Terrifying 3D animation shows how deadly Oppenheimer atomic bomb actually works

While the new movie Oppenheimer marches hand in hand towards box office success with Barbie, it's sparked a huge amount of renewed interest in the man himself and the Manhattan Project.

That was the codename the US gave to the efforts of building the atomic bomb which are depicted in the movie, starring Cillian Murphy, in the title role as the man called the 'father of the atomic bomb'.

The first bomb, named 'Little Boy' was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August, killing tens of thousands of people in the blast and in the months afterwards.

Days later, on 9 August, another atomic bomb, the 'Fat Man', was dropped onto the city of Nagasaki with a similarly devastating effect.

On 15 August, Japan announced that it would surrender to the Allies, with a coup attempt to block the surrender having failed the night before.

YouTube/AiTelly

The invention of the atomic bomb ushered in the nuclear age and the Cold War, with nations gaining the ability to wipe out the world at the push of a button.

Oppenheimer would later say he had 'blood on his hands' from playing a role in creating such a deadly weapon that could wipe cities off the map in less than a minute.

You may be wondering exactly how this all works, how an object no larger than a car, which can be flown around the world and stored away, can upon command become a terrifyingly destructive force.

YouTube Channel AiTelly have created an animation of what goes on inside an atomic bomb to explain exactly that.

They outline that when the bomb is dropped, the firing switch activates once it's reached a certain height, which it knows due to being covered in barometric sensing ports and manifolds and radar altimeter.

Once it's reached the height, the firing switch activates which triggers a trio of navy gun primers to ignite the charge inside the bomb.

That triggers four silk powder bags each containing two pounds of cordite, firing the uranium projectile forwards at a speed of 300 metres per second.

That uranium then hits more uranium situated at the front of the bomb and putting them together with four polonium initiators to then create nuclear fission, the act of splitting the atom which, within seconds, produces a staggering explosion that levelled two cities.

The bomb is dropped, triggered, fires the payload inside it and that kicks off the nuclear fission which produces the explosion.

Oppenheimer's bomb essentially fires one amount of nuclear material around the other to create fission, when the firing switch activates, allowing the warhead to sit in place until it's armed and dropped.

Hopefully no other city will ever be subjected to the terrifying power of the atomic bomb.

Topics: Science, World News, World War 2, Oppenheimer

Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

@MrJoeHarker