Definition of implosion

The term "implosion" was coined in the field of physics in the early 20th century to describe the opposite of an explosion. While an explosion involves a sudden and violent outward expansion of a substance, an implosion involves a rapid and forceful inward collapse. The concept of implosion first gained prominence in the context of nuclear physics, where it was proposed as a potential method for achieving controlled nuclear fusion. In this process, called implosion nuclear weapon design, a sphere containing a nuclear payload would be well compressed to ignite a nuclear chain reaction by compressing the core, leading to a massive and destructive explosion. However, the first practical application of the term "implosion" was in the context of nuclear bomb design, specifically to describe the final stage of a nuclear weapon's detonation. In a nuclear implosion, the high explosives that are used to compress the nuclear core to a high density, eventually leading to a rapid chain reaction that results in a massive nuclear explosion. Outside of nuclear physics, the term "implosion" has also been used in various other fields, such as chemistry, where it can describe the collapse of a molecular structure under the influence of thermal energy, and engineering, where it can refer to the rapid inward collapse of a structure due to external forces or internal instability. In summary, the term "implosion" entered the English language in the context of nuclear physics in the early 20th century, and has since been used to describe a variety of phenomena characterized by a rapid and forceful inward collapse or collapse inward.