Mell Why did they set off the atomic bomb?
President Harry S. Truman, warned by some of his advisers that any attempt to invade Japan would result in horrific American casualties, ordered that the new weapon be used to bring the war to a speedy end. On August 6, 1945, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped a five-ton bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Has a nuclear bomb ever been set off in space?
On 9 July 1962, the United States conducted the ‘Starfish Prime’ nuclear test, one of a series of five aimed at testing the effects of nuclear weapons in high altitudes / lower outer space. The explosion took place 400 kilometres above the Johnston Atoll in the Northern Pacific Ocean.
What happens when atomic bomb goes off?
Nuclear explosions can produce clouds of dust and sandlike radioactive particles that disperse into the atmosphere — what’s referred to as nuclear fallout. Exposure to this fallout can result in radiation poisoning, which could damage the body’s cells and prove fatal.
How are nuclear bombs released from an atom?
Nuclear Fission Nuclear bombs involve the forces, strong and weak, that hold the nucleus of an atom together, especially atoms with unstable nuclei. There are two basic ways that nuclear energy can be released from an atom. In nuclear fission (pictured), scientists split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron.
How does the chain reaction of a nuclear bomb work?
The nuclei of the fuel atoms break up, releasing yet more neutrons which break up more nuclei, and so on. This kind of reaction is called a chain reaction. Nuclear weapons are designed so that the reaction doesn’t stop until all of the fuel has been detonated and all of the energy in the atom has been released.
How did the US drop the atomic bomb?
Sudden Annihilation. Nuclear weapons instantly kill most life forms in the target zone. For example, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb over Hiroshima in 1945, everything was decimated within a 4.4 square mile radius of detonation.
What happens if a nuclear bomb falls out of a plane?
I. E. If a nuclear bomb falls out of a plane and hits the ground the tnt may explode and unevenly crush the plutonium and pulverize it. The result is a hole in the ground surrounded by scattered plutonium but no nuclear explosion.