[align=center][3 different bomb types]
______________________ ______________________ ______________________
| | | | | |
| -[10 KILOTONS]- | | -[1 MEGATON]- | | -[20 MEGATONS]- |
|----------------------| |----------------------| |----------------------|
| Airburst - 1,980 ft | | Airburst - 8,000 ft | | Airburst - 17,500 ft |
|______________________| |______________________| |______________________|
| | | | | |
| [1] 0.5 miles | | [1] 2.5 miles | | [1] 8.75 miles |
| [2] 1 mile | | [2] 3.75 miles | | [2] 14 miles |
| [3] 1.75 miles | | [3] 6.5 miles | | [3] 27 miles |
| [4] 2.5 miles | | [4] 7.75 miles | | [4] 31 miles |
| [5] 3 miles | | [5] 10 miles | | [5] 35 miles |
| | | | | |
|______________________| |______________________| |______________________|
II. Nuclear Fission/Nuclear Fusion
A. Fission (A-Bomb) & Fusion (H-Bomb)
The minimum amount to start a chain reaction as described above is known as SuperCritical Mass. The actual mass needed to facilitate this chain reaction depends upon the purity of the material, but for pure U-235, it is 110 pounds (50 kilograms), but no Uranium is ever quite pure, so in reality more will be needed.
Diagram of a Chain Reaction
[1] - Incoming Neutron
[2] - Uranium-235
[3] - Uranium-236
[4] - Barium Atom
[5] - Krypton Atom
|
|
|
|
[1]------------------------------> o
. o o .
. o_0_o . <-----------------------[2]
. o 0 o .
. o o .
|
\|/
~
. o o. .o o .
[3]-----------------------> . o_0_o"o_0_o .
. o 0 o~o 0 o .
. o o.".o o .
|
/ | \
|/_ | _\|
~~ | ~~
|
o o | o o
[4]-----------------> o_0_o | o_0_o <---------------[5]
o~0~o | o~0~o
o o ) | ( o o
/ o \
/ [1] \
/ \
/ \
/ \
o [1] [1] o
. o o . . o o . . o o .
. o_0_o . . o_0_o . . o_0_o .
. o 0 o . <-[2]-> . o 0 o . <-[2]-> . o 0 o .
. o o . . o o . . o o .
/ | \
|/_ \|/ _\|
~~ ~ ~~
. o o. .o o . . o o. .o o . . o o. .o o .
. o_0_o"o_0_o . . o_0_o"o_0_o . . o_0_o"o_0_o .
. o 0 o~o 0 o . <--[3]--> . o 0 o~o 0 o . <--[3]--> . o 0 o~o 0 o .
. o o.".o o . . o o.".o o . . o o.".o o .
. | . . | . . | .
/ | \ / | \ / | \
: | : : | : : | :
: | : : | : : | :
\:/ | \:/ \:/ | \:/ \:/ | \:/
~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~
[4] o o | o o [5] [4] o o | o o [5] [4] o o | o o [5]
o_0_o | o_0_o o_0_o | o_0_o o_0_o | o_0_o
o~0~o | o~0~o o~0~o | o~0~o o~0~o | o~0~o
o o ) | ( o o o o ) | ( o o o o ) | ( o o
/ | \ / | \ / | \
/ | \ / | \ / | \
/ | \ / | \ / | \
/ | \ / | \ / | \
/ o \ / o \ / o \
/ [1] \ / [1] \ / [1] \
o o o o o o
[1] [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
B. U-235, U-238 and Plutonium[/align]