A nuclear explosion at the time resolved to Japan surrendering and an end to the Second World War. These were one of the first bombs ever created and the only ones used. If in today's society a atomic war would break lose the damage would be much more catastrophic, let's compare the numbers:
the physical appearance of the two bombs is not a big difference at all: as the B-41(Americans most destructive bomb ever made) is 3,8 meters long and has a diameter of 1,3 meter, the little boy or L-11 is 3,0 meter long with a diameter of 0,7 meters. Also the weight only differs with 440 kg whereas the b-41 weights 4840 kg and the little boy 4400. The huge difference is not in the size but in the explosion: the little boy has a 15kiloTon TNT explosion releasing 63TJ of power, the B-41 creates a 25 MegaTon Explosion being over a thousand times stronger and releasing 105000TJ of power. If detonated at optimal height, the B-41 would generate a fireball approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) in diameter, it would have been able to destroy reinforced concrete buildings 8 miles (13 km) from ground zero, and it would have been able to destroy most residential structures 15 miles (24 km) from ground zero, while producing third degree burns 32 miles (51 km) from ground zero.
In the case of a surface burst, the fallout's maximum downwind cloud distance could possibly reach 658 miles (1,059 km) from ground zero. In comparison to this the little boy "only" had a fire ball of 370 meters diameter and it destroyed concrete for just a 3,8 km diameter. The difference in build year is not even that big: whereas the B-41 was produces from 1960 to 1962 and the little boy was created in 1945, the numbers are quite different: from the 32 little boy bombs created to the 500 most devastating bomb the us history has ever known. And this is not even the biggest bomb ever made, we have also met the "Tsar Bomba" created in 1961 in Russia. This enormous hydrogen bomb is 8,0 meters long and has a diameter of 2,1 meters, also it weights a big 27000 kg and has a blast yield of 50 to 100 Megaton TNT releasing 420000 TJ of power.The bomb, weighing 27 metric tons, was so large (8 metres (26 ft) long by 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter) that the Tu-95V had to have its bomb bay doors and fuselage fuel tanks removed. The bomb was attached to an 800 kilogram parachute, which gave the release and observer planes time to fly about 45 kilometres (28 mi) away from ground zero. When detonation occurred, the Tu-95V fell one kilometre from its previous altitude because of the shock wave of the bomb.
The Tsar Bomba's fireball, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) in diameter, was prevented from touching the ground by the shock wave, but nearly reached the 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) altitude of the deploying Tu-95 bomber.The Tsar Bomba detonated at 11:32 (Moscow time) on October 30, 1961, over the Mityushikha Bay nuclear testing range (Sukhoy Nos Zone C), north of the Arctic Circle over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The bomb was dropped from an altitude of 10.5 kilometres (34,000 ft); it was designed to detonate at a height of 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) over the land surface (4.2 kilometres (14,000 ft) over sea level) by barometric sensors.
The original, November 1961 AEC estimate of the yield was 55–60 Mt, but since 1992 all Russian sources have stated its yield as 50 Mt. Khrushchev warned in a filmed speech to the Supreme Soviet of the existence of a 100 Mt bomb. (Technically the design was capable of this yield.) Although simplistic fireball calculations predicted the fireball would hit the ground, the bomb's own shock wave reflected back and prevented this.[12] The fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane and was visible at almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) away from where it ascended. The mushroom cloud was about 64 kilometres (40 mi) high (over seven times the height of Mount Everest), which meant that the cloud was above the stratosphere and well inside the mesosphere when it peaked. The cap of the mushroom cloud had a peak width of 95 kilometres (59 mi) and its base was 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide.All buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick), located 55 kilometres (34 mi) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range, were destroyed. In districts hundreds of kilometers from ground zero wooden houses were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors; and radio communications were interrupted for almost one hour. One participant in the test saw a bright flash through dark goggles and felt the effects of a thermal pulse even at a distance of 270 kilometres (170 mi). The heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns 100 km (62 mi) away from ground zero. A shock wave was observed in the air at Dikson settlement 700 kilometres (430 mi) away; windowpanes were partially broken to distances of 900 kilometres (560 mi). Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows in Norway and Finland. The seismic shock[verification needed] created by the detonation was measurable even on its third passage around the Earth. Its seismic body wave magnitude was about 5 to 5.25
.
