Making the Atomic Bomb: Study Questions

• When, where, and what constituted the first nuclear explosion on earth?
• Sketch and explain a uranium gun-type fission weapon.
• Sketch and explain a plutonium implosion-type fission weapon.

• What is the role of tritium in fission weapons?
• Where, when, and what constituted the first use of a nuclear weapon as an act of war?
• What was the yield (equivalent pounds of the chemical explosive, TNT) of the weapon used to destroy Hiroshima?
• What is the yield (equivalent pounds of TNT) for a 60 megaton weapon?
• How many people died from the Hiroshima bombing as of 1950, according to the USA Department of Defense.
• Name the three scientists who drafted the famous 1939 letter to Roosevelt.
• Quote the scripture recalled by J. Robert Oppenheimer immediately following the Trinity explosion.