nuclear explosive

Nuclear weapons harness the power of nuclear physics, specifically through nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. Atomic bombs utilize fission, where two subcritical masses of uranium or plutonium are rapidly combined to form a critical mass, initiating a runaway fission reaction. Thermonuclear or hydrogen bombs employ fusion, where isotopes of hydrogen combine under extreme temperatures, generated by a primary fission explosion, to form helium, releasing thousands of times more energy than atomic bombs. Nuclear physics itself studies the atomic nucleus, its structure, and radiation from unstable nuclei, involving forces far stronger than those in atomic interactions.1234