Quote:
Originally Posted by TLAM Strike
For the record;
The Little Boy bomb used Cordite not Black Powder to set off the physics package.
Fat Man (the 2nd and last A-Bomb used in WWII) used Comp B and Baratol to initiate the implosion of the physics package.
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THNX I'll reread that!--- Yup, Cordite, invented 1889 to replace black powder IN ENGLAND!!! What it takes to fire 86 lbs of U235 into a target of 57.3 lbs U235 which achieves critical mass when within 9.8 inches of each enough to prevent a nuclear FIZZLE which was a potential problem with the rifle style Little Boy detonator as opposed to the later implosion method. My particular joy in this discussion is that I'm HAVING the discussion. Having once questioned our use of nukes in WWII, my father (A Brooklyn Boy) and ex-B29 superfortress crewman, turned quietly on me and stated emphatically that he had been slated for the invasion of Japan and, but for bomb, I wouldn't be here!!! My lofty principles out the window, I resumed my schoolboy nuclear alert drills and lived out the Cold War quietly and resumed my history studies with an enlightened and more pragmatic perspective: a Kaleun from Rochester may know MORE than a Kaleun from Brooklyn...occasionally.