How is burning hydrogen different than the reaction in the H-bomb?
Burning hydrogen, just like burning gasoline, natural gas, or a candle, is a chemical reaction, which means that electrons get shifted around and new compounds are made, like water, but the basic atoms remain the same. The thermonuclear explosion from a hydrogen bomb is the consequence of a nuclear fusion reaction. During this reacton, the two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium, collide at very high energy to fuse into helium nuclei, releasing tremendous amounts of energy. To get these rare isotopes of hydrogen to fuse requires extraordinary temperatures (hundreds of millions of degrees). These temperatures are supplied in a thermonuclear weapon (in this case, an H-bomb) by setting off an atomic, or fission, bomb to trigger the fusion reaction. However, commercial hydrogen gas contains no deuterium and no tritium. Without these isotopes, it is physically impossible for ordinary hydrogen gas to produce a thermonuclear reaction under any circumstances. Source U.S. Department of
