John Whitaker Prof. Angela Burton September 25, 2004 Research Paper History of the Atom Bomb The atom bomb is one of historys greatest and most feared accomplishments. The sheer power and strength of the weapon is something that is awe-inspiring, yet something to strike fear into the hearts of everyone who sees one explode. This amazing feat of human society came after many long years of difficult testing and retesting different theories. The invention of the atom or hydrogen bomb, as it is known, is one of the most momentous inventions that human kind has seen thus far in its history. It would be logical to assume that the discovery of fission preceded the invention of the atomic bomb.
It would be normal also to expect that no single individual could really claim to be “the inventor”, since the possibility sprang naturally from a physical process, and required the efforts of many thousands to bring it into existence. But in this case, this assumption is not correct. In the case of the atomic bomb there is clearly one man who is the originator of the idea. He was also the instigator of the project that led ultimately to the successful construction of the atomic bomb, and was a principal investigator in the early R&D both before and after the founding of the atomic bomb project – making a number of the key discoveries himself. By any normal standard this man is the inventor of the atomic bomb. This man is Leo Szilard.
The Research paper on A Bomb Atomic Oppenheimer Uranium
... 000 buildings were demolished. On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb, "Fat Man," which had a length of 10 feet, 8 inches, ... other neutrons, which then collide with the nearby uranium atoms, making the atoms split. If there is enough uranium, this process of ... splitting atoms keeps happening until all the uranium atoms have been split. This only takes a ...
On September 12, 1932, within seven months of the discovery of the neutron, and more than six years before the discovery of fission, Leo Szilard conceived of the possibility of a controlled release of atomic power through a multiplying neutron chain reaction, and also realized that if such a reaction could be found, then a bomb could be built using it. On July 4, 1934 Leo Szilard filed a patent application for the atomic bomb. In his application, Szilard described not only the basic concept of neutron chain reactions and the key concept of the critical mass. The patent was awarded to him – making Leo Szilard the legally recognized inventor of the atomic bomb. (Sublet) With the invention, or rather the thought of creation, for an atom bomb before fission was discovered sparked many peoples attention. A rush for the discovery of fission and other topics associated with it created many different experiments that led towards other discoveries like the neutron, found by James Chadwick in1932, and the effects of bombardment of particles upon it.
One of the key figures in this quest for atomic knowledge was Enrico Fermi, who was a leader in the research of bombarding uranium with neutrons. Accoring to Sublet :Fermi discovered the extremely important principle of neutron behavior called “moderation” (enhanced capture of low energy neutrons) on October 22, 1934. The following years yielded many different and exciting events that helped progress the process of creating an atomic bomb. Some of the important dates are: January 13, 1939 – Otto Frisch observed fission directly in an ionization chamber. He and William Arnold coin the term “fission”. January 26, 1939 – Niels Bohr publicly announces the discovery of fission at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
This was the first announcement of fission in the United States. January 29, 1939 – Robert Oppenheimer realizes that excess neutrons must be emitted, and that it might be possible to build a bomb. February 5, 1939 – Niels Bohr gained a crucial insight into the principles of fission uranium subcategories must have different fission properties, that some could be broken apart by fast neutrons but not slow ones, others the opposite in uranium. By July 1941 – the committee completed its final report, describing atomic bombs and project proposals for building them in some technical detail. On September 3, 1941, with Winston Churchills endorsement, the British Chiefs of Staff agree to begin development of an atomic bomb. (Sublet) When December 18 came around, after months of political struggle and the reluctant entry of the United States into the war the U.S. begins to investigate atomic weapons.
The Term Paper on Atomic Bomb Uranium Project Target
It is important to carefully examine history in order to learn from previous mistakes, and also to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated. The Manhattan project is an excellent example. This program allowed the United States to unleash the power of the atom, thus, introducing a new and devastating element into warfare. Although they managed to come in first in the race with Germany, the U. ...
This top secret project became known as S-1, or as the public came to know it, the Manhattan Project. Sublet states: Despite its official founding in August, the Manhattan Project really began on September 17, 1942 when Col. Leslie Groves was notified that his assignment overseas had been cancelled. In September, Groves ordered the purchase of 1250 tons of high quality Belgian Congo uranium ore stored on Staten Island, and the next day purchased 52000 acres of land to be the future site of Oak Ridge. With this purchase, the site where most of the enriched uranium would be produced for atomic weapons was created. The creation of the atomic bomb was growing closer and closer with new developments and every passing day. During the fall, while Fermi built CP-1 in Chicago, Groves took the fissile material programs out of the hands of the scientists and placed them under the management of industrial corporations like DuPont and the Kellogg Corporation.
