Robert J. Oppenheimer once said, "Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds," after the first test of the atomic bomb. There are many important things that made the atomic bomb possible like: what kind of science went into it, the people who built it, other bombs compared to it, and the making of the bomb. Ever since the atomic bomb was built, it changed the way wars were fought. Albert Einstein wrote to President Roosevelt asking for an atomic research program, Roosevelt agreed to move forward slowly. Einstein's letter said that new technology would make "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" possible (America). In late 1941, the American effort to design and build the atomic bomb received its code name, the "Manhattan Project" (Manhattan).
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After this achievement, funds were given more freely, and the project moved forward at a great speed. Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington (Manhattan). The main assembly plant was built at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge to put the pieces together at Los Alamos (Manhattan). On July16, 1945, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, a bright flash visible for 200 miles lit up the sky. A mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet, blowing out windows up to 100 miles away. A half mile wide crater turned the sand into glass. Shortly after that, word got to President Truman that the project was successful (Manhattan). The explosion was equal about 18,000 tons of TNT (America). Robert J. Oppenheimer, David Bohm, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Otto Frisch, Rudolf Peierls, Felix Block, Niels Bohr, Eillo Segre, James Franck, Enrico Fermi, Klaus Fuchs, and Edward Teller are all people who worked on the bomb (Atomic Bomb). There was many more people who built the bomb but there was too many to name. In 1950, Niels Bohr pleaded to the U.N. to help create a world free of atomic weapons. He dedicated the rest of his life speaking out against nuclear research (America). The science that went into the bomb was very important …show more content…
Atomic bombs work by splitting the nucleus of an atom. When the neutrons of the atom's nucleus split, some hit the nuclei of nearby atoms, splitting them too (Hydrogen). The result is a very explosive chain reaction. Thermonuclear bombs start with the same process that powers atomic bombs, but most of the uranium or plutonium in atomic bombs actually goes unused (Hydrogen). Hydrogen bombs, or thermonuclear bombs are more powerful than atomic bombs. In a thermonuclear bomb, adding a step means that more of the bomb's explosive power becomes available. This process releases neutrons, which feeds back into the plutonium-239, splitting more atoms and improving the fission chain reaction (Hydrogen). Within less than one millionth of a second, so many atoms would fission that the lump of uranium would blow itself apart with the force of millions of pounds of regularly explosive (Sheinkin, Colvin 99). Ever since the atomic bomb was built, it changed the way wars were fought. What kind of science went into it, the people who built it, other bombs compared to it, and the making of the bomb were all things that made the atomic bomb possible. Robert J. Oppenheimer once said, "Now I am become death, destroyer of
After this achievement, funds were given more freely, and the project moved forward at a great speed. Nuclear facilities were built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington (Manhattan). The main assembly plant was built at Los Alamos, New Mexico. Robert Oppenheimer was put in charge to put the pieces together at Los Alamos (Manhattan). On July16, 1945, at Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, a bright flash visible for 200 miles lit up the sky. A mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet, blowing out windows up to 100 miles away. A half mile wide crater turned the sand into glass. Shortly after that, word got to President Truman that the project was successful (Manhattan). The explosion was equal about 18,000 tons of TNT (America). Robert J. Oppenheimer, David Bohm, Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, Otto Frisch, Rudolf Peierls, Felix Block, Niels Bohr, Eillo Segre, James Franck, Enrico Fermi, Klaus Fuchs, and Edward Teller are all people who worked on the bomb (Atomic Bomb). There was many more people who built the bomb but there was too many to name. In 1950, Niels Bohr pleaded to the U.N. to help create a world free of atomic weapons. He dedicated the rest of his life speaking out against nuclear research (America). The science that went into the bomb was very important …show more content…
Atomic bombs work by splitting the nucleus of an atom. When the neutrons of the atom's nucleus split, some hit the nuclei of nearby atoms, splitting them too (Hydrogen). The result is a very explosive chain reaction. Thermonuclear bombs start with the same process that powers atomic bombs, but most of the uranium or plutonium in atomic bombs actually goes unused (Hydrogen). Hydrogen bombs, or thermonuclear bombs are more powerful than atomic bombs. In a thermonuclear bomb, adding a step means that more of the bomb's explosive power becomes available. This process releases neutrons, which feeds back into the plutonium-239, splitting more atoms and improving the fission chain reaction (Hydrogen). Within less than one millionth of a second, so many atoms would fission that the lump of uranium would blow itself apart with the force of millions of pounds of regularly explosive (Sheinkin, Colvin 99). Ever since the atomic bomb was built, it changed the way wars were fought. What kind of science went into it, the people who built it, other bombs compared to it, and the making of the bomb were all things that made the atomic bomb possible. Robert J. Oppenheimer once said, "Now I am become death, destroyer of