Chemistry I

The Atomic Bomb

Elizabeth Byersmith

February 26, 2009

Mercy College

Professor Kinglsey
 The Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. It killed 60,000

people immediately upon impact, and another 60,000 died from after effects which were also

devastating. The three major effects of the atomic bomb were the intense blast, the thermal

radiation which caused burns and produced fires, and the nuclear radiation which caused death

and injury from damaged tissues. The initial impact caused injuries up to a one mile radius, with

most of the deaths and injuries stemming from the intense blast and the thermal radiation. The

second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki just a few days later, due to the fact that Japan would not

surrender after the first bombing. The death toll of the second bomb was approximately 35,000

people from initial impact, and another 40,000 people died from radiation and other injuries.

War is an impossible situation for all that are involved, but the people that were making

the decisions to drop these bombs were not making the decisions in the best interest of The

United States. When the workers of the Manhattan Project began to pass a petition that they did

not want the bombs dropped on innocent civilians, it should have been considered. Instead their

petition was ignored, and the bombs were still dropped. The outcome could have been different

if the first bomb had been dropped in Japan, in a remote area, so that there would not have been

so many fatalities and injuries. However, we will never know if the United States had dropped

the first atomic bomb in a remote field, if Japan would have surrendered. They did not surrender

until after the second atomic bomb was dropped and even then President Truman ordered more

than 1,000 B-29’s to bomb Japan. When the B-29’s were returning President Truman announced

that Japan had finally surrendered, and the war was over.

Whenever it is possible, I believe that all parties should negotiate with each other so that

peace can be maintained, but I also realize that this is not always possible. I do strongly believe
that the United States should not have dropped the first bomb, named Little Boy, on such a large

population. I think that they could have reversed the order, so that not as many innocent

civilians would be killed. In other words they could have even dropped the first bomb on

Nagasaki, instead of Hiroshima. Because Nagasaki was a seaport, and lay amongst hills

surrounding the bay, unlike Hiroshima, which was a flat plain area, certain parts of Nagasaki

were sheltered from the blast. Therefore, the initial blast killed 35,000 people and the the after

effect death toll was 40,000. This is still a lot less than the 120,000 people that were killed with

the first atomic bomb.

I am thankful that I live in the United States, and that our country does try to keep our

civilians safe from enemies, but I do have a problem with all of the secrecy. The citizens of the

United States had no idea that our country was developing formulas and building atomic bombs.

Even worse, the Vice President did not know either. It is obvious that this information must be

kept confidential for our safety and plans to keep our country safe, but I am eternal optimist, and

I always want people to work out their differences when it is at all possible. However, that being

said, there are certain leaders and rebels in countries that cannot be reasoned with. The time may

be very soon that we will see something similar to this occur in the Middle East, and I think that

it would be a relief to have the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finished similar to Hiroshima.