Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2022 December 3

Science desk
< December 2 << Nov | December | Jan >> December 4 >
Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.


December 3

edit

Antimatter bomb

edit

Would one of those theoretical bombs that theoretically work by colliding antimatter with an equal amount of matter (assuming that anyone would be insane enough to build a bomb that would just blow up if it malfunctioned while in storage in the first place) produce radiation and fallout when it exploded? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.200.126.234 (talk) 23:23, 3 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Most energy would be released in the form of gamma rays and (anti-)muons, not as neutrons, which can activate surrounding materials, and there won't be fission products. So, a big flash of radiation when the bomb explodes, but not much fallout. I wouldn't say no fallout, but it won't be as bad as in current thermonuclear weapons. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:15, 4 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
What are we comparing? The theoretical explosive yield of 1 kg of 239Pu is about 75×1012 J. That of 1 kg of antimatter is more like 180×1015 J, 2,500 times as much. The irradiation of not-annihilated matter will initially produce a substantial amount of quark–gluon plasma that, when it cools off, phase-transitions into baryonic matter of a composition I cannot guess, but which, AFAIK, may well be quite radioactive.  --Lambiam 13:00, 4 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]