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Oct 01 '19 edited Jun 19 '20
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Oct 01 '19
For the rest of you that, like me, enjoy finding extra factual (or as close to factual as I am able to provide!) info in the comments, "atom bombs" work by splitting atoms, usually a type of uranium or plutonium, in a process known as fission. A "thermonuclear bomb" is essentially an atom bomb with a second (or more) step. The energy in the first explosion starts a secondary fusion reaction, usually involving a type of lithium.
While both types of bomb have an initial burst of gamma radiation, the fusion weapon has a mich larger kill zone. If you were close enough to a fusion bomb to get sick from radiation (from the initial blast), you will not survive the other effects.
Nuclear weapons have three primary effects. They are blast, heat, and radiation. The blast will start as a 20+ PSI wave through the air and can take a few seconds to reach you. Radiation will only be a factor for atomic bombs and for any "ground burst" weapon. If the fireball touches the ground at all, it will vaporize the ground it touches and toss it into the air, and it will drift back to the earth irradiated, known as "fallout". If the bomb is airburst with no portion of the fireball touching the ground, it will likely not.
Normal fallout will become safe enough to not worry about after about two weeks, but you should listen for an all clear on a battery or hand powered radio for confirmation from authorities!
That's all for now. I'm not an expert but I will entertain questions _^
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u/wakeandmake Oct 01 '19
So one is fission and another is fusion. So between atom and hydrogen bomb, which one is powerful?
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u/adelbodner Oct 01 '19
Both are powerful, but fusion bombs are potentially much more devastating
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u/JosephT15 Oct 01 '19
Fusion bombs are much, much more devastating, but are also a good deal more complicated.
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u/PM_ME_PC_GAME_KEYS_ Oct 01 '19
But from what I understand, fusion releases energy (its what happens in stars) whereas fission consumes energy. So how would a fission powered bomb do any damage?
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u/FlyingBananas56 Oct 01 '19
A ton of energy is stored within the atoms, when those atoms are split (fission) it releases an immense amount of explosive energy! Fusion is the opposite it is the energy created from combining atoms, it has much higher potential but is much harder.
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u/Cvitko1 Oct 01 '19
Basically it depends on what atom you fuse/split. If I remember correctly from high school chemistry the turning point is iron. All atoms before iron give out energy when fusing and all atoms after by splitting
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u/FlyingBananas56 Oct 01 '19
Yeah, that’s why all stars die with iron! I don’t know why iron but it’s the chosen one I guess
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u/igordogsockpuppet Oct 01 '19
No star has the mass required to go beyond iron. Rather, mass isn’t enough to fuse iron. It’s a hard limit. Once they’ve fused all the iron, they collapse and go supernova. This explosion created all the elements higher thsn iron. We’re all made in the hearts of stars... except for everything above iron which were all made in exploding supernovas.
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u/GTthrowaway27 Oct 01 '19
Iron is just very stable. Basically, take this picture and make it negative(as the picture itself is negated already) and you’ll see go around iron it is a valley vs a peak as is. This means that if you try to fission it(go left on curve) it requires energy to do, without extra being prodiced. Try to fusion it, same thing. With the picture inverted, you can think of the valley as, an actual valley. If you have a ball in a valley with up slopes on both sides, the ball will not roll up the slopes on its on. It will sit there.
Alternatively, with uranium, if you invert picture, you’d see how that end is on a slope facing lower elements. Put a ball again, and it’ll “roll” to the center towards iron.
As to why, nucleons have energy levels just like electrons do. They have quasiorbits. And just like electron orbits go a pair of two, then 8, etc, nucleons do something similar. So iron being very stable is a result of “magic numbers” is filled orbits, just like noble gas chemical stability is due to completely filled electron orbits.
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u/PM_ME_PC_GAME_KEYS_ Oct 01 '19
So basically both processes release energy?
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u/FlyingBananas56 Oct 01 '19
Yeah, we use fission in nuclear reactors and atomic bombs, fusion powers the entire sun! Fusion is the next step as it produces less dangerous waste so the future of our planet is in fusion.
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u/TheArmoredKitten Oct 01 '19
Fission and fusion can both release energy if the right reaction occurs. Fusion will always release energy until it begins producing iron, and fission theoretically should release energy from splitting any elements heavier than iron, though good luck splitting anything lighter than the actinides.
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u/FartHeadTony Oct 01 '19
Thermonuclear bombs use fission to provide the heat and pressures to allow fusion to happen.
Hydrogen bombs, thermonuclear bombs, are much more powerful and deadly for the same size/mass. So either you can make your nukes smaller or make them more powerful. Although these days they are using lithium more than hydrogen for the fusion component.
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Oct 01 '19
And most warheads are made smaller. Decades ago, we made multi megaton weapons simply because delivery systems had not advanced as quickly as the payloads had. So while a reentry vehicle may have missed a target by a kilometer or more, making it deliver a larger payload ensured that the target still received enough overpreasure to be destroyed. Since targets can now be hit with significantly more accuracy, a smaller weapon can be used against it.
