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Atomic Bombs
Atomic bomb is an explosive device in which a large amount of energy is released through nuclear reactions. This makes an atomic bomb, more properly called a nuclear weapon, a much more powerful device than any conventional bomb containing chemical explosives. The first Atomic Bombs were used during World War 2 in 1945 by the US onto 2 Japanese cities.
2,042 Questions
Much of the design particulars are top secret-Q but basically you need a mass of fissile material (usually plutonium) large enough to be able to reach supercritical mass and support an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. The explosion is triggered by compressing the plutonium by an implosion to assemble the initially subcritical mass into a supercritical mass rapidly (a couple milliseconds). once the material reaches supercritical mass, a neutron source is fired through it to start the reaction at the optimal time. about 4µs to 7µs later the bomb explodes. The longer the design is able to hold the bomb together, the higher the yield when it does disassemble.
What are the bad things about the atomic bomb?
The atomic bomb has devastating humanitarian consequences, causing mass casualties and destruction. It also raises ethical concerns due to its indiscriminate nature and potential for long-lasting radiation effects on human health and the environment. Additionally, the proliferation of nuclear weapons poses a significant risk of escalation in conflicts and potential nuclear warfare.
Why did Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer invent the atomic bomb?
Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer did not invent the atomic bomb; rather they were involved in the scientific and theoretical developments that led to its creation. The atomic bomb was developed as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II in response to fears that Nazi Germany was working on similar weapons. It was ultimately used by the United States in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
The term atom bomb (or atomic bomb) usually refers to a bomb that obtains its energy solely through the process of nuclear fission.
However technically the term is considered interchangeable with nuclear bomb, and can refer to any bomb obtaining its energy through either nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or any combination of the two processes.
Why were the elements uranium and plutonium used in the atomic bombs of the Manhattan Project?
Answer: U235 and Pu239 are fissionable Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 are both fissionable isotopes. This means that they undergo fission when they absorb a neutron, splitting into two lighter elements and releasing enormousl amounts of energy (as well as spitting out some neutrons - which can sustain a chain reaction if conditions are right). U-235 is obtained by separation from nautural uranium which contain only 0.07% U-235. Pu-239 is obtained from a nuclear reactor whereby U238 (the major isotope of natural uranium) adds a neutron to its nucleus and undergoes a transformation to neptunium-239 which splits off to become Pu-239.
What are the vertical streamers next to an atomic bomb blast?
It's not from the atomic blast The smoke trails were not caused by the blast itself, but by smoke rockets that created contrails to provide points of reference for measuring the shock wave caused by the nuclear blast.
In the first few milliseconds after a nuclear detonation, the fireball and shock wave are indistinguishable, but soon after, the fireball cools a little and the shock wave continues on beyond it. The shock wave is a layer of high density air that expands out from the blast very rapidly. In nuclear testing, the scientists and engineers wanted to be able to track the progress of the shock wave well after it went beyond the fireball. So, they launched smoke rockets well behind the detonation site seconds before detonation. The dense layer of air acted as a sort of lens, refracting the image of the smoke rockets behind it, and allowing those working on the project to calculate the shock velocity and other properties as a scientific function. == ==
An atomic bomb works by fissioning a large number of atoms, releasing their residual binding energy. Fissile material, such as U-235 or Pu-239, is compressed into a supercritical mass, specifically what we call super prompt critical, where all of the negative coefficients drop out and only the fast neutrons are needed for the reaction (which accelerates exponentially). Since the material does not like to stay that way, there is a neutron source to start the reaction up when the compression is optimal, along with extremely sophisticated explosives and very massive inertial tampers such as U-238 which can hold the material together long enough to fully convert. (We are talking about microseconds, but the pressures are enormous.) The material loses mass, and the difference in mass is represented by energy using Einstein's mass-equivalence equation e = mc2, yielding an enormous amount of energy.
How does the atomic bomb work?
Simple explanation:Conventional bombs explode as a result of chemical reactions, but the atoms themselves that make up the chemicals stay unchanged by those reactions. On the other hand, the "Atomic Bomb", also called a "Nuclear Bomb", is so named because it explodes as a result of reactions which actually do change the atoms. When those atoms are changed in this way, they create explosive energy as a direct result of the changes of the atoms.
Technical Answer: To explain how a nuclear weapon (sometimes called an atomic bomb) works, we need to jump around a bit to pick up the necessary ideas that we'll knit together to build this critter. We can start by separating the nuclear weapons into two basic types: there is the fission weapon and there is the fusion weapon. We'll start with the first one and go from there. But first we need to review some physics. Buckle up. Let's take a ride.