the physical appearance of the two bombs is not a big difference at all: as the B-41(Americans most destructive bomb ever made) is 3,8 meters long and has a diameter of 1,3 meter, the little boy or L-11 is 3,0 meter long with a diameter of 0,7 meters. Also the weight only differs with 440 kg whereas the b-41 weights 4840 kg and the little boy 4400. The huge difference is not in the size but in the explosion: the little boy has a 15kiloTon TNT explosion releasing 63TJ of power, the B-41 creates a 25 MegaTon Explosion being over a thousand times stronger and releasing 105000TJ of power. If detonated at optimal height, the B-41 would generate a fireball approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) in diameter, it would have been able to destroy reinforced concrete buildings 8 miles (13 km) from ground zero, and it would have been able to destroy most residential structures 15 miles (24 km) from ground zero, while producing third degree burns 32 miles (51 km) from ground zero.
In the case of a surface burst, the fallout's maximum downwind cloud distance could possibly reach 658 miles (1,059 km) from ground zero. In comparison to this the little boy "only" had a fire ball of 370 meters diameter and it destroyed concrete for just a 3,8 km diameter. The difference in build year is not even that big: whereas the B-41 was produces from 1960 to 1962 and the little boy was created in 1945, the numbers are quite different: from the 32 little boy bombs created to the 500 most devastating bomb the us history has ever known. And this is not even the biggest bomb ever made, we have also met the "Tsar Bomba" created in 1961 in Russia. This enormous hydrogen bomb is 8,0 meters long and has a diameter of 2,1 meters, also it weights a big 27000 kg and has a blast yield of 50 to 100 Megaton TNT releasing 420000 TJ of power.The bomb, weighing 27 metric tons, was so large (8 metres (26 ft) long by 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter) that the Tu-95V had to have its bomb bay doors and fuselage fuel tanks removed. The bomb was attached to an 800 kilogram parachute, which gave the release and observer planes time to fly about 45 kilometres (28 mi) away from ground zero. When detonation occurred, the Tu-95V fell one kilometre from its previous altitude because of the shock wave of the bomb.
The Tsar Bomba's fireball, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) in diameter, was prevented from touching the ground by the shock wave, but nearly reached the 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) altitude of the deploying Tu-95 bomber.The Tsar Bomba detonated at 11:32 (Moscow time) on October 30, 1961, over the Mityushikha Bay nuclear testing range (Sukhoy Nos Zone C), north of the Arctic Circle over the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The bomb was dropped from an altitude of 10.5 kilometres (34,000 ft); it was designed to detonate at a height of 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) over the land surface (4.2 kilometres (14,000 ft) over sea level) by barometric sensors.
The original, November 1961 AEC estimate of the yield was 55–60 Mt, but since 1992 all Russian sources have stated its yield as 50 Mt. Khrushchev warned in a filmed speech to the Supreme Soviet of the existence of a 100 Mt bomb. (Technically the design was capable of this yield.) Although simplistic fireball calculations predicted the fireball would hit the ground, the bomb's own shock wave reflected back and prevented this.[12] The fireball reached nearly as high as the altitude of the release plane and was visible at almost 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) away from where it ascended. The mushroom cloud was about 64 kilometres (40 mi) high (over seven times the height of Mount Everest), which meant that the cloud was above the stratosphere and well inside the mesosphere when it peaked. The cap of the mushroom cloud had a peak width of 95 kilometres (59 mi) and its base was 40 kilometres (25 mi) wide.All buildings in the village of Severny (both wooden and brick), located 55 kilometres (34 mi) from ground zero within the Sukhoy Nos test range, were destroyed. In districts hundreds of kilometers from ground zero wooden houses were destroyed, stone ones lost their roofs, windows and doors; and radio communications were interrupted for almost one hour. One participant in the test saw a bright flash through dark goggles and felt the effects of a thermal pulse even at a distance of 270 kilometres (170 mi). The heat from the explosion could have caused third-degree burns 100 km (62 mi) away from ground zero. A shock wave was observed in the air at Dikson settlement 700 kilometres (430 mi) away; windowpanes were partially broken to distances of 900 kilometres (560 mi). Atmospheric focusing caused blast damage at even greater distances, breaking windows in Norway and Finland. The seismic shock[verification needed] created by the detonation was measurable even on its third passage around the Earth. Its seismic body wave magnitude was about 5 to 5.25
.