The History of the Atomic Bomb

By: Chris West

Intro
A Nuclear weapon is an explosive device which extracts its cataclysmic force from a nuclear reaction, using either fission or a combination of both fission, and fusion. The first atomic bomb ever detonated was called Trinity, which used an implosion-design plutonium and was detonated in 1945. Later the United States dropped to nukes in Japan, one in Hiroshima, and one in Nagasaki. This event ended the war.

Nuclear Reaction
A nuclear weapons detonation is caused by a chemical reaction. This nuclear reaction is caused by using either fission or a combination of both fission, and fusion. Both of these nuclear reactions can release vast quantities of energy by using relatively small amounts of matter.

Nuclear Fission
Nuclear Fission is a form of elemental transmutation. This transmutation occurs when the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, and usually some by-product particles. These by-products usually include free neutrons, which is usually in the form of gamma rays, and other nuclear fragments such as beta particles and alpha particles. Nuclear Fission produces energy for nuclear power and to drive the explosion of nuclear weapons. - According to Science Daily.

Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear Fusion is the process where multiple nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus. This process is completed by having Two or more atomic nuclei collide at a very high speed in a fusion reactor so they can join to construct a new type of atomic nucleus. This process is accompanied by the release or absorption of energy, depending on the masses of the nuclei involved. Nuclear Fusion of light elements releases the energy that causes stars to shine and hydrogen bombs to explode.

Nazi nuclear energy project

Program started in April of 1939, just months after the discovery of nuclear fission, January, 1939. This program ended when the Germans invaded Poland because most of the scientists working on the project were drafted into the German army. Another attempt of the program was started the first day of WW2, September 1st, 1939. This program split up into multiple programs, one was a nuclear reactor program, another was uranium and heavy water production, and the last one was a uranium isotope separation program. With the pressure of war building up with the Germans, most of the fission scientists diminished because they wanted to focus on more war-time demands in 1942.

Einsteins letter to Roosevelt

On August 2nd, 1939, President of the United States at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, received a letter from German scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard. The letter was a warning from the two German scientists explaining that Germany is beginning to get closer and closer at developing atomic bombs/weapons. They suggested that the United States should start their own nuclear program to counteract the Germans. The letter claimed that, In the course in the last four months, it has been made probable --- through the work of Joliot in France as well as Fermi and Szilard in America --- that it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which vast amounts of power and large quantities of new radium-like elements would be generated.(In the mediate future) This could result in the construction of extremely powerful bombs. This letter prompted action by Roosevelt, which later ended up with the Manhattan Project, which developed the first atomic bombs.

The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a research project that developed the atomic bomb during World War 2. It began some time around 1939 and had around 130,000 people and cost about $2 billion dollars back then. Thats nearly $26 billion dollars in 2014. With 90% of the money being used to build factories and to develop the fissionable materials that they needed, and only 10% of the money going towards the development and production of the weapons. The bomb was finally developed in 1945.

The Trinity Nuclear Test

The Trinity nuclear test was the first time in history that an atomic bomb was detonated. It took place on July 16, 1945 in the deserts of Socorro, New Mexico, which is now a tourist attraction. Trinity used an implosion-design plutonium device which was the same kind as the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki. The bomb was raised in the air 100ft by a tower so that when it detonates, it would simulate the bomb detonating after being dropped by a plane. The bomb yielded about 20,000 kilotons (of TNT) type force and was the beginning of The Atomic Age.

Reasons to drop the bomb

Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and killed around 2,402 U.S. troops and injured 1,282 by doing so. It would have been easier than all of the other alternatives at the time. The Japanese would not of surrendered until everyone in their country was dead. If we never nuked Japan, they would not be the country that they are today because idealism wouldnt have spread throughout the country.

Reasons to not drop the bomb

The innocent murders of hundreds of thousands of japanese citizens was wrong. We wouldnt want to get nuked so why would we nuke somebody? Japan would have eventually surrendered if we wouldnt have bombed them. Wasnt the bomb originally developed as a defensive weapon? It was inhumane.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both nuked by the end of World War 2 in 1945 by the United States. These bombings are the only use of nuclear weapons during wartime to this date. Before we nuked them, we asked Japan if they wanted to surrender, the ignored us. The bomb the was dropped on Hiroshima was called Little Boy, which was a gun type fission weapon. It was dropped on August 6th by The Enola Gay. Nagasaki was bombed on August 9th, the bomb was called Fat Man and was the same kind of bomb as Trinity. These two bombing killed 90,000-160,000 in Hiroshima, and about 60,000-80,000 in Nagasaki.

\/ the Fat Man Bomb\/

^Theyre detonation^ <Nagasaki Hiroshima>

\/ the Little Boy Bomb \/

Aftermath
On August 15th, which was six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan announced its surrender to allies. Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender on September 2nd, which was officially the end of World War 2. Many survivors were deformed. A lot of them got super cancer and died soon after. People still question till this day if the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the right thing to do at the time. The casualties and losses in Japan were about 150,000 - 246,000 +.

Radioactive Decay
Radioactive decay is the process when an unstable atomic nuclei emits subatomic particles called radiation. Radioactive decay occurs in the parent nucleus and it then produces a daughter nucleus. It is impossible to predict the decay of individual atoms.

Present day relationship with enemies

Nowadays, we, the United States, are one of Germany's closest allies and partners, even outside of the European Union. When WW2 ended, we had many American troops in Germany. After quite a few years, they began to respect us Americans more. When the Berlin Wall was put up, we remained allies with West Germany, while the East side of Germany was still hostile with the United States. This was because the Americans later discovered that East Germany was more of a Soviet Puppet. When the Wall was demolished, both sides respected us and helped lead to the events causing our current relationship to Germany as a whole. Today, the United States and Japan have a very strong, economic, political, and military relationship. Japan is now one of Americas closest allies, like Germany. When WW2 ended, we had troops occupying Japan. They became an ally in on April 28th, 1952.

Sources
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