Article
Article
Hydrogen bomb
Article By:
DeVolpi, A. Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois.
Last reviewed:November 2018
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.328700
Show previous versions
- Hydrogen bomb, published September 2014:Download PDF
Get Adobe Acrobat Reader
A device in which an uncontrolled, self-sustaining, thermonuclear fusion reaction is carried out in heavy hydrogen (deuterium or tritium) to produce an explosion. Initial conceptualization of the hydrogen bomb occurred alongside development of the first fission-based atomic bombs in the United States' Manhattan Project during World War II. Seven years after dropping atomic bombs on Japan in 1945, the United States tested the first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific Ocean on October 31, 1952 (Fig. 1). See also: Atomic bomb; Nuclear explosion
The content above is only an excerpt.
About AccessScience
AccessScience provides the most accurate and trustworthy scientific information available.
Recognized as an award-winning gateway to scientific knowledge, AccessScience is an amazing online resource that contains high-quality reference material written specifically for students. Contributors include more than 10,000 highly qualified scientists and 46 Nobel Prize winners.
MORE THAN 8700 articles covering all major scientific disciplines and encompassing the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology
115,000-PLUS definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
3000 biographies of notable scientific figures
MORE THAN 19,000 downloadable images and animations illustrating key topics
ENGAGING VIDEOS highlighting the life and work of award-winning scientists
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY and additional readings to guide students to deeper understanding and research
LINKS TO CITABLE LITERATURE help students expand their knowledge using primary sources of information
