Asked by: Ellan Fatty
business and finance defense industry

Who invented nuclear bombs?

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Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is among those who are credited with being the "father of the atomic bomb" for their role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons.


Besides, who created the first atomic bomb?

Robert Oppenheimer

Similarly, how nuclear bombs are made? Atomic bombs are made up of a fissile element, such as uranium, that is enriched in the isotope that can sustain a fission nuclear chain reaction. When a free neutron hits the nucleus of a fissile atom like uranium-235 (235U), the uranium splits into two smaller atoms called fission fragments, plus more neutrons.

Subsequently, one may also ask, who made the Hiroshima bomb?

Groves, Jr., of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Groves appointed J. Robert Oppenheimer to organize and head the project's Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where bomb design work was carried out. Two types of bombs were eventually developed, both named by Robert Serber.

Why did they drop the atomic bomb?

The main reason given for America's decision to take atomic action is that it was a way to conclude the war without suffering further losses (on the American side at least). There are also those who see the attacks as retribution for Pearl Harbour and the many American lives lost in bloody warfare with Japan.

Related Question Answers

Gurmit Spek

Professional

Why did we bomb Japan twice?

On this day in 1945, a second atom bomb is dropped on Japan by the United States, at Nagasaki, resulting finally in Japan's unconditional surrender. The devastation wrought at Hiroshima was not sufficient to convince the Japanese War Council to accept the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender.

Nimia Babusenko

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Why did US choose Hiroshima?

Hiroshima was chosen because it had not been targeted during the US Air Force's conventional bombing raids on Japan, and was therefore regarded as being a suitable place to test the effects of an atomic bomb. On the morning of 9 August, the Americans dropped a second, bigger atomic bomb.

Guia Langenbrunner

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Which country has atomic bomb?

The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and acknowledge possessing them—are (chronologically by date of first test) the United States, the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.

Bonifacio Keys

Explainer

How many countries have nuclear weapons?

Statistics and force configuration
Country Warheads (Deployed/Total) Number of tests
The five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT
United States 1,600 / 6,185 1,054
Russia 1,600 / 6,500 715
United Kingdom 120 / 215 45

Khawar Oesterwind

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Delmy Grogan

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Did the US have a third atomic bomb?

"Fat Man" was the codename for the nuclear bomb that was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki by the United States on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the first being Little Boy, and its detonation marked the third nuclear explosion in history.

Zurab Zweiphenning

Pundit

Which atomic bomb dropped first?

On August 6, 1945, during World War II (1939-45), an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first deployed atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The explosion wiped out 90 percent of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people; tens of thousands more would later die of radiation exposure.

Chaoyang Helmecke

Pundit

Did the US have to drop the atomic bomb?

In this respect, Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have been the first shots of the Cold War as well as the final shots of World War II. Regardless, the United States remains the only nation in the world to have used a nuclear weapon on another nation. Truman stated that his decision to drop the bomb was purely military.

Margeret Cortada

Pundit

Is Hiroshima still radioactive?

The radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today is on a par with the extremely low levels of background radiation (natural radioactivity) present anywhere on Earth. It has no effect on human bodies.

Quiliano Masvidal

Pundit

How much can a nuclear bomb destroy?

Calculations demonstrate that one megaton of fission, typical of a two megaton H-bomb, will create enough beta radiation to black out an area 400 kilometres (250 mi) across for five minutes.

Lhachmi Cripps

Pundit

How many nukes does the US have?

As of 2019, the U.S. has an inventory of 6,185 nuclear warheads; of these, 2,385 are retired and awaiting dismantlement and 3,800 are part of the U.S. stockpile. Of the stockpiled warheads, the U.S. stated in its March 2019 New START declaration that 1,365 are deployed on 656 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers.

Latina Darjaev

Teacher

Why did America attack Japan?

Objectives. The Japanese attack had several major aims. First, it intended to destroy important American fleet units, thereby preventing the Pacific Fleet from interfering with Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies and Malaya and to enable Japan to conquer Southeast Asia without interference.

Xueyan Fombuena

Teacher

Why did America bomb Hiroshima Nagasaki?

Rushay said that Hiroshima was one of four potential targets and that Truman left it up to the military to decide which city to strike. Hiroshima was chosen as a target because of its military importance. Nagasaki was bombed a few days later. The U.S. remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons.

Ildelfonso Jbanov

Teacher

How do you pronounce Hiroshima?

Japanese pronunciation of Hiroshima has virtually no accent. TOKYO (AP) — The way some Americans used to pronounce Hiroshima, the city where an atomic bomb was dropped in the closing days of World War II, “HEE-roh-SHEE-mah,” sounds a bit foreign to the Japanese ear.

Hamma Sanchez Mayoral

Reviewer

How many megatons was Hiroshima?

The Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, exploded with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT (63 TJ), and the Fat Man atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, exploded with an energy of about 20 kilotons of TNT (84 TJ).

Xinwei Reimpell

Reviewer

Camila Isernhinke

Reviewer

How many nukes does China have?

China is estimated by the Federation of American Scientists to have an arsenal of about 260 total warheads as of 2015, which would make it the second smallest nuclear arsenal amongst the five nuclear weapon states acknowledged by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Pan Chekharin

Reviewer

How big is a dirty bomb?

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) defines a dirty bomb as one type of a radiological dispersal device (RDD) that combines conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive material. According to the USNRC, a dirty bomb is in no way similar to a nuclear weapon or nuclear bomb.