How does a neutron bomb work?
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A neutron bomb is a type of nuclear weapon invented by Samuel Cohen specifically designed to release a relatively large portion of its energy as energetic neutron radiation.\n\nNeutron radiation consists of free neutrons. Neutrons may be emitted during nuclear fission (either spontaneous or triggered), nuclear fusion, very high energy reactions such as in a Spallation Neutron Source, or from certain other reactions, most famously the (α,n) reaction, for example when a beryllium nucleus absorbs an alpha particle and emits a neutron.\n\nCold, thermal and hot neutron radiation is most commonly used for scattering and diffraction experiments in order to access the properties and the structure of materials in condensed matter physics, biology, solid state chemistry, materials science, geology, mineralogy and related sciences.\n\nNeutron radiation is often called indirectly ionizing radiation. It does not ionize atoms in the same way protons, photons, and electrons do (exciting an electron) because neutrons have no charge. However, neutron interactions are largely ionizing, for example when neutron absorption results in gamma emission and the gamma subsequently removes an electron from an atom, or a nucleus recoiling from a neutron interaction is ionized and causes more traditional subsequent ionization in other atoms. Because neutrons are uncharged, they are more penetrating than alpha radiation or beta radiation. In some cases they are more penetrating than gamma radiation, which is impeded in materials of high atomic number, in hydrogen, a low energy neutron may not be as penetrating as a high energy gamma. In health physics neutron radiation is considered a fourth radiation hazard alongside these other types of radiation. Another, sometimes more severe, hazard of neutron radiation is neutron activation, the ability of neutron radiation to induce radioactivity in most substances it encounters, including the body tissues of the workers themselves. This occurs through the capture of neutrons by atomic nuclei, which are transformed to another nuclide, frequently a radionuclide. This process accounts for much of the radioactive material released by the detonation of a nuclear weapon. It is also a problem in nuclear fission and nuclear fusion installations, as it gradually renders the equipment radioactive; eventually the hardware must be replaced and disposed of as low-level radioactive waste. Neutrons also degrade materials; intense bombardment with neutrons creates dislocations in the materials, leading to embrittlement of metals and other materials, and to swelling of some of them. This poses a problem for nuclear reactor vessels, and significantly limits their lifetime (which can be somewhat prolonged by controlled annealing of the vessel, reducing the number of the built-up dislocations).\n\nThe neutrons in reactors are generally categorized as slow (thermal) neutrons or fast neutrons depending on their energy. Thermal neutrons are similar to a gas in thermodynamic equilibrium but are easily captured by atomic nuclei and are the primary means by which elements undergo atomic transmutation.\n\nIn order to achieve an effective fission chain reaction, the neutrons produced during fission must be captured by fissionable nuclei, which then split, releasing more neutrons. In most fission reactor designs, the nuclear fuel is not sufficiently refined to be able to absorb enough fast neutrons to carry on the fission chain reaction, due to the lower cross section for higher-energy neutrons, so a neutron moderator must be introduced to slow the fast neutrons down to thermal velocities to permit sufficient absorption. Common neutron moderators include graphite, light water and heavy water. A few reactors (fast neutron reactors) and all nuclear weapons rely on fast neutrons. This requires certain changes in the design and in the required nuclear fuel. The element beryllium is particularly useful due to its ability to act as a neutron reflec
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bomb is an explosive device which, although not containing more energy than ordinary fuel (except in the case of a nuclear weapon), generates and releases its energy very rapidly, as a violent, destructive shock wave. It is usually some kind of container filled with explosive material, designed to cause random destruction when set off. The word comes from the Greek βόμβος (bombos), an onomatopoetic term with approximately the same meaning as "boom" in English.\n\nThese are first and foremost weapons; the term "bomb" is not usually applied to explosive devices used for civilian purposes (such as construction or mining), although the people using the devices may or may not sometimes refer to them as bombs. Note that many military explosive devices are not called "bombs". The military mostly calls airdropped, unpowered explosive weapons "bombs," and such bombs are normally used by air forces and naval aviation. Other military explosive devices are called grenades (such as hand grenades), shells, depth charges, warheads (in missiles), or land mines.\n\nThey have been used for centuries in warfare and are a central part of the terrorist's arsenal. They fall into three distinct categories: conventional (filled with chemical explosives), dispersive (filled with submunitions, chemicals or other disruptive agents which are spread on or shortly before impact) or nuclear (relying on nuclear fission or nuclear fusion for their effect).\n\n \nDevice originally thought to be a pipe bomb, found to be a time bomb. From a U.S. government publication.A distinction is commonly drawn between terrorist and military bombs. The latter are almost always mass-produced weapons, developed and constructed to a standard design out of standard components and intended to be deployed in a standard way each time. By contrast, terrorist bombs are usually custom-made, developed to any number of designs, use a wide range of explosives of varying levels of power and chemical stability, and are used in many different ways. For this reason, they are generally referred to as improvised explosive devices or IEDs.\n\nThe most powerful bomb in existence is the hydrogen bomb, a nuclear weapon. The most powerful bombs ever used in combat were the two nuclear bombs dropped by the United States to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The most powerful non-nuclear bomb is the United States Air Force's MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast).\n\nThe most powerful bomb ever was Tsar Bomba: ca. 50 Mt; it had a mass of 27 tons; it was dropped from a bomber for a test, but was for various reasons not very suitable for combat.\n\nThe first hydrogen bomb Ivy Mike (10.4 Mt) was even heavier in mass, 82 tons. It was too heavy to be deliverable by a plane or rocket, and therefore not very suitable for an attack.
