Little Boy Bombing Effects

On August 6, 1945 the Enola Gay dropped the 9,700 pound atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. The effects of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" are controversial as to whether the bombs were necessary. ”Little Boy” housed the isotope Uranium-235 and “Fat Man” housed Plutonium-239. These elements went through nuclear fission in which the nucleus of an atom is broken into smaller pieces or split. During the end of World War II Japan was out of control. This was the height of their nationalism. The Japanese would never surrender and America knew this. They had two options, going in with a land invasion, or dropping two of the first atomic bombs ever used in combat. America hedged its bets and decided that the bombs would have less of a death toll. During

Inside of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan nuclear fission was occurring. The fission of atoms inside the bomb was started when someone inside the plane carefully placed dynamite inside the back of the bomb. Right before it is dropped the dynamite is lit. This explosion pushed a metal pole of sorts toward the front of the bomb. The pole rapidly pushed the molecules causing them to “split”. Fission (splitting) of the nucleus releases an extreme amount of energy. Even in tiny amounts fission explosions can level the area around it. “The fission of slightly more than one kilogram of plutonium 239 is thought to have released destructive energy equivalent to about 21,000 tons of TNT. (Searles, Robert)” The bomb “Fat Man” contained a bit over 1 kg (approximately two pounds) of plutonium. This bomb was dropped on August 9, 1945, three days after the initial drop of “Little Boy”. Both bombs detonated mid-air as planned, this allowed for more destruction because the blast radius was able to spread more quickly over a greater

Japan in 1945 was a country where it was practically a disgrace to enter the army and not die for your country. Military analysts agreed that the projected number of Japanese and American casualties was simply too high of a risk to take. The land invasion plan was named “Operation Downfall”. The plan would have entailed, “ 14 army divisions in the initial landings alone, supported by an armada of 400 destroyers, 24 battleships and a staggering 42 aircraft carriers. The invasion force itself would hit 35 landing beaches that ringed the southern third of the island (Military History Now).” A division in the army can have up to 15,000 men in it. The plan would have been to send approximately 210,000 men straight onto the beaches of Japan with an unforgiving army waiting on the shore for them. If anything was learned from the land invasion on Germany just months before it was that any land invasion with an all or nothing army would end in mass casualties. Experts conclude, “ almost all agree that the campaign would have stood as the bloodiest chapter of the Second World War, (Military History Now).” Military analysts obviously did take “Operation Downfall” as a serious option or else they would not have had so much detail on it. The risk was simply too high for American casualties let alone Japanese casualties. A culture where kamikaze pilots were honored