00:00Missiles that carry destruction. Ammunition that is incredibly dangerous, but still used.
00:08If nuclear weapons come to mind, then you have the right idea.
00:13Damage from exposure to hydrogen and atomic bombs is measured in millions of dollars.
00:19But no one really goes into details about why this happens.
00:23It seems to me that this is a very interesting topic for analysis.
00:27Therefore, today I'll tell you what's the secret of the destructiveness of these bombs, and indeed, how they work.
00:36Some people think that atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs are virtually the same.
00:41To some extent, this is true because both types of bombs are categorized as nuclear weapons.
00:48But to talk about the differences, first we need to understand the basic concept.
00:52Nuclear arms are weapons of mass destruction that use nuclear energy to create an explosion.
01:00This energy, in turn, is contained in atomic nuclei and is released during nuclear reactions and radioactive decay.
01:09I'm sure that the last two concepts are already familiar to you.
01:13I've mentioned similar processes occurring in the nuclei of stars several times before.
01:19But today, we move away from the topic of space and discuss what's created by human hands.
01:26So, if both types of bombs use nuclear energy, what could be the difference?
01:32The main thing is in how they explode.
01:35Let's start with an analysis of the atomic bomb.
01:38This weapon usually looks like an elongated, rounded torpedo.
01:43Nothing special, but the main danger lies inside.
01:47To get the so-called nuclear explosion, a certain reaction must occur.
01:53The chain reaction of the fission of heavy nuclei.
01:57There are several heavy elements that are capable of such a reaction.
02:01Usually, uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons.
02:06You might have heard somewhere that not only uranium-235 is radioactive,
02:11there's also uranium-238, as well as uranium-234.
02:17Different numbers tagged to the end of an element are isotopes.
02:22To put it simply, different types of one element.
02:25But we won't go into unnecessary details,
02:29because only uranium-235 can do what we are all here for.
02:33To obtain the maximum amount of energy during the explosion of an atomic bomb,
02:39the content of 235 isotope in uranium should be at least 80%.
02:45Therefore, in the production of nuclear weapons, uranium is enriched further.
02:51But if something goes wrong with this process, there is a fallback.
02:55You can also create a plutonium bomb, which will be based on the isotope with the number 239.
03:03However, this element is rarely found in nature,
03:07which means that you'd have to try and create it artificially.
03:10Now we know enough about the inside of an atomic bomb.
03:14But how do we launch such a weapon?
03:17The nuclear explosion occurs because a certain mass of fissile material is concentrated in one place.
03:24This can also be called critical mass.
03:27When it is reached, a nuclear decay reaction is formed with the release of energy.
03:33But for a powerful explosion, one critical mass is not enough.
03:38To get a truly destructive bomb, you'll need four to five critical masses of matter.
03:44There are several ways to achieve this, but I'll talk about the main one.
03:49It's called implosive.
03:51Imagine a nuclear bomb, for example, in the form of a small ball.
03:56Inside it are all the necessary components for a nuclear reaction,
04:01but the critical mass hasn't been reached.
04:04In order to achieve this, we'll create a guided explosion from the outside.
04:10Suppose I put an explosive on the outside of the bomb and detonate it.
04:15When properly exposed, the space inside the bomb will begin to shrink towards the center of the shockwave.
04:22The density of uranium or plutonium inside will increase, and we get a nuclear explosion.
04:31What about the hydrogen bomb?
04:33In this explosive device, energy is released due to thermonuclear fusion.
04:38A very fast explosive reaction takes place inside the charge with the help of elements such as deuterium and tritium.
04:48Other heavier elements can also be used along with them.
04:52However, the main effective substance is lithium hydride.
04:56By itself, it doesn't produce an explosion, so clearly we need something else.
05:03The detonation of this substance is usually carried out by an integrated nuclear device with low power.
05:10In a simple way, it can be called a detonator.
05:14When it's activated, energy is released, which triggers an explosive thermonuclear reaction inside the bomb.
05:22Interestingly, for hydrogen bombs, there's theoretically no limit to the power.
05:29If you wish, you could create such a powerful bomb that it would simply wipe all life from the face of the Earth.
05:37But I hope it never crosses anyone's mind.
05:41By the way, more about power.
05:43In the case of nuclear weapons, they're measured in TNT equivalent.
05:47Why is that so?
05:49TNT is an explosive and quite well known.
05:53To understand the power of a nuclear explosion, a certain amount of TNT is needed to produce the same energy.
06:01Usually, it's expressed in kilotons and megatons.
06:04And I have some examples of various bombs.
06:08To begin with, the famous Tsar Bomba.
06:11It's related to thermonuclear, that is, a hydrogen type of weapon.
06:16It's power is 58.6 megatons.
06:21Simply put, it was such an amount of TNT that would have had to have been detonated in order to compare with this one bomb.
06:30As for nuclear weapons, the most famous are Little Boy and Fat Man.
06:35The first was dropped on the city of Hiroshima in 1945 and had a capacity of 13 to 18 kilotons of TNT.
06:44The second bomb destroyed the city of Nagasaki three days after the first.
06:50It had a capacity of 21 kilotons.
06:54The consequences of strikes with such power are not difficult to predict.
06:59First of all, there's chaos and destruction caused by a shockwave and light radiation.
07:06But there's also something that cannot be seen with the eyes.
07:09It's impossible to feel or hear.
07:13I'm talking about radiation.
07:14Radiation.
07:16One of the factors caused as a result of the explosion of nuclear weapons.
07:22And if you're near a detonated bomb, I have bad news for you.
07:26There are three main types of ionizing radiation.
07:30These are alpha, beta, and gamma.
07:33And no matter how much we wouldn't want it, they would all contaminate the area where a nuclear explosion occurred.
07:40Alpha radiation will not do much harm.
07:43A person's clothing may well protect them from contact with exposed skin.
07:48But it's also worth protecting your mucous membranes.
07:52Beta radiation is a little more serious and can cause significant damage at a distance of several tens of meters or feet from the radiation source.
08:02Among the consequences could be radiation burns and cataracts.
08:06It's unlikely that anything will protect us from the effects of gamma radiation, except for thick layers of certain substances such as lead and concrete.
08:17With its high penetrating power, it literally permeates the body, causing damage.
08:23The most well-known consequences are radiation sickness, cancer, and gene mutations.
08:30At the moment, nine countries have nuclear weapons, and they're also deployed to foreign installations.
08:37But even if someone wanted to, the total power of the entire world nuclear arsenal wouldn't be able to destroy the whole planet.
08:46There are about 15,000 nuclear warheads in the world.
08:51All of them have different amounts of power.
08:53But let's take some approximate values.
08:56For example, suppose each of the 15,000 bombs have a capacity of 500 kilotons.
09:03Putting them all together, we get a super bomb with a capacity of 7,500 megatons.
09:10What would it be capable of?
09:13Well, to give an example, it would be an explosion with a force about 13,000 times less than an impact from the asteroid Chicxulub.
09:22You already know the consequences of its fall, so reduce them also by about 13,000 times.
09:30In any case, nuclear weapons can't be compared with any other weapon.
09:35It's not allowed to be used just because somebody wants to.
09:39Therefore, we shouldn't fear a nuclear strike in the near future.
09:43But it's important to understand how such a weapon works.
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