How does an atomic bomb work?

Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons have been detonated more than 2,000 times as tests and displays of military power.

An atomic bomb (A-bomb) is a weapon of mass destruction whose energy is produced by nuclear fission or fusion reactions. Even the smallest nuclear bomb has greater destructive power than any conventional weapon.


How an atomic bomb works. (Video: AiTelly).

Atomic bombs use the principle of fission to produce energy. Fission occurs when neutrons are fired at the nucleus of an atom, releasing a huge amount of energy and radiation.

After many experiments, scientists discovered that Uranium-235 and Plutonium are the most suitable elements for performing fission reactions.

Atomic bombs get their energy from a series of chain reactions, the more reactions that occur, the greater the destructive power. It is estimated that it has the destructive power equivalent to 30,000 - 300,000 tons of explosives, which can easily completely destroy a city.

Picture 1 of How does an atomic bomb work?
Atomic bombs use the principle of fission to produce energy.

Nuclear weapons were first used at the end of World War II, when the United States Air Force dropped a fission bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on the city of Hiroshima, Japan.

Just one day later, the United States dropped a second nuclear bomb, nicknamed "Fat Man," on the city of Nagasaki, Japan. These bombings killed about 200,000 people, most of them civilians.