The Physicists and the Bomb
Quiz 2: Sample questions
  1. WWII
    1. Describe briefly the German nuclear fission effort during the Second World War.
    2. Describe briefly the Soviet nuclear fission effort during the Second World War.
    3. Describe briefly the state of relations between the United States and the United Kingdom with regard to nuclear matters during the Second World War.
    4. During the Second World War there were three (3) nuclear explosions. Characterize them as to location, effect(s), fissile isotope, method of detonation.
    5. What technical reason(s) dictated a different detonation method for the bombs utilizing uranium and plutonium?
    6. In what way(s) is it ``easier'' to develop a plutonium weapon (than a uranium one), in spite of the fact that plutonium does not occur in nature? In what way(s) is it more difficult?
    7. What is ``implosion?'' Why was it necessary to use it?
    8. Where, and by what methods, were fissile isotopes produced by the United States during the Second World War?
    9. What is the controversy about the 1941 meeting between Heisenberg and Bohr?
  2. Atomic spies
    Identify, and succinctly discuss the role and importance of:
    1. Klaus Fuchs
    2. Igor Gouzenko
    3. Ted Hall
    4. Allan Nunn May
    5. Bruno Pontecorvo
  3. Comparing efforts in the US and USSR
    1. Serious American government support for nuclear weapons research dates from approximately when?
    2. Serious Soviet government support for nuclear weapons research dates from approximately when?
    3. The first nuclear reactor in the US operated in what year?
    4. The first nuclear reactor in the USSR operated in what year?
    5. The first nuclear (test) explosion in the US occurred in what year?
    6. The first nuclear (test) explosion in the USSR occurred in what year?
    7. Who was the ``Chief Scientist'' in the US nuclear weapons project?
    8. Who was the ``Chief Scientist'' in the Soviet nuclear weapons project?
  4. Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs
    What were the main characteristics of (and differences between) the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Was the first Soviet (test) bomb similar to one or the other?
  5. ``Decision''
    Give a brief but critical discussion of the process(es) by which the ``Decision to Drop the Bomb'' was reached. What role did scientists play in the process?
    Discuss critically the proposition: ``There really never was a `Decision to Drop the Bomb.' There was no possibility not to use it.''
    Was there a ``Decision'' to drop the second bomb on Nagasaki?
  6. Fission vs. Fusion
    Describe and distinguish between nuclear fission and fusion. Calculate the energy released in the reaction
    D + D ® 3He + n
    using nuclear masses from a table.
  7. The H-bomb
    Roughly how does an H-bomb work? (Make a sketch.)
    What and when was the controversy about whether the US should develop it?
    Who were the important participants? What, exactly, was J. Robert Oppenheimer's role? What was the corresponding situation in the USSR?


File translated from TEX by TTH, version 2.77.
On 8 Nov 2000, 16:56.