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A few small countries have built or are capable of building nuclear bombs, as are some terrorist groups. Two things are needed—a minimum level of technical expertise and sufficient fissionable material. The first is easy. Fissionable material is controlled but is also available. There are international agreements and organizations that attempt to control nuclear proliferation, but it is increasingly difficult given the availability of fissionable material and the small amount needed for a crude bomb. The production of fissionable fuel itself is technologically difficult. However, the presence of large amounts of such material worldwide, though in the hands of a few, makes control and accountability crucial.
Section summary
- There are two types of nuclear weapons—fission bombs use fission alone, whereas thermonuclear bombs use fission to ignite fusion.
- Both types of weapons produce huge numbers of nuclear reactions in a very short time.
- Energy yields are measured in kilotons or megatons of equivalent conventional explosives and range from 0.1 kT to more than 20 MT.
- Nuclear bombs are characterized by far more thermal output and nuclear radiation output than conventional explosives.
Conceptual questions
Use the laws of conservation of momentum and energy to explain how a shape charge can direct most of the energy released in an explosion in a specific direction. (Note that this is similar to the situation in guns and cannons—most of the energy goes into the bullet.)
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Fallout from nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere is mainly
and
, which have 28.6- and 32.2-y half-lives, respectively. Atmospheric tests were terminated in most countries in 1963, although China only did so in 1980. It has been found that environmental activities of these two isotopes are decreasing faster than their half-lives. Why might this be?
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Problems&Exercises
Fusion bombs use neutrons from their fission trigger to create tritium fuel in the reaction
. What is the energy released by this reaction in MeV?
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It is estimated that the total explosive yield of all the nuclear bombs in existence currently is about 4,000 MT.
(a) Convert this amount of energy to kilowatt-hours, noting that
.
(b) What would the monetary value of this energy be if it could be converted to electricity costing 10 cents per kW·h?
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A radiation-enhanced nuclear weapon (or neutron bomb) can have a smaller total yield and still produce more prompt radiation than a conventional nuclear bomb. This allows the use of neutron bombs to kill nearby advancing enemy forces with radiation without blowing up your own forces with the blast. For a 0.500-kT radiation-enhanced weapon and a 1.00-kT conventional nuclear bomb: (a) Compare the blast yields. (b) Compare the prompt radiation yields.
(a) Blast yields
to
, or 2.5 to 1, conventional to radiation enhanced.
(b) Prompt radiation yields
to
, or 3 to 1, radiation enhanced to conventional.
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(a) How many
nuclei must fission to produce a 20.0-kT yield, assuming 200 MeV per fission? (b) What is the mass of this much
?
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Assume one-fourth of the yield of a typical 320-kT strategic bomb comes from fission reactions averaging 200 MeV and the remainder from fusion reactions averaging 20 MeV.
(a) Calculate the number of fissions and the approximate mass of uranium and plutonium fissioned, taking the average atomic mass to be 238.
(b) Find the number of fusions and calculate the approximate mass of fusion fuel, assuming an average total atomic mass of the two nuclei in each reaction to be 5.
(c) Considering the masses found, does it seem reasonable that some missiles could carry 10 warheads? Discuss, noting that the nuclear fuel is only a part of the mass of a warhead.
(a)
, 4.4 kg
(b)
, 2.7 kg
(c) The
nuclearfuel
totalsonly
6kg,
soit
isquite
reasonablethat
somemissiles
carry10
overheads.The
massof
thefuel
wouldonly
be60
kgand
thereforethe
massof
the10
warheads,weighing
about10
timesthe
nuclearfuel,
wouldbe
only1500
lbs.If
thefuel
forthe
missilesweighs
5times
thetotal
weightof
thewarheads,
themissile
wouldweigh
about9000
lbsor
4.5tons.
Thisis
notan
unreasonableweight
fora
missile.
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This problem gives some idea of the magnitude of the energy yield of a small tactical bomb. Assume that half the energy of a 1.00-kT nuclear depth charge set off under an aircraft carrier goes into lifting it out of the water—that is, into gravitational potential energy. How high is the carrier lifted if its mass is 90,000 tons?
