What Is A Nuclear Bomb?

The nuclear bomb is the deadliest weapon on earth. But what actually happens inside a nuclear bomb? Modern nuclear weapons work through nuclear fission and fusion. Fission is a process that splits the center or nucleus of an atom into two pieces using a neutron. This produces lots of energy. Nuclear fusion works in reverse. Nuclei are exposed to extremely high temperatures or Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239 are used as fuel as they are among the few materials capable of sustaining nuclear fission. Modern bombs use chemical explosives to compress Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239, bringing the atoms closer together. Neutrons are then immediately injected, causing a fission chain reaction that produces the explosion. Fusion bombs, commonly known as thermonuclear weapons, use energy from fission to fuse special forms of hydrogen, releasing even more destructive energy.