Question

~ History of Little Boy and Fat Man ~

Answer 1

~ Little Boy ~

It is a gun-type device, the critical mass is achieved when a uranium projectile which is sub-critical is fired through a gun barrel at a uranium target which is also sub-critical. The resulting uranium mass comprised of both projectile and target becomes critical and the chain reaction begins. Dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, it was the first nuclear weapon used in a war.

Weight: 9,700 lbs
Length: 10 ft.; Diameter: 28 in.
Fuel: Highly enriched uranium; "Oralloy"
Uranium Fuel: approx. 140 lbs; target - 85 lbs and projectile - 55 lbs
Target case, barrel, uranium projectile, and other main parts ferried to Tinian Island via USS Indianapolis
Uranium target component ferried to Tinian via C-54 aircraft of the 509th Composite Group
Efficiency of weapon: poor
Approx. 1.38% of the uranium fuel actually fissioned
Explosive force: 15,000 tons of TNT equivalent
Use: Dropped on Japanese city of Hiroshima; August 6, 1945
Delivery: B-29 Enola Gay piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets

Answer 2

~ Fat Man ~

"Fat Man" was the second plutonium, implosion-type bomb. The first was the "Gadget" detonated at the Trinity site on July 16, 1945. In the implosion-type device, a core of sub-critical plutonium is surrounded by several thousand pounds of high-explosive designed in such a way that the explosive force of the HE is directed inwards thereby crushing the plutonium core into a super-critical state. Dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, it was the second nuclear weapon used in a war.

Weight: 10,800 lbs
Length: 10 ft 8 in.; Diameter: 60 in.
Fuel: Highly enriched plutonium 239
Plutonium Fuel: approx. 13.6 lbs; approx. size of a softball
Plutonium core surrounded by 5,300 lbs of high explosives; plutonium core reduced to size of tennis ball
Bomb Initiator: Beryllium - Polonium
All components of Fat Man ferried to Tinian Island aboard B-29's of the 509th Composite Group
Efficiency of weapon: 10 times that of Little Boy
Approx 1.176 Kilograms of plutonium converted to energy
Explosive force: 21,000 tons of TNT equivalent
Use: Dropped on Japanese city of Nagasaki; August 9, 1945
Nuclear Weaponeer: Cdr. Frederick Ashworth
Delivery: B-29 Bockscar piloted by Maj. Charles Sweeney

Answer 3

Cool

Answer 4

Japanese deserved it.

Answer 5

Awesome!!! =)

Answer 6

@Conqueror how and why...?

Answer 7

@Conqueror @paki the Japanese did bad things for sure...like they bombed pearl harbor and were the reason why America couldn't remain neutral in the war.

But can I also say...Japan and U.S. are friends now. Now that Japan has industrialized itself and has much to offer to American economics and commerce (think of half the cars and electronics in the market), we're buddies. Plus, I'm Japanese *cough*

But in essence, little boy and fat man do a good job of showing early U.S. innovations in the creation of the atomic bomb.

Answer 8

agree @Jamierox4ev3r

Answer 9

@conqueror this is a typical answer you would assume from someone who has no idea what they're talking about.

There are many arguments on the "justification" of dropping this bomb. Before you make such a statement you have to have to have to know the context, and you can't get that from reading a wikipedia article. First of all you need to know the moralities of the time, and know everything in the war was a war crime. Do you know the amount of civilians that died from the bomb? Do some research on President Truman's diary and what he had said (it was his decision on dropping the bomb). His diary alone would change your perspective alone, but you still question on why he would go through it, yes you are aiming to hit military targets, but you're essentially saying the civilians are collateral damage? These bombs are very deadly, I can go through this whole history and talk about every little thing and how everyone at the time was put in their positions. I can only see one justification for the bomb, because there are some diaries if you even dare to do some research, would show what was used prior to this bomb, which was disgusting and I rather not get into it because the images that come into my mind just hearing about the bombs before, are I don't really have words for it, lets just say people were turned into ashes. But as I said, there is much more behind the atomic bomb as well, and you have to think about everything before you put such a statement down, and I have no interest in going through everything with you, just letting you know, you should justify everything you say.

Answer 10

nice words @iambatman, appreciated... :)

Answer 11

Has anyone here read the WWII book, Bomb? It is pretty well related to Little Boy and Fat Man.

Answer 12

yeah i have little bit... its an amazing one... @Annie7077

Answer 13

Nice job Paki ^_^

Answer 14

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Answer 15

^ spam. >;3 xD

Answer 16

Lol jkjk :3

Answer 17

http://www.atomicheritage.org/history/little-boy-and-fat-man

Answer 18

Good job. @paki