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Why do nukes make mushroom clouds?

Why do nukes make mushroom clouds?

When a nuclear weapon detonates, it emits a blast of x-rays that ionize and heat the surrounding air, forming a fireball. The swiftly rising hot fireball creates a forceful updraft, eventually filled by the surrounding air and dust. This is what gives rise to the cloud.

Why are nukes detonated in the air?

In nuclear warfare, air bursts are used against soft targets (i.e. lacking the hardened construction required to survive overpressure from a nuclear explosion) such as cities in countervalue targeting, or airfields, radar systems and mobile ICBMs in counterforce targeting.

How long do nuclear mushroom clouds last?

The Wikipedia article on Mushroom Clouds indicates that it takes between 10 seconds and 10 minutes for a nuclear bomb mushroom cloud to stabilize. The source cited there offer little additional detail. The length of this stabilization period would depend most strongly on bomb size and altitude.

Can you see a mushroom cloud from space?

But there aren’t any mushroom clouds in space. We know because we tested it. During the early years of the Cold War, it wasn’t weird to wonder what a nuclear bomb would do if it was detonated in space. These atmospheric tests launched nuclear bombs atop Thor missiles from Johnston Island.

Can a bomb explode in space?

If a nuclear weapon is exploded in a vacuum-i. e., in space-the complexion of weapon effects changes drastically: First, in the absence of an atmosphere, blast disappears completely. There is no longer any air for the blast wave to heat and much higher frequency radiation is emitted from the weapon itself.

What happens if a nuke goes off in the ocean?

Unless it breaks the water surface while still a hot gas bubble, an underwater nuclear explosion leaves no trace at the surface but hot, radioactive water rising from below. About one second after such an explosion, the hot gas bubble collapses because: The water pressure is enormous below 2,000 feet (610 m).

What are those smoke trails doing in that test picture?

Shelton goes on to relate that he did attempt to measure the shock wave in the Teapot HAtest using the actual displacement of smoke puffs by the passage of the shock, but without much success. Upshot-Knothole Annie (331×250, 13 K)

Where did they test the first atomic bomb?

This was the Trinity test, the culmination of 27 months of work at Project Y—a secret laboratory in Los Alamos—to create the world’s first atomic bomb. Project Y covertly developed two types of nuclear weapons.

What happens to the shock front of an explosion?

Once the fireball cools to 300,000 degrees C (which is 15 milliseconds after detonation for a 20 kt explosion), the shock front and the fireball separate – a phenomenon called “breakaway”. After that moment the shock front quickly becomes invisible as it loses strength and can no longer make air incandescent through compression heating.

What does reflections of a nuclear weaponeer say?

Reflections of a Nuclear Weaponeer. Shelton Enterprise Inc. pp. 6-13 to 6-14. Shelton goes on to relate that he did attempt to measure the shock wave in the Teapot HAtest using the actual displacement of smoke puffs by the passage of the shock, but without much success.