This website validates the awe-inspiring nature of the development of the atomic bomb as part of scientific history. He will discuss discoveries made by scientists throughout history that have been of vital importance to the project. Additionally, this site will also cover the development of the Manhattan Project, including the various existing production facilities. Finally, this site will cover the testing of the first atomic bomb. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The development of the atomic bomb is the most impressive scientific development in history. Development of the bomb began with scientists working on independent projects, which culminated with the Manhattan Project and merged fully with the tests carried out at Trinity. The context and history of the science that led to the Manhattan Project is important because it incorporates many ideas from previous decades. The Manhattan Project is the largest gathering of the scientific community ever. Hundreds and thousands of people and communities came together with a common goal: to end World War II. Eventually, the power and awe of this project itself was realized during testing at Trinity. This marked the end of the Manhattan Project. It is for these three reasons that the development of the atomic bomb constitutes the most impressive development in scientific history. The development of the atomic bomb was impressive because it represented an accumulation of decades of physics and chemistry. Before anyone thought or expressed ideas about the mass production of atomic bombs, a scientific basis had to be established. Forty years before the atomic bomb was made, scientists were developing ideas that would later become the backbone of the Manhattan Project. Advances in physics and chemistry had to be made before the bomb could be produced. The exploration of radiation as well as the atom would eventually lead to the discovery of the atomic bomb. Physics and chemistry scientists have explored the mysterious properties of the atom. At the end of the 1890s, Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) discovered the radioactivity of uranium. Radioactive elements emit radiant energy in the form of a (alpha), b (beta), g (gamma) rays. Following its discovery, Marie Curie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906) isolated the radioactive element radium in 1902. GRAPHIC These two discoveries would soon become important in the choice of a material for the bomb(3) . The discovery of the atom and its properties as well as progress in physics have allowed scientists to develop complex reactions. Albert Einstein's (1879-1958) famous theory of relativity incorporates the idea that small amounts of mass can be converted into large amounts of energy. The equation E = mc?, is based on the fact that the speed of light, c, is very fast and that a small amount of mass, m, can release large amounts of energy, E. This concept has opened the way to the discoveries of nuclear fission. Niels Bohr (1885-1962) carried out experiments on the atom and proposed a picture of what the atom looks like, in 1913. This model suggested that the atom contains a nucleus at the center with rotating electrons. Bohr said that these electrons only orbit at specific distances. When electrons change distance toward the nucleus, they emit radiation (4). Radiation occurs in bursts since electrons cannot change orbitonly at intervals. Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) worked with Bohr on the atom and discovered that there were several types of atoms and that they could be stable or unstable. The introduction of the neutron in 1932 by James Chadwick (1891-1974) allowed for a more complete description and understanding of the atom. The first signs of nuclear fission (the energy source for the atomic bomb) appeared in 1934 when Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) and Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) disintegrated heavy nuclear atoms into them. spraying neutrons. At this point, these scientists did not realize that they had achieved fission. Otto Hahn (1879-1968), a German physicist, performed the same experiments and is credited with the discovery of fission. He succeeded in splitting an atom. The division of an atom is based on the formula E = mc? of Einstein. In theory, splitting an atom can result in the production of large amounts of energy. With the discovery of uranium, Hahn, in 1938, was able to discover that the nucleus of uranium can be easily broken down to produce large amounts of energy. When the nucleus is split, energy is lost. This discovery alone would later have a considerable effect on the world (3). With the discovery of fission, many people believed that this energy could be used for both good and evil. Einstein was one of Hahn's friends and heard about his new discovery. Einstein knew that this discovery would become very important and wrote a letter to President Roosevelt expressing his concern that the Germans were developing a powerful new bomb. In August 1939, he ordered President Roosevelt to begin looking for ways to marshal this energy for an American bomb before Germany. This led to the launch of the Manhattan Project. The main goal of the Manhattan Project was to develop an efficient method for the mass production of atomic bombs. It was believed that hundreds of bombs would be needed to win the war and that the only way to do this was to build powerful chemical and production facilities. Before these plants could be produced, nuclear fission and uranium had to be understood. Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom is split into two equal fragments. From this reaction, 100 million volts of energy can be produced. This large amount of energy comes from the powerful forces that hold the atom together. Because these forces are so powerful, it is difficult to split the nucleus of a stable atom. Uranium, however, is quite unstable and can be easily split. Uranium atoms have difficulty staying together because they are very large (the largest natural element) and tend to want to split. Uranium naturally decomposes on its own over time. When this happens, radiation is emitted and the material turns into metallic lead. There are two isotopes of uranium, U-238 and U-235. Both isotopes have 92 protons, but U-238 has 146 neutrons while U-235 has 143 neutrons. U-235 is the fissile material needed for the complex fission reaction of the atomic bomb. U-238 cannot be used because it will not split. Bombardment of the core with many neutrons splits U-235. When this happens, a chain reaction develops. A neutron will split the uranium nucleus into two parts, barium and krypton. This results in additional neutrons. These neutrons then interact with other U-235 molecules, causing them to split. This chain reaction occurs instantly and produces heat and gamma radiation (6). Obtaining pure enriched U-235 is a difficult task. Uranium ore contains bothU-238 and U-235, but their separation can be quite difficult. One of the obstacles to obtaining U-235 is that there are so few of them in the world. Of all the uranium in the world, 99% is U-238 and only 1% is U-235. The Manhattan Project would spend a lot of time and money researching ways to separate this precious metal (6). The development of the atomic bomb is one of the most impressive scientific developments due to the immense effort expended during the six years of the Manhattan Project. . The speed with which this project took place as well as the joint efforts of many communities and businesses allowed this project to see the light of day. Secrecy was the top priority of this project, which added to its impressiveness. The Manhattan Project involved developing a way to separate uranium and build a bomb mechanism. Once the uranium was split in 1938, efforts began to produce large quantities of enriched U-235. Dr. Vannevar Bush of Scientific Research and Development coordinated the project. Once it was established that large quantities of uranium could be produced, President Roosevelt turned the project over to the United States military. Lt. Leslie Grooves was appointed project manager in September 1942. Lt. Leslie Grooves was responsible for coordinating and developing large-scale facilities that would mass produce the materials needed for the atomic bomb. A district was formed under Colonel James C. Marshall and Deputy Kenneth D. Nicholas and was called the District or Manhattan Project (1). Many years of the Manhattan Project were spent developing an adequate method for obtaining and separating uranium. There were three known methods: gas diffusion, electromagnetic effects and thermal diffusion. All three of these methods worked for separating small amounts of uranium, but it was unclear whether or not they could work on a large scale. Manhattan Project scientists primarily focused their attention on the separation of uranium by gas diffusion and electromagnetic effects. They also explored the use of plutonium as another raw material for the atomic bomb. Plutonium, or PU-239, is a fissionable material that can be produced from U-238. U-238 can be saturated with neutrons to produce plutonium and there is no need to separate it (6). The plutonium was to be produced through the use of a graphite cell or reactor. The necessary uranium ore was difficult to find and large quantities were needed for the project. Twelve thousand tons of uranium were purchased from Edgar Sengier and imported from the Belgian Congo. Sengier sold the uranium at a reduced rate because he wanted to contribute to the war effort, even though he was never told what the material was actually used for. This uranium provided the project with its most essential raw material (1). Uranium and plutonium became the focus of the atomic bomb project. Lieutenant Groves approved two primary sites for uranium and plutonium production. These sites would be the center of atomic development. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, became the site of uranium separation by gas diffusion and electromagnetic effects. And Hanford, Washington, adopted the Plutonium Project. The Oak Ridge facility was responsible for separating U-238 and U-235, while urgency and confidentiality were very important during the construction of this facility. No one had the right to know what was being built, including the workers. All they knew was that they had to act quickly. Construction of the Oak Ridge plant began before it was certain that gas diffusion orelectromagnetics would work even on a large scale. Groves decided that construction of Oak Ridge should begin as soon as possible because the United States might have to produce several bombs at once and could not afford to wait for the technology. Groves decided that large facilities needed to be built and technology simply had to catch up (1). Gas diffusion is a complex process that involves combining uranium with fluorine to form a hexafluoride gas. This mixture is then sent through porous barriers and the enriched uranium is extracted. In 1942, this procedure only allowed micrograms of enriched uranium to be separated. Construction of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant, codenamed K-25 for secret, could not wait for research to ensure a full-scale process building. The first thing built in Oak Ridge in 1943 was a powerful power plant. The $34 million power plant was built with 5,600 workers in a record ten months. The current K-25 factory was designed by a company called Kellex (Kelle for Kellego and X for secret). Union Carbide was responsible for the