How were the US able to become the first country to make nuclear weapons over nations like Britain, Germany,?

Question

Japan, etc? I am curious because the US back then had only been a nation for 150 years and they were able to be the first country to get nuclear weapons over several nations with thousands of years of glorious history.

is it because the US was filled with an influx of different ethnicities of immigrant top scientists that helped this cause or what is/are the reason(s)? (i personally think the US got the nukes first because God is on the Us's side and wants the US to be the most powerful country and police the world, but thats my crazy opinion)

because had the US not gotten the bomb first, had japan or germany gotten it.....ww2 could have been a completely different outcome and today would probably be alot different.

Answer 1

In the main, I agree with most of the above. Before WW-II, many German scientist escaped Germany, and came to the USA. They brought with them the story that they were being asked to look into the possibility of building a nuclear device. This appalled the British and the Americas so much, that the resources were made instantly available, with an open check!
The British physicists worked alongside the Canadian and American physicists to first produce the uranium in fissionable quantities, and this took a lot of centrifuges to separte the uranium hexafluride from the gasseious state to deposit the 99.9% pure uranium 238 needed to produce a working bomb. This bomb was a crude device; usung a gun to fire a cone shaped super-crittical bullet into a sphere (with a cone shape cut-out) to produce the neutrons needed to cause a chain reaction.

Fat-man was the second bomb produced, and that used a plutonium sub-critical mass, and was a safer device, but needed an implosion to make the weapon work. The plutonium must be compressed to twice its normal density before free neutrons are added to start the fission chain reaction:

An exploding-bridgewire detonator simultaneously starts a detonation wave in each of the 32 tapered high explosive columns (12 pentagonal and 20 hexagonal - in the pattern of a soccer ball skin).

The detonation wave (arrows) is initially convex in the faster explosive, Composition B: 60% RDX, 39% TNT, 1% wax. Its shape becomes concave in the slower explosive (Baratol). The 32 waves merge into a single spherical implosive wave before they hit the faster explosive Composition B, of the inner charges.

The medium-density aluminum "pusher" transitions the imploding shock wave from low-density explosive to high-density uranium, minimizing undesirable turbulence; the shock wave then compresses the inner components. At the very center, the beryllium–polonium-210 "initiator" (the "urchin") is crushed, bringing the two metals in contact to release a burst of neutrons into the compressed "pit" of plutonium-239–plutonium-240–gallium delta-phase alloy (96%–1%–3% by molarity). A fission chain reaction starts. The tendency of the fissioning pit to prematurely blow itself apart is retarded by the inward momentum of the natural-uranium "tamper" (inertial containment). The tamper also reflects neutrons back into the pit, speeding up the chain reaction.

The boron plastic shell was intended to protect the pit from stray neutrons, but was later deemed unnecessary.

The result is the fissioning of about two and a half of the thirteen pounds of plutonium in the pit, and the release of twenty-one kilotons of energy (21,000 tons of TNT).

The hardest part of the whole project was making the implosion device.

Both the Germans and the Japanese were working on a nuclear bomb, but were a long way off achieving anything like the weapons-grade of uranium that the allies were able to produce.

I hope that helps your understanding of the situation.

Answer 2

Britain actively cooperated in the development of the atomic bomb. The US was able to do it first mainly because they had the most resources to draw on and the best scientists working on the problem. Both the Germans and the Japanese were aware of the theoretical possibilitty of an atomic bomb, and were conducting research toward developing one, but neither was very far along when the war ended. The German program was, for a time, headed by Werner Heisenberg, he of "Uncertainty" fame.

OK, Sub, ya lost me at about B...

Answer 3

The US did not do it alone.
The UK and Canada were also involved. These 3 Allies were the only countries in the world at the time who had all the resources neccessary to succeed.

Answer 4

first of all God has no affairs with nukes and such horrible things, u might wanted to say that devil wants America to become most powerful country and destroy other (like Iraq, Lebanon). about ww2, not only US was working on nukes, but both Soviet Union and Germany too. but the reason why US managed to get nukes first, is that there was peace and no destroyment on US land and no US capital and cities were turned in dust. so US had more possibilities, scientist in their warm, peacey houses thought about devil things and invented nukes. SO AMERICA: DO U TRUST IN GOD OR JUST SELL THIS PHRASE?

Answer 5

It was a joint effort by British ,US and displaced scientists from Europe.
The USA was chosen as the place for the experiments and testing because it was safe from bombing and had enough space for the first test
I don't think any gods were involved

Answer 6

U.S. military quickly snatched up most German scientist right after world war 2 who were all ready in the advance stages of building a nuclear bomb

Answer 7

At the close of the WWII the American armed forces made a mad rush into Germany to capture as many scientists as possible. The US made deals with these scientists to bring them to the States and use their knowledge and experience to accelerate their own.

Answer 8

Using Smartness and opportunist principle.
One non-american have given this technology to America.


Like as on date USA use all non-original-american to produce
1) WEAPON
2) SOFTWARE ( WINDOWS, ......)
3) GOODS
in USA.

And same is sold natinally (USA), internationally for benefitting USA.

Therefore they / USA know how to use the WORLD for benefit of USA.

And world learn scientific and technical matter for working under AMERICANS and for benefitting AMERICAN.

Answer 9

bottom line.....national will, enough so to put enough resources in men and material to carryout the Manhattan Project.

Answer 10

the first nuc was mad in Canada by a Canadian scientest but financed by the states