons than was originally put into it as extra, it is no longer standard uranium, this is called a uranium isotope.\n\nbrubeck_take5 yeah I remember the ping-pong ball video... really cool, wouldn't mind seeing that again... gonna see if I can find it... let you know :)\n\nhere goes... thing the slow motion one is the best\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/trap_sideview_slow_high.wmv\n\nbut if you want to look at them all\n\nhttp://www.ap.stmarys.ca/demos/content/modern/mousetrap_reactor/mousetrap_reactor.html
225113
Helium bomb? Do you mean hydrogen bomb?\n\nAnyway, an atomic bomb uses uranium or plutonium, heavy elements, and bombards them with a force, which splits the heavy nuclei into smaller nuclei, with a huge rush of energy. This is called nuclear fission.\n\nHydrogen bombs are kind of the opposite. They perform nuclear fusion, which is much harder to do. Hydrogen bombs use atomic bombs to provide the force. In the center is a pellet of deuterium, a hydrogen isotope with a neutron. The deuterium fuses together to form helium, creating a much, much, much bigger explosion than fission.\n\nOne modern hydrogen bomb can instantly vaporize all the water in the San Francisco Bay.
455666
basically uranium is a material with both neutrons and protons which that are packed in high explosive shape charged spheres the shape charge blows force inward  collasping on the sphere of uranium and causes the neutrons and protons to collide resulting in the mushroom
445580
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm
270030
Atomic energy states that if we can "break" the energy bonds that keep one atom´s parts together, we would create a chain reaction in surrounding atoms.  This is achieved when we have what is called "critical mass", meaning that we have enough radioactive material for the chain reaction to occur.  Nuclear bombs can be fusion or fision bombs.  In a fision bomb, an atom´s nucleous is bombarded with neutrons and becomes so heavy that it splits as the result of a force (detonation of a small explosive charge), creating th chain reaction already described.  On a fusion bomb, the energy of the detonation combines together two or more radiactive elements to for another.  Each kind of bomb has its pros and cons. Both are very destructive.  Upon detonation a nuclear bomb creates an explosion that is so powerfull that can disipate a huge volume of atmospheric air and so much heat that burns everything on a several miles radius.  A few seconds after the explosion, the weight of the atmosphere pushes the air back to the void, creating an implosion, so you have two kind of destructive forces working in opposite directions with a difference of only seconds.  Then, radiation affects all organisms in the nearby areas and makes impossible to live in them for decades.
571937
A weapon bomb is weapon which explodes on a target or on a desired time or distance.\n\nA nuclear bomb is a bomb which explodes as a result of a nuclear reaction\n\nThere are various types of nuclear bombs:\nAtom Bomb: The bomb in which nuclei of heavy radioactive substances are broken by bobmardment of neutrons.\n\nHydrogen Bomb: The bomb in which Hydrogen atoms are forced to merge into one another to form Helium. \n\nNeutron Bomb: A type of Atom Bomb in which disintigration of nuclei is carried under controlled conditions.
946517
It was low-enriched uranium, not weapons grade. So the answer is NONE. No nukes with THAT uranium. It would have to be enriched , and would amount to a miniscule amount after that.\n\n"could potentially be used in a radiological dispersal device," or dirty bomb.
177603
It depends on how the bomb is designed.\n\n"The most efficient pure fission bomb possible would still only consume ~25% of its fissile material before being blown apart, and can often be much less efficient (Fat Man only had an efficiency of 14%, Little Boy only about 1.4% efficient)."
1170603
okay. well, in a nuclear reactor, uranium or plutonium is bombarded with neutrons in order to force it to split and release huge amounts of energy. elements with 92 protons and up will nearly always absorb a neutron and split without hesitating.\n\nin a nuclear reactor, the uranium is highly enriched, which means it contains certain uranium isotopes that are less stable than others, therefore making it easier to split (and it IS weapon grade). it is kept at what's called the critical mass level. subcritcal mass wont sustain a chain reaction, and supercritical mass will cause a runaway chain reaction, like in an atomic bomb. the control rods in the reactor can be pushed in and out of the core, which contains the uranium (U) or plutonium (Pu). when the rods are all the way in, the reaction comes to a halt, when they are all the way out (they never are) the reaction reaches supercritical levels and escapes control. (this happened at chernobyl). there are other ways for a reactor to reach the supercritical level, the control rod material plays a part, the coolant, and of course those controlling the reaction. control rod material is very important, because if the material the rods are made of do not absorb enough neutrons, they will allow the reaction to continue (this happened at chernobyl, the material actually caused an increase in reaction speed and power). the coolant must have a very low void coefficient, (the void coefficient tells how much of the liquid is gas pockets at any given time. water has a high void coefficient) or else the gas pockets will allow extra heat to build up, therefore allowing the reaction to escape control, and possibly melt the core, as what happened at Three Mile Island. \n\nin short, a nuclear reactor cannot cause a thermonuclear explosion, because all current nuclear reactors are fission reactors, and thermonukes are fusion. however, the fission reactors in operation CAN cause an explosion (and it IS a nuclear explosion. nuclear particles and waste material are ejected from the reactor when it explodes. this can cause acute radiation poisoning in surrounding area), if they are not very carefully, precisely, and intelligently monitored.
375930
as a matter of fact, the US indeed have arsenals for nuclear bombs. The US Gov't has to maintain nuclear bombs, simply because, it wanted to stay as the world's most powerful and influential nation.
630393
That would be pretty stupid of mankind.  But then, we're not known for intelligence, on the whole...\n\nTornadoes only form in very low pressure systems, and the main destructive force of a nuke is its ability to create a very high pressure center that blows down everything in its path.  If anything, the low pressure of the atmosphere would amplify the effect of the nuke, because the pressure differential would be greater.  As for tornado, if it weren't destroyed (and the disruption caused by the high pressure of the bomb may do that), it could potentially carry and scatter radioactive dust for miles, especially if the nuke were burst close to the ground.
955928
In a fission bomb, shaped explosives force a weapons-grade plutonium core to undergo fission.\n\nAn a fusion (hydrogen) bomb, the energy comes from the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium, and is much more powerful that fission bombs.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
668106
A nuclear weapon is a weapon which derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of either nuclear fission or the more powerful fusion. As a result, even a nuclear weapon with a relatively small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives... so practically it is.
632625
Uranium is not explosive.  It is radioactive.  Even "enriched" Uranium is not explosive, it is just highly radioactive.  If you want to understand the relationship between uranium or plutonium and weaponry look up thermonuclear fisson.