Atomic Bomb vs Hydrogen Bomb

Science Affairs Defence

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North Korea claims to have tested a hydrogen bomb, a weapon more powerful than the nuclear bombs that devastated the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II. A hydrogen bomb is different than a regular atomic bomb, It can be up to 1,000 times more powerful than an A-bomb.

Atomic Bomb:

An atomic bomb or fission bomb, also called an A-bomb, is a weapon that derives its explosive and destructive force from nuclear fission.
Process of nuclear fission: Material for fission (fissile material), such as uranium or plutonium, is combined into what is known as a supercritical mass, the amount of material needed to begin a nuclear chain reaction. The explosive material in the bomb, when detonated, will set off a nuclear chain reaction that causes the explosion.
The amount of energy released by fission bombs can range from the equivalent of just under a ton of TNT, to upwards of 500,000 tons (500 kilotons) of TNT. (TNT equivalent is a method of quantifying the energy released in explosions. The "ton of TNT" is a unit of energy equal to 4.184 gigajoule).
The Manhattan Project was a secret military project created in 1942 to produce the first nuclear weapon by US .
Under the auspices of the Manhattan Project, three main research and production facilities were established at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; at Hanford, Washington; and at Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos produced four weapons, two of which, Little Boy and Fat Man, were used against Japan in August 1945. The Manhattan Project officially ended in 1946 when it became part of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
Little boy was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, it was the first nuclear weapon used in a war.

Hydrogen Bomb

A hydrogen bomb, also called a thermonuclear weapon or H-bomb, is a weapon that derives its explosive and destructive force from nuclear fusion.
How this process works: A fission bomb is placed inside of a radiation-reflecting container along with fusion fuel such as tritium and deuterium.
The hydrogen bomb takes its name from the fact that tritium and deuterium are isotopes of hydrogen.
The explosive material, the fission bomb, explodes, which is known as the primary reaction.
It then compresses and heats fusion fuel, which then causes further chain reactions, known as the secondary reaction.
In order to trigger fusion, however, there is need of ton of energy — which is why a fission bomb has to detonate first. So H-bombs are really made of two bombs: a fission bomb and a fusion bomb.
Inside an H-bomb, a "boosted" fission bomb releases a blast of powerful X-ray radiation, which is focused precisely onto the fusion bomb.
That X-ray blast then sets off the fusion bomb, creating an explosion powerful enough to merge a bunch of atoms, convert some of that material into pure energy, and trigger a blast that's frighteningly more powerful than an atomic bomb's.
United States, Russia, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, France, India and North Korea —have conducted thermonuclear weapon tests. However, success of North Korea and India's test is still controversial.
Thermonuclear weapons are considered much more difficult to successfully design and execute than primitive fission weapons. Almost all of the nuclear weapons deployed today use the thermonuclear design because it is more efficient.
Small thermonuclear weapons are called neutron bombs. Neutron bombs, also called enhanced radiation warheads, are weapons that can be used effectively against tank and infantry formations on a traditional battlefield yet won’t impact nearby towns or cities within a few miles. They work by producing minimal blast and heat but releasing high amounts of radiation.
Hydrogen bomb can be thousands of times more powerful than atomic bombs and are measured in yield equal to megatons of TNT and yet they can be made small enough to fit in a ballistic missile warhead or an artillery shell that can be carried.