Nuclear mushroom is an ominous explosion symbol

This term is called a cloud of dust and smoke that occurs after a nuclear explosion. It would be better, of course, never to know what a nuclear mushroom is. This radioactive cloud is named in this way because of the external resemblance observed by scientists with the fruiting bodies of common fungi that can be found and collected in the forest. But mushrooms in folk art of different countries are symbols of fertility and vital energy. A nuclear mushroom, on the contrary, is a symbol of destruction and wars.

However, a mushroom cloud is not only a distinctive feature of nuclear and thermonuclear explosions that have occurred on earth. It is formed in other, not nuclear explosions of sufficient power, as well as during eruptions of large volcanoes, in strong fires or in the fall of meteorites onto the soil. Its height directly depends on the power of the incident or explosion or impact produced, and on the quality of the filling: the substances used in the process.

Characteristics

How is it formed and how is this phenomenon characterized? A nuclear mushroom is formed when a dust cloud is raised from the surface of the earth. In this case, the air, heated by the explosion up to certain high temperatures, tends upward and is twisted in a circular manner by the vortex. The vortex pulls upwards and the "leg" of the fungus, which consists of dust and smoky masses and looks like a pillar. And on the sides of the vortex formed, the air is already cooling and resembles the most ordinary cloud (condensation of steam into water drops occurs) or the "head" of the fungus. Accompanying the ground-based nuclear explosion, the fungus is thus one of the consequences of his work. It is characteristic that during the explosion on water or in the air a similar phenomenon does not occur.

Fungus of nuclear explosion

What happens after the end of the rise of dust and smoke from the surface of the earth? The nuclear fungus is already a cumulonimbus cloud, strongly developed in height. It, naturally, has a mushroom shape (a cap and a leg). It is known that with a powerful explosion (up to a megaton) it can be up to 20 kilometers in height! From this cloud, if the explosion was of sufficient power, rains are usually spilled, capable of extinguishing fires that have arisen as a result of the explosion.

Radioactive cloud

It represents the greatest danger immediately after the explosion, nuclear and thermonuclear, conducted on the ground. Particles of radioactive dust containing harmful substances act as condensates. A pair of water settles on them, concentrating around in droplets. The cloud rises and cools. Inside, droplets of water form which fall on the soil down as radioactive rains (snow, hail) are possible. Such precipitation, dropped from the radioactive cloud-mushroom, can cause significant damage to the national economy and pose a threat to all life.

When

The nuclear fungus, as already mentioned, does not occur with all types of nuclear or thermonuclear explosions. If they were carried out, for example, in outer space, deep under the ground or under water, and also in the earth's atmosphere, neither the fungus nor the cloud is formed.

Sinister Symbol

In modern literature and art, nuclear fungus is identified with the sinister symbol of war, and its image is included in some paintings of world painting as the embodiment of evil and threats to all living on the planet Earth. In fantastic literary works and movies describing the future of the Earth after the nuclear wars, this symbol is used by the authors quite often, and always - in a negative and ominous plan. After all, nuclear evil has no future, but there are only ruins and a past that people who survived as a result of disasters remember.