[no1]

[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


|
|
|
|
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|
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|
/ | \
|/_ | _\|
~~ | ~~
|
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o o ) | ( o o
/ o \
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/ | \
|/_ \|/ _\|
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. | . . | . . | .
/ | \ / | \ / | \
: | : : | : : | :
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\:/ | \:/ \:/ | \:/ \:/ | \:/
~ | ~ ~ | ~ ~ | ~
[4] o o | o o [5] [4] o o | o o [5] [4] o o | o o [5]
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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
/ | \ / | \ / | \
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/ [1] \ / [1] \ / [1] \
o o o o o o
[1] [1] [1] [1] [1] [1]
B. U-235, U-238 and Plutonium[/align]