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Underwater Explosion
An underwater explosion (also known as an UNDEX) is a chemical or nuclear explosion that occurs under the surface of a body of water. While useful in anti-ship and submarine warfare, underwater bombs are not as effective against coastal facilities. Properties of water Underwater explosions differ from in-air explosions due to the properties of water: *Mass and incompressibility (all explosions) – water has a much higher density than air, which makes water harder to move (higher inertia). It is also relatively hard to compress (increase density) when under pressure in a low range (up to about 100 atmospheres). These two together make water an excellent conductor of shock waves from an explosion. *Effect of neutron exposure on salt water (nuclear explosions only) – most underwater blast scenarios happen in seawater, not fresh or pure water. The water itself is not much affected by neutrons but salt is strongly affected. When exposed to neutron radiation during the microsecond of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Explosive Material
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An explosive charge is a measured quantity of explosive material, which may either be composed solely of one ingredient or be a mixture containing at least two substances. The potential energy stored in an explosive material may, for example, be * chemical energy, such as nitroglycerin or grain dust * pressurized gas, such as a gas cylinder, aerosol can, or BLEVE * nuclear energy, such as in the fissile isotopes uranium-235 and plutonium-239 Explosive materials may be categorized by the speed at which they expand. Materials that detonate (the front of the chemical reaction moves faster through the material than the speed of sound) are said to be "high explosives" and materials that deflagrate are said to be "low explosives". Explosives may a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
(n-p) Reaction
The (n-p) reaction, or (n,p) reaction, is an example of a nuclear reaction. It is the reaction which occurs when a neutron enters a nucleus and a proton leaves the nucleus simultaneously. For example, sulfur-32 (32S) undergoes an (n,p) nuclear reaction when bombarded with neutrons, thus forming phosphorus-32 (32P). The nuclide nitrogen-14 (14N) can also undergo an (n,p) nuclear reaction to produce carbon-14 (14C). This nuclear reaction 14N (n,p) 14C continually happens in the Earth's atmosphere, forming equilibrium amounts of the radionuclide 14C. Most (n,p) reactions have threshold neutron energies below which the reaction cannot take place as a result of the charged particle in the exit channel requiring energy (usually more than a MeV) to overcome the Coulomb barrier The Coulomb barrier, named after Coulomb's law, which is in turn named after physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, is the energy barrier due to electrostatic interaction that two nuclei need to overcome so they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
