thermonuclear bomb

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Thermonuclear bomb

What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?

Split image showing Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer at a chalkboard on the left and actor Cillian Murphy portraying Oppenheimer with a cigarette and hat on the right.

Manhattan Project interactive timeline

Diagram showing the Teller-Ulam two-stage thermonuclear bomb design, with four labeled stages: a chemical explosion in the primary fission core, X-ray transfer and compression, ignition of a secondary fusion stage, and fusion fuel detonation. Key components such as the fission fuel, uranium tamper, and polystyrene foam are illustrated and labeled.

Diagram of a thermonuclear warhead cut open to reveal internal components, including a primary fission trigger with deuterium-tritium gas, plutonium-239, beryllium, and chemical explosives, and a secondary fusion device with uranium-235, lithium deuteride fusion fuel, and a uranium case, all labeled for educational reference.

View footage of the first test of a hydrogen bomb carried out by the United States in the Marshall Islands

At a Glance

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hydrogen bomb summary

thermonuclear bomb: Media

fusion device

Videos

What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?

What is the difference between nuclear fission and fusion?

There are two ways of releasing nuclear energy: fission and fusion.

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Split image showing Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer at a chalkboard on the left and actor Cillian Murphy portraying Oppenheimer with a cigarette and hat on the right.

The True Story of Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb

J. Robert Oppenheimer became involved in nuclear research in 1941. His biopic, Oppenheimer,...

Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; thumbnail © Universal Pictures

View footage of the first test of a hydrogen bomb carried out by the United States in the Marshall Islands

View footage of the first test of a hydrogen bomb carried out by the United States in the Marshall Islands

In an operation code-named Mike, the first thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb) was...

Video: Video © Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; video footage US Joint Task Force 132, Operation Ivy; still photos U.S. Air Force.

Images

Thermonuclear bomb

Thermonuclear bomb

Thermonuclear bomb, code-named Mike, detonated in the Marshall Islands in November...

U.S. Air Force photograph

Diagram showing the Teller-Ulam two-stage thermonuclear bomb design, with four labeled stages: a chemical explosion in the primary fission core, X-ray transfer and compression, ignition of a secondary fusion stage, and fusion fuel detonation. Key components such as the fission fuel, uranium tamper, and polystyrene foam are illustrated and labeled.

thermonuclear bomb

Teller-Ulam two-stage thermonuclear bomb design.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Diagram of a thermonuclear warhead cut open to reveal internal components, including a primary fission trigger with deuterium-tritium gas, plutonium-239, beryllium, and chemical explosives, and a secondary fusion device with uranium-235, lithium deuteride fusion fuel, and a uranium case, all labeled for educational reference.

Thermonuclear warhead

The blast from a primary fission component triggers a secondary fusion explosion...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Edward Teller

Edward Teller

Edward Teller.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Hydrogen bomb

Hydrogen bomb

Three of a series of photographs of the first thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb),...

U.S. Air Force photograph

Interactives

Manhattan Project interactive timeline

Manhattan Project interactive timeline

Major events and locations of the Manhattan Project.

National Archives, Washington, D.C.; Animation Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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