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 t

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 Uranium-238 (useless in bomb making). The separation of the two proved to be a huge problem for the scientists.(Chamberlin, 27)

In 1941 a man named Glen Seaborg discovered another fuel that could be used, it is called Plutonium-239. Seaborg found that Uranium-238, the Uranium isotope originally unwanted, if left in a reactor would gain neutrons and become Plutonium-239. This made getting two fuels for the price of one; very efficient.(Chamberlin, 28)

The next method used was called gaseous diffusion, developed by Leslie Groves. There were three steps in this process of separating the two isotopes of Uranium. First the Uranium ore was sprayed with fluorine to form Uranium Hexafluoride gas. Once this gas was made it could be passed through extremely fine filters. The filters used would allow the Uranium-235 to pass through more quickly. Once the Uranium hexafluoride was passed through several filters it had a high concentration of Uranium -235.(Chamberlin, 28)

Because their two fuels weren't exactly easy to come by they needed to make a bomb that would work undoubtedly. They used three different bombs in their experiments there designs will be explained later. The first bomb that they made was called the "Gadget" this was a Plutonium test bomb, because the Plutonium was more easily acquired they could afford to have test bomb. The second bomb that was made was called "Little Boy" this was a Uranium bomb that was a fairly simple design that was almost guaranteed to work. There was no need for a test bomb nor did they have the supply of Uranium to afford a test bomb. The name of the last bomb was "Fat Man" this bomb was another plutonium bomb that had the sa

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Approximate Word count = 1453
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)