Nucular War Essay

While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (nucular war)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!

NUCLEAR WARFARE

Nuclear Weapons are explosive devices made to release nuclear energy. The first atomic bomb, which was tested on July 16, 1945, at Alamogordo, New Mexico, represented a completely new type of artificial explosive. All explosives get their power from the rapid burning or decomposition of some chemical compound. Such chemical processes release only the energy of the outermost electrons in the atom.

Nuclear explosives involve energy sources within the core, or nucleus, of the atom. The A-bomb gained its power from the splitting, or fission, of all the atomic nuclei in several kilograms of plutonium. A sphere about the size of a baseball produced an explosion equal to 20,000 tons of TNT.

The A-bomb was constructed, and tested by the Manhattan Project, a big United States enterprise that was established in August 1942, during World War II. It was made by a group scientist including the physicists Enrico Fermi and J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the chemist Harold Urey, and was in charge by an U.S. Army engineer, Major General Lesle Groves.

After the war, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission became in charge of all nuclear matters, including weapons research. Other types of bombs were developed to tap the energy of light elements, such as hydrogen. In these bombs the source of energy is the fusion process, in which nuclei of the isotopes of hydrogen combine to form a heavier helium nucleus. This weapons research has resulted in the production of bombs that range in power from a fraction of a kiloton to many megatons. The size of the bomb has been made smaller helping the development of nuclear artillery shells and small missiles that can be fired from portable launchers in the field. Nuclear bombs were originally developed as strategic weapons to be carried by large bombers; nuclear weapons are now available for a variety of both strategic and tactical applications. Not only can they be delivered by different types of aircraft, but rockets and guided missiles of many sizes can now carry nuclear warheads and can be launched from the ground, the air, or underwater. Large rockets can carry multiple warheads for delivery to separate targets.

Detonation of Atomic Bombs

Many different systems have been made to detonate the atomic bomb. The best system is the gun-type weapon. The atomic bomb exploded by the United States over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, was a gun-type weapon. It had the energy of anywhere between 12.5 to 15 kilotons of TNT. Three days later the United States dropped a second atomic bomb over Nagasaki, Japan, with the energy equivalent of close to 22 kilotons of TNT.

A more effective method, known as implosion, is used in a spherically shaped weapon. The outer part of the sphere consists of a layer of closely fitted and specially shaped devices, called lenses, consisting of high explosive and designed to concentrate the blast toward the center of the bomb. Each part of the high explosive is equipped with a detonator, and is wired to all other parts. An electrical impulse explodes all the chunks of high explosive all at the same time. At the core is a sphere of fissile material, which is compressed by the powerful, inwardly directed pressure, or implosion. The density of the metal is increased, and a supercritical assembly is produced. The Alamogordo test bomb, as well as the one dropped by the U.S. on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945, were of the implosion type. Each was equivalent to about 20 kilotons of TNT.

Hermonuclear, or Fusion, Weapons

Even before the first atomic bomb was developed, scientists realized that a type of nuclear reaction different from the fission process was theoretically possible as a source of nuclear energy. Instead of using the energy released as a result of a chain reaction in fissile material, nuclear weapons could use the energy released in the fusion of light elements. This process is the opposite of fission, since it involves the fusing together of the nuclei of isotopes of light atoms such as hydrogen. It is for this reason that the weapons based on nuclear-fusion reactions are often called hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs.

Thermonuclear Tests

November 1, 1952, there was a test with a...

The rest of the paper is available free of charge to our registered users. The registration process just couldn't be easier. Log in or register now. It is all free!
You should cite this paper as follows:

MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 23 May, 2012 from
    <http://essaymania.com/133952/nucular-war>

More College Papers

Nucleic Acids essay
DNA is the single most important molecule found within cells. It is a stable polynucleotide, which contains coded information for inherited characteristics. It is contained in chromosomes in the nucleus of an eukaryot cell. The essential features of the Watson-Crick model are summarised below. 1. T

Nuclear Weapons essay
For almost a half a century, the United States and the U.S.S.R. fought a nuclear arms war, the Cold War. The Cold War officially ended August 19, 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed. Ironically, the war ended without a battle or a shot fired. In fact, nuclear weapons have only been used onc

Nuclear Waste essay
It promises to be a busy year for Maine Yankee, and for the Community Advisory Panel that is watching closely the decommissioning of the now-closed nuclear power plant. The 14-member panel will hold a day-long workshop Wednesday to discuss the dismantling and cleanup of the facility. At the top of