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Yes, it's done all the time in nuclear reactors. \n\nIt's done by shooting neutrons at atoms of Uranium-235, which is "fissionable", meaning it's a kind of atom that can be split. (Other kinds of atoms can't be split, at least not easily).\n\nThey don't pick the individual atoms they want to split; they just put a bunch of U-235 near a neutron source, and wait. Nor do they see the atoms. They determine it has been split by analyzing the uranium before and after it's been bombarded. Afterwards, there are trances of other elements that weren't there before. So that's how they know.
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nuclear bombs is the general term for any bomb that involves a nuclear reaction, but often is meant to denote a fission bomb that uses uranium or plutonium, like the ones dropped on japan. a hydrogen bomb uses nuclear fusion, which is more powerful, but requires a fission reaction to start it, so a hydrogen bomb contains a fission bomb and hydrogen to undergo fusion\nhydrogen bombs are definitely not more environmentally correct; they cause much more destruction and as much if not more radiatioactivity. this is especially true if they have a uranium "jacket" that creates a second fission explosion after the first fission and fusion.
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There are two major types of reactors in use in the U.S.  Boiling Water Reactors (BWR)\nPressurized Water Reactors (PWR)\nIn either type the coolant acts as a moderator to slow down the speed of neutrons so that they have a better chance of intereacting with the fuel.  The neutron collides with a fuel atom causing it to split releasing some energy (read heat) and two more neutrons to continue the process.  Control rods absorb some neutrons as does chemicals injected in the water (boron)  to slow down the reaction.  This way you get a nice slow even release of energy instead of all at once.  The water is pressurized to allow it to remain liquid at much higher temperatures sort of like your radiator.  A steam generator is a heat transfer device that allows the water to stay pressurised in the primary system and still get steam to turn the turbine.  After that, it all works like any other power plant.  The only difference is how you make the steam.  \n\nIn a boiler I am sorry to have to back away because all of my experience is with PWR's.\n\nCheck out the link below for plenty of info on these beasts.
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A nuclear bomb is a weapon which derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fission or fusion. As a result, even a nuclear bomb with a relatively small yield is significantly more powerful than the largest conventional explosives, and a single bomb is capable of destroying an entire city.
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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.
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When an atomic bomb detonates, a nuclear fission reaction occurs which actually transforms a very small amount of mass into energy.\nUsing the well-known formula,\nE=mc^2,\nwe can calculate the amount of energy associated with that mass that is "lost".\n\nOnly a very very tiny amount of mass is actually trasformed into energy in the reaction, but since that mass is multiplied by such a huge number (the speed of light squared), the energy released is gigantic.\n\nUsually, A-bomb yeilds are given in terms of [kilo / mega] tons of TNT to measure the energy given off.\nThe yeild on the atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima Japan in 1945 ('Little Boy') was about 16 kilotons of TNT [high end estimate].  1 ton of TNT releases about 4.25 E9 Joules of energy.  Using this conversion, we can calculate that the Hiroshima bomb released about 6.8 E13 Joules.  By comparison, the entire average enegry consumption of the United States per year is on the order of 10 to the 20 Joules, so 1 A-bomb packs a pretty good punch.\n\nSince 1945, atomic bombs have gotton much MUCH more powerful in addition to the Hydrogen bomb which is exceedingly more powerful than the atomic bomb.