Among those quirky elements at the upper end of the periodic table we find a couple or three that are fissile. What that means is that if they capture a neutron, they can fission; the atomic nucleus can be broken apart. They also spontaneously fission, and they do this to some extent all the time. All the elements at the upper end of the periodic table are unstable and undergo radioactive decay; they have no stable isotopes. But this is just a "breakdown" of the nucleus and the ejection of a particle or two and some energy. Fission is actually a "splitting" of the nucleus of an atom. It breaks into "chunks" we call fission fragments. A neutron or two or three is also ejected in the event. You can imagine the violence of this phenomenon on the atomic scale. It's horrendous. A lot of energy is released, and this is the key to the use of these materials in a weapon.
When we consider the fissionable materials, there is a threshold called critical mass associated with them. When it is exceeded, that is, when we "put together" enough material to exceed the critical mass, the material will spontaneously begin to fission. This is because a tiny number of spontaneous fissions occur naturally all the time, and the neutrons released in these events, which always are occurring, will start a chain reaction. (This is actually how an atomic bomb blast or the chain reaction in a nuclear reactor begins.) Enough material is around, that so-called critical mass, that a chain begins spontaneously. There is no way to stop this from happening if critical mass is reached. It will always occur. But which elements do this?
It is uranium and plutonium that we are most familiar with as nuclear weapons materials. Let's just look at them. As regards uranium, only the specific isotope U-235 will work for this application. Over 99% of the uranium in the ground is U-238, and only a tiny portion of the metal is the isotope U-235. We have to refine the uranium to separate the tiny bit of that lighter isotope out to make a weapon. And that's no mean feat! It takes a lot of equipment and energy to process the material and concentrate the preferred isotope sufficiently. We call this process enrichment, and the finished product is enriched uranium. Plutonium is created by exposing uranium to the neutron flux in an operating nuclear reactor and letting it "soak up some neutrons" and transform into plutonium. This is the most common approach to obtaining weapons materials that the nuclear powers use. So we have our nuclear material, and all we need to do now is make a bomb.
There is a thing called "geometry" that we associate with nuclear weapons. It speaks to the sizes and shapes of the sub-critical masses of the fissionable material that we are using in the bomb. It will probably also include how they will be brought together to achieve critical mass. Certainly there will be some safety features associated with the geometry, the physical design of the bomb. Remember that if we put enough fissionable material together to cause a chain reaction to begin, lots of energy will be liberated very quickly. And this energy will serve to "push apart" the material that was brought together to create the critical mass. So just "joining together" sub-critical masses of material won't work for a bomb because the immediate release of energy will force the material apart. There are a couple of basic ways to arrange the sub-critical masses and "force" them together, but that's what will have to be done. The fissionable material will have to be "driven together" somehow to make it work well. This is where conventional explosives come into the picture.
In a bomb, the sub-critical masses will be "blasted together" by a chemical explosive, and this blast will "hold" the material together for a split second to let the chain build to criticality and beyond to the point where the chain is actually supercritical. Proper design and construction will permit a good "burn" of the nuclear material with a large resultant release of energy. A triggering mechanism will set off the conventional charges and they will drive the sub-critical masses together. The "assembled" mass will be a bit more than critical, and the spontaneous fissions that are always occurring in the material will initiate a chain reaction. Atoms will spontaneously fission, the neutrons released will be captured by other nuclei, and they in turn will fission releasing more neutrons. The chain has begun and expands almost instantly. The periods of time associated with the initiation and buildup of the chain are ridiculously short. It all basically happens "in an instant" and the weapon detonates. This is the fission weapon, and a fission weapon is needed to set off a fusion weapon.
In nuclear fusion, protons are fused together to form helium nuclei - at least in the simplest form, which is what is used here. That is how our sun is operating now. At least mostly. Later in the sun's life, the fusion of heavier nuclei will be more predominate. Then heavier still. Anyway, it takes a lot of energy to force hydrogen nuclei (the protons) together and fuse them. This happens in an environment of extreme heat. Only the heat of a nuclear blast can create enough energy here on earth to fuse quantities of hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei. (This though the laser pumped fusion reactor is still being experimented with.) The fusion of hydrogen, the fusing of those two protons and a pair of neutrons, is the hydrogen bomb. We effectively build a fission bomb "around" a supply of "hydrogen" and set it off to create the fusion explosion. It's really a huge blast. And that's the long and short of it.
