Transcript Cultural Project - Pennsylvania State University

Physics
001
By: Justin Hatch, Mary Crossley, Lauren Eppinger, Seline Narin and Janet Cahilly
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There was no type of destructive force
as intense or deadly prior to the
atomic bomb’s introduction in 1945.
Wars were being fought on a global
scale with increasing frequency prior
to the advent of the atomic bomb.
WWI was fought with massive loss of
human life between the years of
1914-1918.
WWII was fought just over 20 years
later between the years of 1939-1945.
 The
United States, Canada, and The
United Kingdom feared that Nazi
Germany would develop it first.
 J.
Oppenheimer
Robert Oppenheimer of the United
States directed and General Leslie Groves
oversaw the production of what at that
time was believed to be the most
destructive weapon in human history.
Groves
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The primary goal was to beat the Nazi’s in the
race to the realization of a nuclear weapon.
Functioning between 1939-1947 it employed
130,000 people and consumed 2 billion
dollars.
Oppenheimer (and crew) figured out how to
create Uranium-235 and how to release its
nuclear energy in chain reactions.
They fired a neutron with precision at
Uramium-235 resulting in an awesome release
of energy.
 Japan
ignored the United
States’ call for surrender after
the fire-bombings of 67 of their
cities.
 Harry
S. Truman made the
command decision to utilize
the atomic bomb in an
attempt to force the Japanese
into unconditional surrender.
 An
American B-29 Bomber
dropped “little boy” over the
Japanese city of Hiroshima
with the estimated force of 13
Kilotons of TNT.
 Three
days later and American
B-52 Bomber dropped a
second nuclear bomb over
the city of Nagasaki.
Weight:
9,700 pounds
Length:
120 inches
Diameter:
28 inches
Blast Yield: 54-75 TJ
“Little Boy” immediately cleared 5 square miles of
the city and killed (30%) or 80,000 people.
Weight:
10,213 pounds
Length:
10.7 Feet
Diameter: 5 Feet
Blast Yield: 75 sticks of dynamite
“Fat man” immediately annihilated almost half the
city killing 35,000 people including non-combatant
men, women, and children.
 In
1945 the United States
dropped “Little Boy” and “Fat
Man” on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
 This
was destruction
unprecedented in human
history and world would never
be the same. It immediately
changed the outlook on war.
Nagasaki Temple
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The project’s work made possible the defeat of
Japan as the last holdout of the Axis powers during
WWII.
Had Harry S. Truman decided not to use the
Atomic Bomb, thousands or hundreds of
thousands of American and Japanese lives could
have been lost.
America’s use of an Atomic weapon in a wartime
situation remains unprecedented and
controversial to this day.
Developing and successfully employing the
atomic bomb laid the groundwork for other fission
bombs and fusion bombs.
 During
the Cold War, between the years
1946 and 1991, both Allied Powers and
Communist Nations engaged in “Arms
Races” building and stockpiling masses of
nuclear weapons.
 30,000 nuclear weapons were operational
at the height of the cold war.
 6,000 nuclear weapons remain in
operation today.
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Not only can an atomic bomb kill millions of
people instantaneously, should a nuclear war
break out, it would change the climate of the
Earth for decades to follow.
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All the debris from the explosions would block
out the sun’s rays; plunging us into a nuclear
winter.
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Because of its power, it has stopped nations
from needlessly engaging in global war.
 http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/timelines/
manhattan.html
 http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Med/Med.
html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon
 Photos
from: www.yahooimages.com &
www.wikipedia