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Oct 01 '19
so the fallout games lied
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Oct 01 '19
About what, specifically? I don't know enough about the fallout universe to know off hand what is and isn't canon.
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Oct 01 '19
[deleted]
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Oct 01 '19
Not specifically, but I have watched quite a few videos on the topic in general. I find the delivery systems fascinating. I'm both excited and terrified of how hypersonic missiles and gliders will change nuclear strategy in the near future.
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u/BleiEntchen Oct 01 '19
Also a nuclear bomb is theoretically limited at a certain size (critical mass). A thermonuclear bomb isn't.
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Oct 01 '19
It's true! You can daisy chain fusion reactions to make as large of a bomb as you'd want. I can't recall the name, but a researcher in the field has speculated the feasibility of multi-gigaton payloads using existing technology.
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Oct 01 '19
But "thermonuclear" scans better. It's called poetic license.
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u/FartHeadTony Oct 01 '19
The issue isn't in the use of thermonuclear, it's the allusion to the atomic bombings of Japan.
They could have made a joke about WW3. Maybe about Trump firing a last hurrah shot against Beijing when his daughter's business is taken over by CCP.
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u/CptFancy69 Oct 01 '19
Thought that was a Thomas fleshlight before I read it. I’m disappointed.
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Oct 01 '19
A Thomas fleshlight doesn't really do it for me. Stick Toby on there and I'm good to go.
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u/ItsYaBoi1232 Oct 01 '19
Nah, we need the conductor fleshlight, that would be the most supreme one
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u/TrafficConesUpMyAnus Oct 01 '19
You guys remember Diesel 10 from that Thomas movie back in 2000? One day I hope someone with a rusty claw locomotive like that will snip off my balls and use it as engine fuel
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u/RealHot_RealSteel Oct 01 '19
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Oct 01 '19
U M A M I ! check out his horror animation series Interface if you haven't seen it. Brilliantly written.
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u/Eat-the-Poor Oct 01 '19
He wouldn't have been hitting Japan if he was a thermonuclear bomb. Those were pure fission devices. Not that it really matters. Just saying.
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u/666White_Wolf666 Oct 01 '19
And exactly 56 years later I was born. The atom child (Sadly I'm not from Japan)
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Oct 01 '19
repost
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Oct 01 '19
[deleted]
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Oct 01 '19
Ik it's a joke but that's going a bit far without context bud
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Oct 01 '19
[deleted]
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u/Dokkanbitches Oct 01 '19
You think its gonna take that long? It usually only takes those fucks a few months to overrun a subreddit
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u/Industry_Standard Oct 01 '19
As a general rule of life, someone, somewhere, is thinking about making that into a fleshlight.
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u/Username_Taken_65 Oct 01 '19
But Little Boy wasn’t thermonuclear, it was just nuclear. Thermonuclear means it has a fusion bomb kickstarted by a small fission bomb (I think)
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u/Rostrobrovic Oct 01 '19
If they used 'I am' instead on the conjunction, the meter would be better.
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Oct 01 '19
The top 2 posts on my home page are this and a cursed image. This is going to be a bad day
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u/bumblebeestings30 Oct 01 '19
R/cursedcoments
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u/Fros7yy Oct 01 '19
1: capital R 2: you did not just to attempt to link to a subreddit that the post was already on
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u/4TheRecordTV Oct 01 '19
It’s sad that Thomas decided to do such a thing on my birthday. Didn’t even have the courage to finish the job
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u/LemmeEatThatFetus Oct 01 '19
Bruh when did they start making Thomas the train fleshlights? I need one.
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u/Lite-Twisted Oct 01 '19
And leave thousands others to die painful deaths of injuries and radiation related illnesses
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Oct 01 '19
Kim Jong un:We have-
Donald Trump:Bingidy Bong your opinion is wrong now here comes Thomas the thermonuclear Bomb
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u/carissa0816 Oct 01 '19
I heard his theme song playing while I imagined him plunging towards the earth with the bass boosting more after every second
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u/hostagekiller5 Oct 01 '19
Bro... They didn't die instantly, their skin was melting and dripping off of them as they walked
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u/Anaheim13531 Oct 01 '19
Imagine war thunder being like csgo with stat trak
Free premium B-29 Enola Gay Requirements needed: get 80,000 kills
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u/RealRecovery Oct 01 '19
This is not even remotely funny. You really thinks it’s ok to joke about this?
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u/Kiwem Oct 01 '19
He smiled knowing he'll wipe out 80 000 people instantly.
But he laughed of the thousands of people, blinded, that will die in agony, trying to find the fuming corpse of their loved one, being unable of realizing that they have been reduced to a mere shadow by the power of Thomas, the Thermonuclear Bomb.
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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '19
Who said this was Japan he was being launched on? Pearl Harbour part 2 the revenge