The Manhatten Project essays

The Manhatten Project essays There are many people who believe Japan bombed pearl harbor because they felt threatened when the united states spread its influence over the Philippines. However in bombing pearl harbor they would start World War Two. Because the U.S. wanted to ultimately win the war they needed some sort of a super weapon. Hence the Manhattan project was put into action. The Manhattan project was solely devoted to creating a nuclear weapon that would win the war hands down. The first thing that the U.S. needed to do was to assemble a team of scientists. The U.S. recruited six renowned scientists, each with their special talents. The first scientist was Neils Bohr, he is responsible for the idea that fission was possible making the atomic bomb a plausible idea. The second scientist was named Glen Seaborg. Seaborg was the first to discover plutonium-239 one of the possible fuels for the atomic bomb. The third scientist was Earnest Lawrence. Lawrence devised a way to attain uranium-235 another candidate for the fuel in an atomic bomb. The fourth scientist, Leslie Groves would be responsible for creating a more efficient way of producing Uranium-235. The fifth scientists name was Enrico Fermi. Fermi discovered that Fission could be sustained in a chain reaction, this would give the atomic bomb its great power.(Bracchini, 3) The last scientist was Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer would be the director of the Manhattan project, he was involved in it every step of the way. The first problem with the atomic bomb was the ability to find a fuel that would behave the way that was needed for a fission reaction, and the ability to acquire it in decent amounts. There were two fuels proposed Uranium-235 ,proposed by Neils Bohr, and Plutonium-239, proposed by Glen Seaborg. Uranium-235 was a good candidate because it has the ability to continue fission once it is started. However to get Uranium-235 they needed Uranium ore which also contains ...