There are some other "exotic" weapons out there. The fission-fusion-fission weapon is one that takes it a step further. It just uses the fusion device to trigger another fission device which is built into it. It's really hairy. There are neutron bombs, too, which just pack more "neutron producing material" in the package to generate more neutron radiation to kill things without increasing blast damage - which is already substantial. We've paved the road for you and given you a map to get you started. Should you wish to continue on down it, there will be some school work you'll have to master to fully appreciate the in's and out's of these notoriously quirky devices. Oh, and don't think you'll be "tickling the dragon's tail" any time soon. It takes a PhD and a security clearance above "Top Secret" to even get on the reservation, let alone get in the door.
Naturally we have some links you can follow to learn more, and those links can be found below.
Why was the first atomic bomb made?
The first atomic bomb was made to test the theory that a "super weapon" could be built using the principles of nuclear physics. Ideas of the nature of the physics of the atom developed as the 20th century rolled on, and continued to do so as World War 2 began and raged across the globe. It was felt that the bomb, which could deliver a massive and almost unimmaginably distructive blast, was possible. And if it was possible, the U.S. had better be the first to have it lest the Axis win the war by developing and deploying it. America, with the help of the British and other European scientists, put together the Manhattan Project to do just that. The rest is history. Make no mistake about it - the application of the fission reaction to build a weapon (a bomb) was a necessary first step in the development of atomic energy. The world situation, that is, the fact that much of the world was at war, was an undeniable catalyst in the choice to apply nuclear ideas to a weapon, and to design and develop the atomic bomb.
An atomic bomb is any bomb which obtains its destructive energy from the excess binding energy of atomic nuclei. The term is most commonly applied to bombs that release the excess binding energy of heavy atoms by fissioning them to form lighter atoms, but can equally correctly be applied to bombs that release the excess binding energy of light atoms by fusing them to form heavier atoms (however such bombs are most commonly called hydrogen bombs).
The fine details of this are somewhat blurred as most modern nuclear weapons use some combination of both fission and fusion, regardless of what they are called (e.g. dial-a-yield tritium gas fusion boosted atomic bombs, conventionally built hydrogen fusion bombs usually get more than 90% of their yield from fast fission of their depleted uranium tamper) to optimize their characteristics.
How big was the atomic bomb in size and power?
The bombs used in ww2:
- Gadget, sphere 5 feet in diameter, weight 10000 pounds, yield ~20 kilotons
- Little Boy, 10 feet long and 4 feet in diameter, weight 9000 pounds, yield ~13 kilotons
- Fatman, 10 feet long and 5 feet in diameter, weight 10000 pounds, yield ~22 kilotons
- SADM, sphere 11 inches in diameter, weight 50 pounds, yield 10 tons to 1 kiloton depending on configuration
- Ivy Mike, 20 feet tall and 6.7 feet in diameter, weight 164000 pounds, yield 10 megatons
- Tsar Bomba, 26 feet long and 6.9 feet in diameter, weight 60000 pounds, yield 50 to 58 megatons (depending on method of measurement)
- etc.
How do you defuse a nuclear bomb?
Impossible to say precisely without knowing the specific design and model, but usually the first step requires removing the core of fissile material. This may be as simple as removing one chemical explosive lens and taking the core out that hole, or as complex as sawing an epoxy plastic casing in half and then separating the two chemical explosive hemispheres and lifting out the core.
Once the core has been removed, Inerting of the high explosive lense materials is usually done by burning it (however one must still be careful when considering this as some less stable high explosives that have been used in nuclear bombs sometime will detonate simply from the heat of burning).
Who thought of the idea to build an atomic bomb?
Einstein has some credit in the development of the nuclear bomb, but never thought of it himself... I believe it was Hitler who first thought of the atomic bomb. The Germans were working on a way to harness the energy from a split atom. Einstein sent the US president a letter, telling him of the power such a weapon could have, and the Germans were working on splitting atoms. That brought about the Manhattan Project.
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The Einstein letter to FDR was actually entirely written by Leo Szilard, all Einstein did was sign it.
The writer H.G. Wells had imagined them and wrote about them in his 1914 novel "The World Set Free", but this was just SciFi.
Leo Szilard was the first to actually invent the process that makes the atomic bomb work (neutron chain reaction) in 1933 while in London and patented this on June 28, 1934.
A team of German scientists working in Germany and Sweden discovered fission in uranium-235 in 1939 and after the publication of their paper, Germany blocked further publication of the results of all research in nuclear physics.
By the time the Manhattan Project became fully active, Germany had already decided to scale back their nuclear project to just basic reactor research with the single goal of building power reactors after Germany won the war. They considered a bomb impractical in the time estimated to win the war by conventional means, even if it was possible (and Heisenberg's calculations suggested such a bomb would be too large for any available aircraft to deliver).
