Nuclear — fission · United States · 1945
Trinity
Trinity test (“Gadget”)
The very first nuclear explosion in history. It validated the implosion principle later used for Fat Man.
See Trinity in the 3D simulator- Yield
- 25 ktPublic estimate
- Energy
- 105 TJ
- Type
- First nuclear test (plutonium, implosion)
- Period
- World War II
- Status
- Single test
Trinity releases about 1.7 times the energy of Little Boy (Hiroshima, 1945).
Key points
- Nearly half a million people lived within 240 km of the site; fallout reached nearby communities.
- Sand melted by the heat formed a green glass called “trinitite”.
History
Carried out by the Manhattan Project at the Alamogordo range (Jornada del Muerto). News of its success reached President Truman during the Potsdam Conference.
- 1942 The Manhattan Project begins.
- 16 July 1945 Trinity test in New Mexico.
- 9 August 1945 A weapon of the same design (Fat Man) is dropped on Nagasaki.
How does it work?
A fission weapon releases energy by splitting heavy nuclei (uranium-235 or plutonium-239). Each fission releases about 200 MeV and a few neutrons.
If these neutrons cause further fissions, a chain reaction runs away in less than a millionth of a second.
The energy heats matter to tens of millions of degrees: fireball, thermal radiation and shock wave.
General principle of implosion: conventional explosives strongly compress the fissile material, which becomes “supercritical” and sustains the chain reaction.
Deliberately general explanations: the application provides no design or manufacturing information.
Frequently asked questions
How powerful is Trinity?
Trinity has an estimated yield of 25 kt of TNT equivalent, about 105 TJ of energy.
What is the history of Trinity?
Single test, on 16 July 1945, in the New Mexico desert. Carried out by the Manhattan Project at the Alamogordo range (Jornada del Muerto). News of its success reached President Truman during the Potsdam Conference.
What does the Trinity explosion look like?
The Bomb Simulator shows the fireball, shock wave and cloud of Trinity at real scale, over Paris, London or New York, with the sources and reliability of each value.
Sources
- The Trinity Test — Atomic Heritage Foundation
- The Manhattan Project — Trinity Test — U.S. Department of Energy (OSTI)
- Trinity (nuclear test) — Wikipedia (overview, to be cross-checked)
Other weapons
- Little Boy — 15 kt
- Fat Man — 21 kt
- RDS-1 — 22 kt
- Hurricane — 25 kt
- RDS-6s — 400 kt
- Gerboise Bleue — 70 kt
- 596 — 22 kt
- Davy Crockett — 20 t
- Ivy Mike — 10.4 Mt
- Castle Bravo — 15 Mt
- RDS-37 — 1.6 Mt
- Mk 17 — 15 Mt
This application is an educational tool. The animations and effect zones are simplified representations meant to illustrate orders of magnitude. They are neither a prediction of the effects of a real weapon nor a military planning tool.