Jump to content

Mushroom cloud: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
ClueBot (talk | contribs)
m Reverting possible vandalism by Mushmushmushroom to version by Lanoitarus. False positive? Report it. Thanks, ClueBot. (576729) (Bot)
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
FUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMB RETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCK
{{wiktionary|mushroom cloud}}
[[Image:Nagasakibomb.jpg|thumb|250px|The mushroom cloud of the [[atomic bomb]] dropped on [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], [[Japan]] on [[August 9]], [[1945]].]]
A '''mushroom cloud''' is a distinctive [[mushroom]]-shaped [[cloud]] of condensed [[water vapor]] or [[debris]] resulting from a very large [[explosion]]. They are most commonly associated with [[nuclear explosion]]s, but any sufficiently large blast will produce the same sort of effect. They can be caused by powerful [[conventional weapons]] like the [[Father of All Bombs]]. [[Volcano]] eruptions and [[impact event]]s can produce natural mushroom clouds: on [[September 11, 2001]], the crash of [[United Airlines Flight 93]] produced a mushroom cloud, according to a witness on the ground.{{Fact|date=January 2009}}

Mushroom clouds form as a result of the sudden formation of a large mass of hot, low-density gases near the ground creating a [[Rayleigh–Taylor instability]]. The mass of gas rises rapidly, resulting in turbulent vortices curling downward around its edges and drawing up a column of additional smoke and debris in the center to form its "stem". The mass of gas eventually reaches an altitude where it is no longer of lower density than the surrounding air and disperses, the debris drawn upward from the ground scattering and drifting back down (see [[Nuclear fallout|fallout]]).

==Origin of the term==
Although the term itself appears to have been coined at the start of the 1950s, mushroom clouds generated by explosions were being described before the atomic era. For instance, ''[[The Times]]'' published a report on [[1 October]] [[1937]] of a [[Japan]]ese attack on [[Shanghai]] in [[China]] which generated "a great mushroom of smoke". During the [[Second World War]], descriptions of mushroom clouds were relatively common.
[[Image:MtRedoubtedit1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Ascending cloud from [[Mount Redoubt (Alaska)|Redoubt Volcano]] from an eruption in [[1990]]. The mushroom-shaped plume rose from avalanches of hot debris (pyroclastic flows) that cascaded down the north flank of the volcano.]]

The atomic bomb cloud over [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]], [[Japan]] was described in ''[[The Times]]'' of London of [[13 August]] [[1945]] as a "huge mushroom of smoke and dust." On [[9 September]] [[1945]], the ''[[New York Times]]'' published an eyewitness account of the Nagasaki bombing, written by [[William L. Laurence]], the official newspaper correspondent of the [[Manhattan Project]], who accompanied one of the three aircraft that made the bombing run. He wrote of the bomb producing a "pillar of purple fire", out of the top of which came "a giant mushroom that increased the height of the pillar to a total of 45,000 feet." (See the effect in the picture of the Nagasaki bomb cloud shown above.)

Later in 1946, the [[Operation Crossroads]] nuclear bomb tests were described as having a "cauliflower" cloud, but a reporter present also spoke of "the mushroom, now the common symbol of the atomic age." Mushrooms have traditionally been associated both with life and death, food and poison, making them a more powerful symbolic connection than, say, the "cauliflower" cloud. <font size=-2>(Weart 1988)</font>

==Physics==
[[Image:Mushroom_cloud.svg|thumb|300px|right|Inside a mushroom cloud: cooler air is drawn into the rising [[toroid|toroidal]] fireball, which itself cools into the familiar cloud appearance.]]

[[Image:Castle romeo2.jpg|thumb|300px|Mushroom cloud with prominent condensation ring from the [[Castle Romeo]] hydrogen bomb test.]]
Mushroom clouds are formed by many sorts of large explosions under earth gravity, though they are best known for their appearance after nuclear detonations. In space the explosion would be somewhat spherical. Nuclear weapons are usually detonated above the ground (not upon impact, lest most of the energy be dispelled into the ground) in order to maximize the effect of their spherical expanding fireball. After immediate detonation, the fireball itself begins to rise into the air, acting on the same principle as a [[hot-air balloon]].

