Hiroshima+and+Nagasaki

=Hiroshima and Nagasaki= World War Two was the most destructive war humanity has ever gone through. The war ended with the destructive bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To this day the events from that fateful day are still unknown. The necessity of dropping the bomb is still questioned. What we do know is that many people died during this bombing and the bomb affected hundreds of thousands of lives and changed the course of history.

First the scientists had to acquire enough U235 to make bombs. “This U235 only occurs in .07% of naturally occurring Uranium” (Rezelman). After acquiring the U235 they had to design a bomb that would cause nuclear fission. In the end they decided on two designs, code named Fat Man and Little Boy. Little boy was a long tubular bomb that used an explosion to accelerate two pieces of U235 at each other causing them to reach critical mass. Fat Man was round and much more complicated. It used a series of timed explosions to cause the man made plutonium to implode. This bomb needed to be tested because the scientists were unsure it would work, thus the famous trinity test (Rezelman).
 * __How were the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki made?__**

The affects of the bombings are hard and easy to see at the same time. Both cities suffered extreme damage so the large scale effects are easily noticed. However the enormous blast made it extremely difficult to estimate the number of casualties. These are close estimates of the deaths that occurred instantly in both cities. In Hiroshima around 88,000 died instantly. In Nagasaki around 30,000 died instantly (The Atomic Bombing).
 * __What was the damage the bombs caused?__**

Hiroshima was chosen by the target committee because it was mostly untouched by previous bombings and the affects of the bombing could be clearly seen (“Hiroshima and Nagasaki”). Another reason they didn’t choose a purely military target is because they wanted to break the will of the Japanese. During the second bombing the weather was more cloudy then the first round. If the weather was Kokura would have been bombed. This weather event spared and condemned thousands of people (“Hiroshima and Nagasaki”).
 * __Why were Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed?__**

The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” //Atomic archive.// National Science Digital Library. 2011. Web. 2/1/12[]

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered.” //Hiroshima and Nagasaki remembered.// AJ Software and Multimedia. 2005. Web. 1 Feb 2012[]

Rezelman, David. Badash, Lawrence. “Manhattan Project.” Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol 5. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2003. 221-222. Gale power Search Web. 30 Jan2012 