Atomic Bombs

That all depends on your perspective of "right". Everyone will have their own opinion. Look at the reasons why we bombed them. Consider what Japan had done, and possibly could have done if we had not bombed them. A lot of people think that killing innocent people to save innocent people doesn't make much sense, but sometimes doing something wrong in order to protect something you see as valuable is the only thing you can do.

Essentially, a core of fissionable material is impacted to such a degree that it will begin to undergo fission because of loose neutrons impacting the nuclei of the fissionable material. There are two methods, the first is by firing a bullet of fissionable material into a larger mass, and the second is by using conventional explosives to simultaneously concuss the material on all sides.

Of course, they were well aware of the effects of radiation. However the immediate acute effects (e.g. blast, fire, radiation poisoning) were felt to be of greater magnitude and significance than any possible long term chronic effects.

Yes. Italy surrendered to the Allies, switched to their side, and declared war on Germany on September 8, 1943. Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, a little over a year and a half later.

An interesting side quirk to this is that later in September 1943, northern Italy was reformed into a fascist country ruled by Mussolini with help from the German military. This new country, the Italian Social Republic, continued fighting against the Allies (including Italy) until it too surrendered on May 2, 1945. So both Italian countries surrendered before Germany did.

After that the weapons race began and many atomic bombs were made.

After the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki 9th of August 1945 the Japanese government capitulated to Allied demands of an unconditional surrender six days later upon 15th August 1945 . On the 2nd of September the Japanese signed documents of surrender .

The Germans (luckily) never actually had a serious atomic bomb project. They were working on one in 1939 and 1940 but made an arithmetic error that suggested that >1000kg of enriched uranium would be needed per bomb (instead of the correct value of <100kg - Little Boy actually use only 64kg). It was deemed that no plane that could be built during the war could carry such an enormous bomb (and the cost of enriching that much uranium beyond the ability of any country at the time - which it probably was), so the project was scaled back (before the US Manhattan Project even began) to only reactor development research with the hope of making powerplants after they won the war.

They never even knew of plutonium, which in the Fatman only needed 6.2kg per bomb!

To end WW2 as fast as possible and avoid getting impeached in 1946 when the war ended after an invasion of Japan costing about a million american lives and the news leaked that he had available a weapon in 1945 that could have ended the war then and he chose not to use it.

Tokyo was bombed by conventional bombers. The Emperor's Palace, was off limits. If the Emperor had been killed, Japan would not have surrendered even with atomic weapons. And we did use our last two bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki (the first bomb was a test bomb in New Mexico in July 1945). The invasion of Japan was scheduled to go; before any other atomic weapons would have been ready for use. It was the Emperor who approved the final surrender of Japan-against the Japanese Army who wanted to fight to the last man.

Two one at Hiroshima and other at Nagasaki

The second US nuclear weapon, used against the city of Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945, was called "Fat Man" for its shape. It used plutonium-239 as its fissioning material, as did the Trinity nuclear device, tested at Alamagordo NM on July16. (see related question)

Very few people knew ANYTHING about the atomic bomb. First of all it was customary to keep the departments in the dark about the whole picture. In Los Alamos, New Mexico was a compound where the research went on. When the two bombs were ready they were totally different and secretly transported under tarps so not even the handlers could see what they looked like.
Watch the documentary "Fat Man and Little Boy" to get the sense of how things were.

MAxiMUM SHOCk AND EFFECt qUiCkly tO SWAy tHE JAPANESE PEOPlE AND lEADERSHiP AGAiNSt FUtURE AGGRESiON. iT WORKED!


The reason they picked these two cities is because they were away from any other destruction from the war. It was the first time they used the atomic bomb. They wanted to see the effect of the nuke.

By the time of the Korean War, the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons and was allied with China and North Korea. Using a nuclear weapon there could have triggered a nuclear war between the US and the USSR.

The detonation is caused by bringing together a "critical mass" of radioactive material (the term "critical mass" refers to that quantity of material sufficient for a self-sustaining fission reaction).

What triggers this can vary, depending on the intended usage of the bomb itself. It may be set with a barometric or proximity fuze to detonate in the air, an impact fuze to detonate upon, well, impact, a timed fuze to detonate at a particular pre-set instant, or any of the various other types of artillery fuzes.

The hard part is holding that critical mass together long enough for it to fully fission. The warhead tends to blow apart due to prompt dispersal, causing incomplete detonation. High technology is used to form an focused, explosive, compression that will last long enough, even under the intense pressures of super prompt criticality, to make the most of the weapon.

An atomic bomb called Fat Man, developed in the Manhattan Project, WAS dropped onto the city of Hiroshima on 8/9/1945.

he world's first nuclear detonation was the Trinity test, conducted on July 16, 1945, next plutonium core implosion device was detonated from a one-hundred foot tower that rose from the desert floor. So, before the attacks the nuclear were tested two times.

Yes and it read thus:

TO THE JAPANESE PEOPLE:

America asks that you take immediate heed of what we say on this leaflet.

We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate.

We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city.

Before using this bomb to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, we ask that you now petition the Emperor to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better and peace-loving Japan.

You should take steps now to cease military resistance. Otherwise, we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

ATTENTION JAPANESE PEOPLE. EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

Because your military leaders have rejected the thirteen part surrender declaration, two momentous events have occurred in the last few days.

The Soviet Union, because of this rejection on the part of the military has notified your Ambassador Sato that it has declared war on your nation. Thus, all powerful countries of the world are now at war with you.

