Is a nuclear bomb an exothermic reaction?

Now, nuclear reactions are just like chemical reactions in that they are either exothermic, meaning they release energy, or endothermic, meaning that they require energy to go in the first place. Any nuclear reaction that climbs the curve releases energy and those that descend the curve require energy to occur.

What type of energy is a nuclear bomb exploding an example of?

The detonation of an atomic bomb releases enormous amounts of thermal energy, or heat, achieving temperatures of several million degrees in the exploding bomb itself. This thermal energy creates a large fireball, the heat of which can ignite ground fires that can incinerate an entire small city.

What is the heat of a nuclear bomb?

A primary form of energy from a nuclear explosion is thermal radiation. Initially, most of this energy goes into heating the bomb materials and the air in the vicinity of the blast. Temperatures of a nuclear explosion reach those in the interior of the sun, about 100,000,000° Celsius, and produce a brilliant fireball.

What energy does a nuclear bomb use?

thermal energy
Approximately 85 percent of the energy of a nuclear weapon produces air blast (and shock), thermal energy (heat). The remaining 15 percent of the energy is released as various type of nuclear radiation.

Is nuclear explosion endothermic?

Fusion of nuclei lighter than these releases energy (an exothermic process), while fusion of heavier nuclei results in energy retained by the product nucleons, and the resulting reaction is endothermic.

Can explosions be endothermic?

The explosion of an endothermic substance is in itself exothermic, with the chemical potential energy of the compound being released in the form of heat, light, and sound. Endothermic explosions are possible too, but need some kind of primer explosive to give them the energy required to set them off.

Is nuclear fusion exothermic or endothermic?

The result of nuclear fusion releases more energy than it takes to start the fusion so ΔG of the system is negative which means that the reaction is exothermic. And because it is exothermic, the fusion of light elements is self-sustaining given that there is enough energy to start fusion in the first place.

Why is nuclear fusion exothermic?

Fusion is exothermic because the mass of the products is lower than the mass of the two reacting nuclei.

Is a nuclear explosion endothermic or exothermic?

Nuclear fission produces heat (also called an exothermic reaction), because if you add all the masses together of the products of reaction you do not get the starting mass.