Inventory of U-235 at Los Alamos, July-August 1945. Notice amount checked out to US Army: 64.15 kg, the core of the Hiroshima bomb.pic.twitter.com/4KW3sh6ESA
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But the crit mass for U235 is 52kg. That's 1.234 times the amount needed =/
It's more complicated in practice: 1) the HEU was only 80% HEU on average, 2) 52 kg is crit mass of bare sphere, LB was tamped cylinder, and
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OOHHHH 52/0.8 = 65 lol Makes perfect sense, now
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Still more complicated. Single critical mass loses criticality as it explodes. More is better.
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\o/ for info! Would more conventional boom + really dense pusher/tamper help reduce crit mass needed?
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Conventional boom?? Tampers/reflectors/pushers reduce critical mass needed, reflect/contain core.
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On cold meds. Mind is melting down lol Con. Boom = HE used to initiate.
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In general, yes. The faster and more forceful the assembly of the critical mass, the better.
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But Little Boy was a gun-type bomb, and they couldn't risk blowing the gun barrel apart.
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Not quite to the multi stages with lithium, deuterium and plutonium yet lol
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