One way to analyze the motion, once the hot gas has cleared the ground sufficiently, is as a 'spherical cap bubble' <ref>Batchelor (1967, Chapter 6.11, 'Large Gas Bubbles in Liquid')</ref>, as this gives agreement between the rate of rise and observed diameter.

While it rises, air is drawn into it and upwards (similar to the updraft of a [[chimney]]), producing strong air currents known as "afterwinds", while inside the head of the cloud the hot gases rotate in a [[toroid]] shape. When the detonation itself is low enough, these afterwinds will draw in dirt and debris from the ground below to form the stem of the mushroom cloud.

Detonations produced high above the ground do not create mushroom clouds. The heads of the clouds themselves consist of highly-[[radioactive]] particles and other [[fission products]], and usually are dispersed by the wind, though weather patterns (especially rain) can produce problematic [[nuclear fallout]]. <ref>(Glasstone and Dolan 1977)</ref>

Detonations below ground level or deep below the water (for instance, nuclear depth charges) also do not produce mushroom clouds, as the explosion causes the vaporization of a huge amount of earth and water in these instances. Detonations underwater but near the surface can produce mushroom clouds, however, as well as large "[[Prandtl-Glauert singularity|cloud chamber effect]]" (such as that seen in the well-known pictures of the ''[[Operation Crossroads|Crossroads Baker]]'' test).

Nuclear mushroom clouds are often also accompanied by short-lived vapor clouds, also known as vapor rings. These are created by the blast wave causing a sudden drop in the surrounding air temperatures, causing water vapor in the air to condense around the explosion cloud.
<div style="height: 202px; width: 50%; overflow: auto; padding: 3px;text-align: left; border:solid 1px;" title="Image scroller"; >
[[Image:Mushroom cloud sequence.jpg|Mushroom cloud formation.]] </div> <br style="clear:both;"/>

Of further note, the streaks of smoke seen to the left of the explosion at detonation are vertical smoke flares which are used to observe the shockwave.

==References==
{{commons|Mushroom cloud}}
<references />
*Batchelor, G. K. ''An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics'', Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
*Glasstone, Samuel, and Dolan, Philip J. ''The Effects of Nuclear Weapons,'' 3rd edn. Washington, DC: United States Department of Defense and Energy Research and Development Administration, 1977. (esp. [http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/nukeffct/airburst.html "Chronological development of an air-burst"] and "Description of Air and Surface Bursts" in Chapter II) (This entire book is available here: http://www.princeton.edu/~globsec/publications/effects/effects.shtml .)
* Vigh, Jonathan. ''Mechanisms by Which the Atmosphere Adjusts to an Extremely Large Explosive Event'', 2001. (See: http://euler.atmos.colostate.edu/~vigh/other_works/at735/vigh_adjustment_mechanisms.pdf .)
* Weart, Spencer. ''Nuclear Fear: A History of Images.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.

==External links==
*[http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/ Carey Sublette's Nuclear Weapon Archive] has many photographs of mushroom clouds
*[http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/photos/default.htm DOE Nevada Site Office] has many photographs of nuclear tests conducted at the [[Nevada Test Site]] and elsewhere

[[Category:Nuclear weapons]]
[[Category:Vortices]]

[[ar:سحابة عيش الغراب]]
[[id:Awan jamur]]
[[de:Atompilz]]
[[es:Nube_de_hongo]]
[[ko:버섯 구름]]
[[ja:キノコ雲]]
[[no:Soppsky]]
[[nn:Atomsopp]]
[[pl:Grzyb_atomowy]]
[[sk:Atómový hríb]]
[[fi:Sienipilvi]]
[[sv:Svampmoln]]
[[th:เมฆรูปเห็ด]]
[[zh:蘑菇雲]]

Revision as of 16:42, 9 February 2009

FUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMBFUCK BOMB RETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCKRETARD BUTTOCK