To Hitler the idea of an Atomic Bomb sounded like Jewish Physics, and thus nonsense. Hitler knew nothing of physics, nuclear or otherwise, and the teaching of Einstein's theories of relativity were already banned in Nazi Germany simply because Einstein was a Jew (implicitly making it Jewish Physics) regardless of any experimental evidence confirming the theories.
How did Albert Einstein come up with the idea of the atom bomb?
Although the underlying theory of the atomic bomb workings draws loosely from Einstein's ideas on mass to energy conversion (the famous equation E=Mc2), he did not himself invent the atomic bomb neither did he himself discover fission. Leo Szilard invented the neutron chain reaction that makes both bombs and reactors possible, but Einstein knew nothing of this as the British kept the patent classified from 1936 until 1949. Einstein was an absolute pacifist and refused to participate in any type of war related work.
Before WWII Szilard wrote a letter and had Einstein sign it (as if he had written it) to warn President Roosevelt that Germany was likely working toward the development of an atomic bomb. Shortly after this the US started a project to beat the Germans to the development of this weapon.
The atomic bomb was the product of cooperation of many scientists and engineers participating in the Manhattan project. Chief among the people who unleashed the power of the atom was Robert Oppenheimer, who oversaw the project from conception to completion.
Enrichment of the U-235 from U-238 was conducted at Oakridge Tennessee. Harold Urey and his team at Columbia University devised an extraction system using the principle of gaseous diffusion.
Production reactors to make Pu-239 were built and operated at Hanford Washington.
Bomb casing development was done at Wendover Utah and in southern California.
Production of different parts was contracted out to several dozen companies. Often as the companies were not given information on the things their part attached to (for secrecy) things did not fit right and had to be reworked in the field. For example wartime MK-III Fat Man bombs were virtually custom built with no interchangeable parts. Even the Plutonium core of one bomb would not fit in the pit of others.
Why did Admiral Leahy feel the use of the bomb was ethically and morally incorrect?
Admiral Leahy believed that using the atomic bomb was unnecessary and morally wrong because he felt the bombing of civilian populations, particularly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was excessive and indiscriminate. He also argued that Japan was already on the brink of surrender, making the use of the bomb unnecessary to achieve victory.
Are cluster bombs legal in war?
The use of cluster bombs is controversial and has been banned by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which prohibits their use, production, stockpiling, and transfer. However, not all countries have ratified this convention, so the legality of cluster bombs in war depends on the specific laws and regulations of the countries involved in the conflict.
Was an atomic bomb the same as being in the nuclear age?
No, they are not the same. The atomic bomb was a specific weapon developed during World War II, while the nuclear age refers to the period starting from when nuclear technology and weapons became a significant part of global affairs, which continued past the use of the atomic bomb.
Who was the creator of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima?
The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II was created by a team of scientists led by J. Robert Oppenheimer as part of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer is often considered the "father of the atomic bomb" due to his important role in its development.
Was there a book written about the atomic bomb before they were developed?
Yes, there were books written about the concept of atomic energy and the potential for atomic bombs before they were actually developed. One notable example is H.G. Wells' 1914 novel "The World Set Free," which featured a speculative portrayal of atomic bombs and their impact on society.
How is the race to the Atomic bomb relevant to Shakespeare's Macbeth?
The race to the Atomic bomb can be relevant to Macbeth in terms of the moral and ethical implications of scientific advancements. Just as Macbeth faced moral dilemmas in his quest for power, the scientists involved in developing the atomic bomb grappled with the consequences of their actions. Both scenarios raise questions about the responsible use of power and the impact of unchecked ambition.
This quote by Aeschylus highlights how even in our unconscious state, pain can deeply affect us and lead to wisdom through the grace of God. It suggests that deep suffering can ultimately bring about unexpected growth and enlightenment, even when we resist it.
How many children where orphan after the atomic bombs?
It is estimated that around 10,000-15,000 children in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were orphaned after the atomic bombs were dropped in 1945. Many of these children faced challenges in the aftermath of the bombings, including loss of family members, health issues, and lack of resources.
Did anybody win the nobel peace prize that invented the atomic bomb?
Yes, J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was one of the key figures in developing the atomic bomb during World War II, did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee has typically been hesitant to award the Peace Prize to individuals associated with nuclear weapons development.
World War II ended in 1945 with the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8th and the surrender of Japan on August 15th. The surrender of Germany was signed in Reims, France, and the surrender of Japan took place on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. These surrenders marked the end of the war in Europe and the Pacific, respectively.