construction of the K-25 plant. The Chrysler Company built the large metal diffusers for the gas diffusion plant. Chrysler took a significant risk in building these diffusers, as they had to be constructed of nickel, which was rare, in order to withstand the strong hexafluoride gas produced during the process. If Chrysler did not produce the necessary diffusers, they would lose a lot of money as well as their reputation. Chrysler, however, pledged to help end the war and devised a way to plate stainless steel with nickel. Mass production of diffusers began and they received the code name X-100. Construction of the chemical plant was difficult to achieve because the chemistry of uranium was unknown. Barriers and pumps were needed for the uranium separation process and two companies Houdaille-Hershey and Allis-Chalmers Company built them. The barriers were built in Decatur, Illinois, and the pumps in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the spring of 1943. The final plant was U-shaped and covered an area of ​​two million square feet. It was half a mile long and four hundred feet wide. All companies involved in the gas diffusion plant took big risks because they didn't know what they were building and didn't know if it would work (1). During the construction of the gas diffusion plant, research was being carried out on the electromagnetic field. separation of uranium. Lieutenant Groves wanted to ensure that another method was available to separate the uranium in case gaseous diffusion could produce the necessary quantities of enriched U-235. Electromagnetic separation was discovered at the University of California, Berkley. This process involved a “calutron” which smashed atoms together through the use of a magnet. The University of California could only produce micrograms of enriched U-235. Both scientists and engineers doubted whether a large-scale electromagnetic plant would work (5). Stone and Webster, the U.S. Army's general contractors, built the electromagnetic plant, codenamed Y-12. A large amount of silver was needed to produce the massive coils and electrical conductors. The US Treasury Department provided the Manhattan Project with a thousand tons of silver for the project. The ministry was not even informed of the project, except that the money was needed to help end the war. The electromagnetic plant was large, as was the gas diffusion plant.The workforce at these two factories included 20,000 people with a payroll of five million dollars per month. None of the workers in this factory had the slightest idea that uranium was being separated to make an atomic bomb (1). In 1944, the Gaseous Diffusion Plant and the Electromagnetic Plant were not producing substantial quantities of enriched U-235. Lieutenant Groves decided to try another separation technique at Oak Ridge. A thermal diffusion plant, S-50, was built in 69 days. This large-scale process also did not produce a considerable amount of U-235. Scientists determined that if the electromagnetic plant was fed with enriched material from the thermal diffusion plant, it would produce U-235 (5). This was a good thing because the construction of the thermal diffusion plant was no longer a mistake. Production of U-235 continued, and the material was sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in July 1945. In addition to work with uranium separation, scientists were working on an effective means of produce large quantities of plutonium. Enrico Fermi, among others, successfully produced the first plutonium chain reaction at the University of Chicago's Compton Laboratory in 1942. The reaction took place in a small graphite reactor. Union Carbide was involved in the manufacture of graphite. They stopped their own production in order to help the Manhattan Project. Once this proved effective, a pilot plant was established at Oak Ridge with a graphite reactor, named X-10. The X-10 reactor was kept secret and was used to conduct experiments and produce small quantities of plutonium. The results from this reactor were used to build a plutonium production facility in Hanford, Washington (5). In 1943, Hanford was chosen as the site for a plutonium production plant. Citizens living in Richland, Hanford, and White Bluffs, Washington, were asked to vacate their manufacturing locations so that a manufacturing facility could be built on their 600 square miles of land. People were angry but understood that it had to be done to support the war effort. Dupont built the building. Once again, a company had to sacrifice its workers and its reputation for a factory based solely on an idea. They accepted all the risks. This plutonium plant contained many unknown risks because scientists did not know how a large facility would operate. The Chicago stack and Oak Ridge X-10 worked well, but they were much smaller than what was needed at Hanford. Many technical questions remained unanswered (1). Construction of the factory was directed by Gilbert P. Church. When he ran the factory, he had no idea what it was used for. For this production facility, design and development were carried out concurrently with construction. Church worked to organize 45,000 construction workers. In Washington alone, 29,762 people were recruited to work at Hanford. Care was taken not to hire anyone who lived in the Oak Ridge area. Secrecy was top priority. 11,000 major pieces of equipment have been gathered for this task. A city was built around the factory to employ 400,000 people. It was like a city in its own right (2). Exposing uranium to a reaction in an atomic reactor produced plutonium. The material was left to sit for days until it was transformed into plutonium. Three large reactors occupied Hanford and were cooled by water from a deionization plant. In 1945, plutonium was shipped to Los Alamos for..