A fusion explosion starts with a fission reaction, but it gets its power from the combining of the nuclei of several hydrogen isotopes to produce helium nuclei. Figure 2 shows fusion reaction taking place. In this paper, I will be focusing on the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Bomb, which started the nuclear arms race. What makes the atomic bomb so powerful and destructive is the chain reaction that occurs, called fission . Neils Bohr paved the way towards the discovery of fission with his studies of atoms.
Fission occurs when the central part of an atom, the nucleus, breaks up into two equal fragments.
Figure 3 illustrates a fission chain reaction , and Figure 4 shows a close-up of what occurs during fission. This chain reaction takes place in only millionths of a second. The amount of power released during this chain reaction is about several hundred million volts of energy which is released at detonation. When P-235 undergoes fission, it gives up off large amounts of heat and radiation. The radiation given off is called Gamma Radiation, the deadliest form known to man.