What is the difference between atom bomb and hydrogen bomb

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph. Chemistry Expert. Helmenstine holds a Ph. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Updated September 09, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph. Differences Between Hydrogen and Atomic Bombs. Could Matter-Antimatter Reactors Work? The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Plutonium Facts Pu or Atomic Number Your Privacy Rights.

To change or withdraw your consent choices for ThoughtCo. North Korea has long sought the means to deliver an atomic warhead to the United States , its sworn enemy, and its latest nuclear test followed reports it could load a hydrogen bomb onto an intercontinental ballistic missile ICBM.

Hydrogen bombs, or H-bombs, are far more powerful than the relatively simple atomic weapons North Korea was believed to have tested so far. As opposed to the atomic bomb — the kind dropped on Japan by the US in the closing days of World War II — the hydrogen bomb can be 1, times more powerful. The hydrogen bomb, also called a thermonuclear bomb, uses fusion — or atomic nuclei coming together — to produce explosive energy.

Hiroshima in ruins following the atomic bomb blast. Related Stories. Here Are 3 Alternatives. Already a print subscriber? Go here to link your subscription. Need help? Visit our Help Center. Go here to connect your wallet. By the time the armistice agreement was signed in , North Korea had lost half of its pre-war population. Carrying her wounded grandchild on her back, this elderly woman wanders among the debris of their wrecked home in the aftermath of an air raid by US planes over Pyongyang, the Communist capital of North Korea, in the fall of A fateful encounter: In the cold of winter, US lieutenant William Doernbach comes across this Korean orphan girl in a deserted village and leaves her in the care of an orphanage.

She escapes the orphanage and finds her rescuer. They reunite in May Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw. Go to the new dw. More info OK. Wrong language? Change it here DW. COM has chosen English as your language setting. COM in 30 languages. Deutsche Welle.