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A hydrogen bomb is a fusion bomb.\n\nThe uranium / plutonium bombs are fission bombs.\n\nBoth may properly be called atomic or nuclear bombs.\n\nThere are also combinations such as the fisson-fusion-fission bomb which combines features of both types.
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An electromagnetic bomb or E-bomb is a weapon designed to disable electronics on a wide scale with an electromagnetic pulse. The electromagnetic pulse was first observed during high altitude nuclear weapon detonations. An electromatic pulse lasts for less than a nanosecond, and travels outward in every direction as an electromagnetic shock wave.This shock wave will induce heavy currents in all electronic gadgets that mainly contain semiconducting and conducting materials.This produces immense heat that simply fries the circuitry inside and destroys them. As such, while not being directly responsible for the loss of lives, these weapons are capable of disabling electronic systems on which industrialized nations are highly dependent.\n\nElectromagnetic weapons are still mostly classified and research surrounding them is highly secretive. It is generally thought that E-bombs use explosively pumped flux compression generator technology as their power source.
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You are thinking of a "neutron bomb" which commences with an explosion perhaps well above the target, minimizing physical damage.  The real damage is caused by the flood of neutrons that are released.  A neutron has mass but no charge and is very penetrating since it can not be repelled by protons or electrons.  However, the neutron may move at extremely high speed and do its damage upon impact with matter.  Lead is a good shield against gamma rays, similar to X-rays but more penetrating) because the electromagnetic photons are arrested by the cloud of electrons surrounding heavy lead atoms.  But neutrons pass right through like baseballs thrown past a neat row of trucks.  In effect, it takes a baseball to stop a baseball.  Neutrons are stopped by hydrogen atoms consisting of one proton and one electron because the neutron weighs only sligtly more than a proton.  Throw a speeding baseball at a suspended baseball and they will both change motion, one speeding up and one slowing down.  People are composed of much hydrogen locked up in water (H20) and hydro-carbons.  When a neutron strikes, the hydrogen is energized and ionized with its electron stripped away and that can cause tissue damage.  The neutrons can travel right through the walls of a house and find the people.  All the more reason for peace on earth and good will towards men (and innocent women and children too!).
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none, the 2 different bombs you are trying to get at are usually called atomic and hydrogen bombs\n\natomic (that was dropped over Japan 1946) is uncontrolled splitting (fission) of uranium whereas in the nuclear power reactors this is done slowly -- the reaction is controlled.\n\nhydrogen bomb was never tested over human population (only atoll Bikini) is a synthesis (fusion) of hydrogen into helium. This reaction produces the energy from the Sun and it is still in a research mode here on earth to get this reaction under control.\nIt would be much more effective source of energy than the nuclear one.
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Neutrons can give a nucleus (the core of an atom) stability. They act a little bit like glue to the protons.
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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)."
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Well, there are two ways. One way is nuclear fission, like in an atomic bomb. A slow-moving neutron is fired into a large atom (like Uranium-235, or Plutonium-239). The neutron hits the atom, causing it to reverberate and stretch, until it splits into two smaller atoms, releasing tons of energy.\n\nThe other way is the way they do it in the lab, using a linear accelerator or a cyclotron. Regardless of the method, a small particle is propelled using powerful magnets to almost the speed of light. It then smashes into a large atom, where it disintegrates into a slurry of subatomic particles.
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They basically bombard one existing element with particles and try to get em to stick. =)
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Some points:-\n1) Neutron is a neutral particle, so it does not get deflected by electric or magnetic fields. Great advantage isn't it.\n\n2) The most important point is however,\nthat these particles are accelerated using accelarator. Now if the particle be of light weight, then a very small increase in the energy corresponds to a great increase in its velocity. So the accelerator goes easily out of step, without supplying required energy to the particle. Neutron is the heaviest among the sub-atomic particles ( at least according to the 12 th standard). So this problem gets minimised by using neutrons.\n\n3) Neutrons being uncharged is not deflected by the target nuclei. So we need not impart that much amount of energy to a neutron, that was to be imparted to a proton or an electron.\n\npoint 2 prohibits the usage of electron & point 3 The usage of proton. So the only sub-atomic particle left (according to the 12 th standard) is a neutron. That is why it is used widely.