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It is estimated that weapons tests in the atmosphere have deposited approximately 9 MCi of
on the surface of the earth. Find the mass of this amount of
.
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A 1.00-MT bomb exploded a few kilometers above the ground deposits 25.0% of its energy into radiant heat.
(a) Find the calories per
at a distance of 10.0 km by assuming a uniform distribution over a spherical surface of that radius.
(b) If this heat falls on a person’s body, what temperature increase does it cause in the affected tissue, assuming it is absorbed in a layer 1.00-cm deep?
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Integrated Concepts
One scheme to put nuclear weapons to nonmilitary use is to explode them underground in a geologically stable region and extract the geothermal energy for electricity production. There was a total yield of about 4,000 MT in the combined arsenals in 2006. If 1.00 MT per day could be converted to electricity with an efficiency of 10.0%:
(a) What would the average electrical power output be?
(b) How many years would the arsenal last at this rate?
(a)
(b) 11.0 y
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Questions & Answers
What are the factors that affect demand for a commodity
differentiate between demand and supply
giving examples
differentiated between demand and supply using examples
Lambiv
how is the graph works?I don't fully understand
hi guys good evening to all
Lambiv
In economics, a perfect market refers to a theoretical construct where all participants have perfect information, goods are homogenous, there are no barriers to entry or exit, and prices are determined solely by supply and demand. It's an idealized model used for analysis,
Ezea
other things being equal
AI-Robot
When MP₁ becomes negative, TP start to decline.
Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 •
Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of lab
Kelo
Extuples Suppose that the short-run production function of certain cut-flower firm is given by: Q=4KL-0.6K2 - 0.112 •
Where is quantity of cut flower produced, I is labour input and K is fixed capital input (K-5). Determine the average product of labour (APL) and marginal product of labour (MPL)
Kelo
Can I ask you other question?
Shukri
What is different between quantity demand and demand?
Quantity demanded refers to the specific amount of a good or service that consumers are willing and able to purchase at a give price and within a specific time period. Demand, on the other hand, is a broader concept that encompasses the entire relationship between price and quantity demanded
Ezea
how do you save a country economic situation when it's falling apart
what is the difference between economic growth and development
Economic growth as an increase in the production and consumption of goods and services within an economy.but
Economic development as a broader concept that encompasses not only economic growth but also social & human well being.
Shukri
production function means
Jabir
What do you think is more important to focus on when considering inequality ?
any question about economics?
sir...I just want to ask one question... Define the term contract curve? if you are free please help me to find this answer 🙏
Asui
it is a curve that we get after connecting the pareto optimal combinations of two consumers after their mutually beneficial trade offs
Awais
thank you so much 👍 sir
Asui
In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities, where neither p
Cornelius
In economics, the contract curve refers to the set of points in an Edgeworth box diagram where both parties involved in a trade cannot be made better off without making one of them worse off. It represents the Pareto efficient allocations of goods between two individuals or entities,
Cornelius
Suppose a consumer consuming two commodities X and Y has
The following utility function u=X0.4 Y0.6. If the price of the X and Y are 2 and 3 respectively and income Constraint is birr 50.
A,Calculate quantities of x and y which maximize utility.
B,Calculate value of Lagrange multiplier.
C,Calculate quantities of X and Y consumed with a given price.
D,alculate optimum level of output .
the market for lemon has 10 potential consumers, each having an individual demand curve p=101-10Qi, where p is price in dollar's per cup and Qi is the number of cups demanded per week by the i th consumer.Find the market demand curve using algebra. Draw an individual demand curve and the market dema
suppose the production function is given by ( L, K)=L¼K¾.assuming capital is fixed find APL and MPL. consider the following short run production function:Q=6L²-0.4L³ a) find the value of L that maximizes output b)find the value of L that maximizes marginal product
Abdureman
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Source:
OpenStax, College physics. OpenStax CNX. Jul 27, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11406/1.9
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