Also, because of your leaders' refusal to accept the surrender declaration that would enable Japan to honorably end this useless war, we have employed our atomic bomb.

A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2000 of our giant B-29s could have carried on a single mission. Radio Tokyo has told you that with the first use of this weapon of total destruction, Hiroshima was virtually destroyed.

Before we use this bomb again and again to destroy every resource of the military by which they are prolonging this useless war, petition the emperor now to end the war. Our president has outlined for you the thirteen consequences of an honorable surrender. We urge that you accept these consequences and begin the work of building a new, better, and peace-loving Japan.

Act at once or we shall resolutely employ this bomb and all our other superior weapons to promptly and forcefully end the war.

EVACUATE YOUR CITIES.

The situation was bad. The United States was involved in fighting in the European scenario and in the Pacific scenario fighting the Japanese also. This had been going for 4 years. The casualty rate was high. President Truman stated that he used the bomb to end the war sooner.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forever changed the world in which we now live. Two cities were virtually wiped off the face of earth, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, and countless others bear the scars of August 1945. It is possible that the show of force by the United States was the only way to ensure a quick resolution to the fighting in the Pacific or it could be argued that Japan was inhumanely and unjustifiably used as an experiment on the world stage.The atomic bomb was the reason Americans had won the war with Japan and also the reason their boys were finally coming home. At the same time reports of radiation sickness and immense suffering seeped into the news, coupled with the fact that the victims of the bomb were not soldiers or military personnel but women, children, and the elderly.

The atomic bombings of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan were conducted by the United States during the final stages of World War II in 1945. These two events represent the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.

-

The United States, with assistance from the United Kingdom and Canada, designed and built the bombs under the codename Manhattan Project; initially for use against Nazi Germany and inspired by the correct assumption that Germany would also conduct an atomic bomb project, and incorrect assumption that the Nazis held a lead in atomic weapons research. The first nuclear device, called "Gadget," was tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico on July 16, 1945. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs were the second and third to be detonated and the only ones ever employed as weapons.

-

Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't the first times that the Allies had bombed Axis cities without specifically targeting military installations, nor the first time that such bombings had caused huge numbers of civilian casualties, nor the first time that such bombings were (or came to be) controversial. In Germany, the Allied firebombing of Dresden resulted in roughly 30,000 deaths. The March 1945 firebombing of Tokyo may have killed as many as 100,000 people. By August, about 60 Japanese cities had been destroyed through a massive aerial campaign, including large firebombing raids on the cities of Tokyo and Kobe.

-

Over 3½ years of direct U.S. involvement in World War II, approximately 400,000 American lives had been lost, roughly half of them incurred in the war against Japan. In the months prior to the bombings, the Battle of Okinawa resulted in an estimated 50-150,000 civilian deaths, 100-125,000 Japanese or Okinawan military or conscript deaths and over 72,000 American casualties. An invasion of Japan was expected to result in casualties many times greater than in Okinawa.

-

U.S. President Harry S.Truman, who was unaware of the Manhattan Project until Franklin Roosevelt's death made the decision to drop the bombs on Japan. His stated intention in ordering the bombings was to bring about a quick resolution of the war by inflicting destruction, and instilling fear of further destruction, that was sufficient to cause Japan to surrender. On July 26 Truman and other allied leaders issued The Potsdam Declaration outlining terms of surrender for Japan:

-

"...The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland..."

-

"...We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction."

-

The next day, Japanese papers reported that the declaration, the text of which had been broadcast and dropped on leaflets into Japan, had been rejected. The atomic bomb was still a highly guarded secret and not mentioned in the declaration.

Lasting Results are not pretty if the atom bomb is detonated at ground level or used as a bunker buster. Such ground level burst interfere with the chain reaction. The plutonium/uranium chain reaction occurs within 55 nano seconds of detonation so most of the material ignites and releases most of the energy if detonated at 2500 AGL, but if the bomb detonates at ground level than a significant mount of radio active material remains unburned (dirty bomb). This is bad, very bad. The 1/2 life can be from 700,000 years to 1,000,000 years for the "unburned material! Ugh!!!! I.E. if some of the plutonium rods that are stored at our nuclear power plants somehow got scattered into the atmosphere America would be a very quiet neighborhood for a very long time. A small piece of this material (3mm) can emit 200,000 rads! Any living thing coming in contact with this stuff would be dead in a matter of days if not hours. There you have. Nuclear War anybody?! In my humble opinion, mankind is doomed and their demise is going to destroy life as we know it on planet earth! Sad very sad indeed....

the us used atomic bombs against japan to end world war 2. the effects were the annihilation of hiroshima and Nagasaki.

-edit-

Most people agree that the bombs (two) were used to quickly end the war with Japan and save American lives.

The effects were they ended the war and saved American lives. Exactly what their purpose was.

But, they had side-effects, or effects that were known, and predicted, but not necessarily wanted. In some cases, the side effects of the radiation were so bad that it, in itself, added to the purpose of the bombings coming about. Ending the war and saving many many lives that would have been lost in a long drawn out conventional war of guns and planes and ships etc.

If you are asking about what happened in the next 3 days?Then the United States decided to drop the next atomic bomb on the city of kobe.When the aircraft arrived over the city the visibility was not good enough to bomb this city and it was decided to bomb the secondary target,which turned out to be Nagasaki.This was done on the date of August 9th,1945.