, but because itcontaitns fifty percent of the atomic bomb’s latent energy a great deal of destructionoccures (The Committee for the Compilation of Materials on Damage Caused by theAtomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1981). In Hiroshima the blast from the atomicbomb was measured to be about four and a half to six and seven tenths tons of pressureper square mere, while in Nagasaki the blast was measured to be about six to eight tons ofpressure per square meter (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War,1982). Because of thsidramatic change in the pressure most of the cities were destroyed.The static overpressure in Hiroshima caused ninety-one and nine tenths percent of all thebuildings to be destroyed, while in Nagasaki it casued thirty-six and one tenth of all of thebuildings to be destroyed. The static overpressure created a dynamic pressure that hadwinds up to four hundred miles per hour (The Committee for the Compilation of Materialson Damage Caused by the Atomic Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 1981). These windscaused minor scrathces, lacerations, or compound fractures, which came about whenpeople and glass fragments were projected through the air. By combining theresults of thestatic overpressure and the dynamic pressure on can begin to see what damage was causedby the atomic bomb’s blast. The total number affected in Hiroshima was approximatelyseventy-eight thousand people, while in Nagasaki the total number affected wasapproximately forty-five thousand people (International Physicians for the Prevention ofNuclear War, 1982). The thermal radiation produced by an atomic bomb explosion willaccount for thirty-five percent of the atomic bomb’s damage. Thermal radiation can comein either one of three forms; ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation, or infrared radiation.Theultraviolet radiation is absorbed so rapidly by air particles that it has no substantialeffect on people (World Book, 1990). ...
