The Manhattan Project A Very Brief Introduction To The Physics Of Nuclear Weapons 1st Edition Bruce Cameron Reed by Bruce Cameron Reed 9781681746043, 9781681746050, 9781681746074, 1681746042, 1681746050, 1681746077 instant download after payment.

The development of nuclear weapons by the Manhattan Project during World War II was one of the most dramatic scientific/technological episodes in human history. This bookboffers a concise survey of the essential physics concepts underlying fission weapons. The text describes the energetics & timescales of fast-neutron chain reactions, why only certain isotopes of uranium & plutonium are suitable for use in fission weapons, how critical mass & bomb yield can be estimated, how the efficiency of nuclear weapons can be enhanced, how the fissile forms of uranium & plutonium were obtained, some of the design details of the 'Little Boy' & 'Fat Man' bombs, & some of the thermal, shock, & radiation effects of nuclear weapons. Calculation exercises are provided, & a Bibliography lists authoritative print and online sources of information for readers who wish to pursue more detailed study of this fascinating topic.; 2. Nuclear fission - 2.1. Energy release in fission - 2.2. Chain reaction timescale - 2.3. Temperature equivalent of fission fragments - 2.4. A first glimpse of the efficiency issue - 2.5. Neutron pairing energy, the fission barrier, & plutonium --2.6. Decay mechanisms & the ([alpha], n) problem - 2.7. Spontaneous fission; Preface - 1. The background - 1.1. The physics - 1.2. The Manhattan Project; 7. Legacy - 7.1. Postwar proliferation, tests, & deployments -7.2. Nuclear arms treaties & the baggage of the Cold War - 7.3. Final thoughts .; 4. Obtaining fissile material - 4.1. U-235: the electromagnetic method - 4.2. U-235: the gaseous diffusion method - 4.3. Pu-239: the Hanford reactors; 5. Los Alamos, Little Boy, Fat Man, Trinity, Hiroshima & Nagasaki - 5.1. Predetonation probability - 5.2. Little Boy - 5.3. Implosion & Fat Man - 5.4. Yield probability - 5.5. Trinity - 5.6. Hiroshima and Nagasaki; 3. Criticality and efficiency - 3.1. Bare criticality - 3.2. Supercriticality & the radius-density effect - 3