How did Oppenheimer's nuclear bomb work? (Manhattan Project/ Trinity test)

After years of work from the nuclear physicist Oppenheimer and countless others during the Manhattan project , the worlds first nuclear bomb named Gadget was detonated in new Mexico in July 1945 during the trinity test. In this video we’re going to look at how Oppenheimer’s nuclear bomb worked from a technical point of view.

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Lets start with the core or the heart of the bomb. The core was a sphere of plutonium-239, a man-made radioactive material. Plutonium-239 is created by irradiating uranium-238 in a nuclear reactor.

The bomb used an implosion-type design rather than an explosion like you might expect, which involved compressing the core of plutonium-239 to achieve a supercritical mass. A supercritical mass is the point at which there is enough fissile material concentrated together to sustain a self-sustaining chain reaction. fissile materials have the ability to split into smaller nuclei, releasing a significant amount of energy and additional neutrons. These released neutrons can, in turn, initiate fission in other fissile nuclei, creating a self-sustaining chain reaction.

To initiate the implosion, a series of conventional high explosives, arranged in a symmetric pattern, were placed around the core. When these explosives were detonated simultaneously, they created a powerful inward force, compressing the core equally from all directions.

Inside the core, they inserted a small amount of enriched uranium-235. The uranium-235 acted as the initiator. During the implosion process, the initiator was compressed and brought to a supercritical state, releasing a burst of neutrons.

When the core was compressed to a supercritical state, the burst of neutrons from the initiator initiated a rapid and uncontrolled chain reaction in the plutonium-239 sphere in the core. the plutonium-239 atoms split into smaller nuclei, releasing a massive amount of energy in the form of heat and radiation, this is what causes the enormous explosion.
To enhance the efficiency of the nuclear chain reaction, the bomb included materials, such as beryllium, surrounding the core. These materials reflected escaping neutrons back into the core, increasing the number of nuclear reactions and therefore overall power of the bomb
Precise timing mechanisms were used to ensure that the conventional explosives detonated simultaneously and symmetrically, ensuring the equal compression of the core from all sides. Proper timing was crucial to achieving a successful implosion and initiating the nuclear chain reaction. If one side of the bomb compressed slightly too late the implosion wouldn’t occur properly and the reaction wouldn’t start.

When the chain reaction was initiated and the core reached criticality, an enormous amount of energy was released in a fraction of a second. This energy resulted in a blinding flash of light, a massive fireball, and a mushroom-shaped cloud rising into the sky. The trinity test was widely regarded as a success by Oppenheimer, his team and the others in attendance.

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Do you think the world is safer with or without nuclear weapons?