He ordered construction begun immediately on the fissile material production plants. On October 15, 1942 Groves asks Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer to head Project Y, the new planned central laboratory for weapons research and design at Los Alamos, New Mexico. On December 1, 1942, after 17 days of round-the-clock work Ferminis group completed, the first human made nuclear reactor, CP-1. (Sublet) In 1944 the time was almost right for the creation of the atom bomb, the air force had begun modifying B-29s for atomic weapons, CP-1 was churning out high-quality uranium and the Los Alamos compound was working on another, better reactor, the K-25. By the start of 1945 the Manhattan Project had “turned the corner”.
The Essay on The A Bomb Uranium Fission Atomic
... atomic bomb can also be called a fission bomb because it uses fission to release the nuclear power from the fuel. The fuel is usually either Uranium ... first atomic bomb was tested on July 16, 1945 at Alamogordo, New Mexico and was developed, constructed and tested by the Manhattan Project. ...
The uranium bombs seemed assured of success in a matter of months. However, allied military successes against Germany and Japan made it a horse race to see whether it would matter to the war effort. (Sublet) By mid-May the first atomic bomb was ready for combat, it was known as Little Boy. Also during May, the 100- ton test was conducted (108 tons of uranium were exploded.) This was the largest instrumented explosion conducted up to this date. On July 16, 1945, the most momentous event occurred with the explosion of the worlds first atomic bomb at the Trinity test site in New Mexico. The sheer power of the Gadget ,as it was called, vaporized the steel tower on which it was detonated.
The atom bomb was assembled by putting together a few kilograms of fissionable or fissile material within as short a period as possible. Several sub-critical amounts when fired into a small volume, exceed critical mass and thus fissile material (U-235) fissions with neutrons. Each fission of U-235 nucleus induced by a neutron, produces two radioactive fission products and a large amount of energy. It is an uncontrolled chain reaction and thus a fraction of fissile material is fissioned. Fission products that are produced along with enormous amount of energy, disperse in the environment. This type of bomb was dropped n Hiroshima and on Nagasaki (Sharma) This detonation was one of many that would happen over the course of many years in the U.S. Between 16 July 1945 and 23 September 1992 the United States of America conducted 1054 nuclear tests, and two nuclear attacks (Hiroshima and Nagasaki).
(Sublet) These nuclear tests include however, hydrogen and cobalt bombs, so the figures are slightly smaller in relation to the atomic bomb. The way in which the atomic bomb is exploded is really quite fascinating. It involves the bombardment of particles known as neutrons against an isotope of uranium, usually U-235 or U-239. The neutrons are fired by a gun-like apparatus which then combines with the nucleus. The resulting nucleus explodes into two equal parts which are smaller and have a lesser charge than the original isotope. The fission is accompanied by the release of two or three neutrons, a considerable amount of energy and a loss of mass.(Bolt ,p28) However, reaching this step was no easy task. There were countless hours spent by many individuals theorizing and calculating if it would be even remotely possible. In my opinion the Manhattan Project was the final turning point in unlocking the true potential that the world would see the power of the atomic weapon and the upbringing of the atomic age.
The Term Paper on Atomic Bomb Project Fission First
... through the development and use of the atomic bomb. The cold wars, nuclear restrictions, nuclear energy, are all results of the first ... explosive mass. (Badash) To achieve chain-reaction fission, a certain amount of fissionable material, called critical mass, is necessary. ... These reactors manufactured plutonium by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons causing the uranium to decay to neptunium and ...
The atomic bomb isnt something that should be used on a whim however, it is something that great care and supreme respect should be given to. If there comes a time when the atomic bomb must be used again, I hope and pray that those unfortunate souls will be gone when its finally dropped. Work Cited Page Bolt, Bruce, Nuclear Explosions and Earthquakes. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1976 Hari Sharma. Types of Nuclear Weapons September 24, 2004 http://www.bilderberg.org/hbomb.htm#Must Sublette, Carey Leo Szilard and the Invention of the Atomic Bomb September 22,2004, http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/About/Credthnk.htm l Last changed April 1997.
