The heart of a nuclear explosion reaches a temperature of several million degrees centigrade. Over a wide area the resulting heat flash literally vaporises all human tissue. People inside buildings or otherwise shielded will be indirectly killed by the blast and heat effects as buildings collapse and all inflammable materials burst into flames.
Those in underground shelters who survive the initial heat flash will die as all the oxygen is sucked out of the atmosphere. Outside the area of total destruction there will be a gradually increasing percentage of immediate survivors. However most of these will suffer from fatal burns, will be blinded, bleeding and suffering massive internal injuries.
Survivors will be affected within a matter of days by radioactive fall-out. Radiation-induced cancers will affect many, often over twenty years later. Nuclear weapons cause severe damage to the climate and environment on a scale incomparable to any other weapon: the Red Cross estimates that a billion people around the world could face starvation as a result of nuclear war.
Taking into account the effects a nuclear bomb would have, it is no surprise that CND campaigns against nuclear weapons. They are immoral and expensive weapons of mass destruction, which have no military or strategic function in the face of 21st century threats. This particular resource used the following sources:. Skip to main content. Nuclear Chemistry. Search for:. The Atomic Bomb. Learning Objective Describe the chemical reaction which fuels an atomic bomb.
Key Points Atomic bombs are nuclear weapons that use the energetic output of nuclear fission to produce massive explosions. Only two nuclear weapons have been used in the course of warfare, both by the U. Show Sources Boundless vets and curates high-quality, openly licensed content from around the Internet.
Licenses and Attributions. Powered by plutonium , Fat Man could not use the same gun-type design that allowed Little Boy to explode effectively - the form of plutonium collected from the nuclear reactors at Hanford, WA for the bomb would not allow for this strategy. The Hanford plutonium emerged from the reactors less pure than the initial plutonium extracted from Ernest O. Thus, a new design was required. Physicist Seth Neddermeyer at Los Alamos constructed a design for the plutonium bomb that used conventional explosives around a central plutonium mass to quickly squeeze and consolidate the plutonium, increasing the pressure and density of the substance.
An increased density allowed the plutonium to reach its critical mass, firing neutrons and allowing the fission chain reaction to proceed. To detonate the bomb, the explosives were ignited, releasing a shock wave that compressed the inner plutonium and led to its explosion.
Browse our collection of oral histories with workers, families, service members, and more about their experiences in the Manhattan Project. Sense of Place. Skip to main content. Science Behind the Atom Bomb. History Page Type:. Thursday, June 5, Fission The isotopes uranium and plutonium were selected by the atomic scientists because they readily undergo fission. Criticality In order to detonate an atomic weapon, you need a critical mass of fissionable material.
The Difference Between the Bombs Little Boy and Fat Man utilized different elements and completely separate methods of construction in order to function as nuclear weapons. Fat Man Powered by plutonium , Fat Man could not use the same gun-type design that allowed Little Boy to explode effectively - the form of plutonium collected from the nuclear reactors at Hanford, WA for the bomb would not allow for this strategy.
Atomic Glossary Atom : building blocks of matter; made up of a small, dense nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons negatively-charged particles Nucleus : makes up the center of the atom; consists of a number of positively-charged protons and a neutral no charge neutrons.
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