how does a nuclear submarine work?
826107
Nuclear reactors are basically heat engines. As uranium fissions, the breaking apart of atoms releases energy, much of it in the form of heat, which can then be used to do work. In a nuclear-powered submarine, reactor heat produces steam to drive the turbines that provide the submarine's actual power. The development of compact, safe, and highly reliable pressurized water reactors for naval use in the early 1950s was the major technological achievement that made nuclear-powered submarines possible.\n\nHow Reactors Work\nNaval pressurized-water reactors include a primary coolant system and a secondary coolant system. The primary system circulates water, which is pressurized to keep it from boiling, in a closed loop. As water passes through the reactor, it is heated. It then goes through the steam generator, where it gives up its heat to generate steam in the secondary system. Finally, it flows back to the reactor to be heated again. Inside the steam generator, heat energy is transferred across a watertight boundary to the secondary system, also a closed loop. The unpressurized water in the secondary system turns to steam when heated. The steam, in turn, flows through the secondary system to the propulsion turbines, which turn the propellers, and to the turbine generators, which supply electricity. As it cools, it condenses to water and is pumped back to the steam generator.
904693
If you've got a submarine shaped like a flat-nosed bullet and accelerate it to supercavitation speed, a few hundred km/hour, the water in front of it will be pushed sideways and the sub will be surrounded by a bubble containing nothing but a little water vapour at low pressure.   The only part of the sub in contact with the water would be the flat nose tip.  If you could make it work, you'd cross the Atlantic at airliner speed.  Problems that spring to mind are the huge amount of energy you'd need, how you'd see far enough ahead to avoid an obstacle like a whale, and the effect on marine life.  A possible fuel would be aluminium powder, which you'd react with the water.
713781
Many roles. In general, subs are ASW platforms. They hunt enemy subs.  Sub also scout ahead  of a task force. They can monitor a enemy beach, land special forces, mine the enemies harbor, Tap undersea cables for intel. They in the past have also been used for lifeguard duty (rescue of downed Carrier pilots) Former president Bush's rescue in WW2 is a prime examle of such a operation.
540682
This gives a detailed explanation of how they work.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_light
1128733
nothing the electricity will be transfered along the outside of the sub and be dispersed into the surrounding water. Some of the electronics might suffer a little surge damage but nothing major would happen. Unless someone was standing on the exterior of the sub when it was struck.
445580
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-bomb.htm
540553
In baseball, a submarine is a pitch delivered with a three-quarter sidearm or underhand motion. The pitcher delivers the ball while almost scraping his knuckles on the dirt. The pitch has a tendency to break more than one delivered with an overhand motion. Pitches thrown via a submarine motion are also generally more difficult for hitters to see relative to pitches thrown via an overhand motion. These are the toughest pitchers for same-side batters to hit (if the submarine pitcher is right handed, then he or she is the most difficult for a right handed hitter to hit). But a lot of their breaking balls seem to float to an opposite-side batter.
1183589
some types of guns work underwater
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
236010
Accoding to accounts I have read, they were conducting a test of certain safety systems, which were supposed to shut things down in the event of a catastrophic failure. So they shut off certain other safety systems that would have tripped earlier, and went ahead with the test. The systems they were testing failed to work, so nothing shut it off. The reactor went critical, a lot of water was broken down into hydrogen and oxygen, which built up as an explosive mixture inside the containment vessel, and you know the rest of the story.
1147753
The Smallest Submarine in the World \n\nWith a diameter of 650 µm it finds place in the narrowest chanels. It's\ndriven by a rotary magnet and allows a voyage of discovering even in the\nsmallest space. \n\nThis submarine, manufactured by microTEC, Duisburg, puts the vision of the\nmicrosystem technology in practice and offers for instance absolutely new\nvistas for medical diagnostics. Featured with sensors it could realize\ncompletely new methods for examinations, that are extremely gentle  for the\npatients. \n\nFor the manufacturing of the micro submarine the new features of RMPD\n(Rapid Micro Product Development) are used to integrate different materials\nseamlessly. Mini magnets, that are fitted in the screw, build the\nfoundation for the driving system oft the submarine. \n\nYou see this smallest submarine in the world at the Hannover Industrie\n1998, \nH18, 1. OG, M06 from 20.-25. April. \n\nThe Micro Submarine: \nRotary Diameter         10µm (micro meter) \nScrew Diameter          600µm (micro meter) \nHull Diameter           650µm (micro meter)\nTotal Length            4mm
583153
you need to slap who ever told you there are no stupid questions. This one is clearly stupid.\n\nWhy don't you ask how something in specific works.\nLike a motor, computer, nuclear reactor, water wheel, or something.
1099809
The tsunami question makes me think hard...I've thought about this many times before. \n\nA nuclear explosion starts as a radiative shock which degenerates into a supercritical shock, and so on, until all that remains is a volume of gas surrounded by an expanding train of sound waves.  In water, the question would come down to the equilibrium volume of water vapor produced at the depth of the explosion.  That would primarily depend on the water pressure at that depth and the total yield, I think.\n\nI simply don't have the expertise to calculate that figure, but I suspect the total displacement would be relatively small, even for the largest weapons ever fielded.\n\nI suspect little of the energy released would ultimately be partitioned into work (mechanical lifting)...thus any tsunami would probably be small and of a relatively short wavelength.\n\nVery interesting problem to consider.
363584
Most US Navy subs can do at least 40 MPH submerged. I don't think you could hang on, even if you could survive the impact. And they have a little thing called sonar which keeps people from being able to sneak up on them unobserved. The sonar puts out pulses that can travel a hundred miles and return, they are pretty powerful. Used in 'antipersonnel mode', it would be like getting hit with a sledgehammer.\n\nWhat you need is a 'density shunt', a powered suit of armor of material MUCH denser than water (and you), like osmium. It is a rare metal, so this would be expensive. But in theory, with an osmium diving suit, the sonar pulses would travel through the suit, around you,and would affect you much less than if you were in contact with the water. \n\nTo get hold of the sub, instead of suction cups, I'd recommend a grappling hook with a cable, loop the cable around the conning tower. They'd have to have guys come out and physically cut the cable before they could get rid of you. \n\nWatch out for those SEALS, though. You might need to use some exploding harpoons from a CO2 powered spear gun to keep them from stopping you.... uh, just what is it you were planning anyhow...? Nothing bad, right, I mean, you're a loyal American, aren't you...? I hope I didn't just give away the weaknesses of the Navy. Listen, don't tell this to anybody else, OK?
991628
If you have ever used a level, the bubble on the indicator will show if an object needs to be raised or lowered on one end or another of the object being leveled.So on a submarine the command will either be UP bubble or DOWN bubble depending on which way the ship needs to go.
368047
Are you refering to communication to submarines.\n\nCheck out the ELF project, extremely low frequency telecommunications.
706771
All of them except those on islands, in the air or at sea.\n\nIf you mean the magnetic poles or the geodetic poles, the south poles.\n\nThe first nuclear (or in Bush's case 'nuke-you-lar) submarine made history by surfacing at the north pole many years ago.