Why do nuclear explosions make mushroom clouds?
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Here's a slightly longer explanation:
Mushroom clouds are symbolic of atomic explosions, but you really don't need nuclear weapons, just a sudden formation of a large, hot glob of stuff (which nuclear weapons or any sufficiently large explosion will produce).
After an explosion, a fireball is produced that is essentially that large glob of really hot stuff. It is hotter and therefore less dense than the air surrounding it, causing it to rise up. This fireball will heat up the air surrounding it (with a gradient, where the air closest to the center will be the hottest). The center will rise faster than its surroundings, thus creating the mushroom cap look.
As the fireball rises, it leaves behind a heated column of air, causing an updraft not dissimilar to how chimneys work. This draws in surrounding air (along with dirt and debris) and will form the stem of the mushroom.
The whole thing will stop rising when it is no longer less dense than the air surrounding it.
What gives the nuclear explosion mushroom cloud that distinct flat-cap mushroom shape is that these explosions can be big enough to reach the tropopause (the boundary between the stratosphere and the troposphere). The cloud can't always break through that, and its top will thus flatten out.
Mushroom clouds are symbolic of atomic explosions, but you really don't need nuclear weapons, just a sudden formation of a large, hot glob of stuff (which nuclear weapons or any sufficiently large explosion will produce).
After an explosion, a fireball is produced that is essentially that large glob of really hot stuff. It is hotter and therefore less dense than the air surrounding it, causing it to rise up. This fireball will heat up the air surrounding it (with a gradient, where the air closest to the center will be the hottest). The center will rise faster than its surroundings, thus creating the mushroom cap look.
As the fireball rises, it leaves behind a heated column of air, causing an updraft not dissimilar to how chimneys work. This draws in surrounding air (along with dirt and debris) and will form the stem of the mushroom.
The whole thing will stop rising when it is no longer less dense than the air surrounding it.
What gives the nuclear explosion mushroom cloud that distinct flat-cap mushroom shape is that these explosions can be big enough to reach the tropopause (the boundary between the stratosphere and the troposphere). The cloud can't always break through that, and its top will thus flatten out.
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