The math of saving the Enola Gay #SoME3

Comments · 754

• AR

  @arthouston7361 · 3 years ago

  I had to plot the course of the Enola Gay for my final in Fortran in 1968. My instructor was one of the team numbers on the Manhattan project.

  353

• FR

  @fryode · 3 years ago

  If I had been given problems like this to solve in school, I would have loved my math classes. Well done!

  901

• WO

  @wouldntyouliketoknow9891 · 1 year ago

  Less than 15 years later, bombs of the same yield as hiroshima are being shot out of a mortar or artillery and soldiers in the tests are just standing and watching 2 miles away.

  158

• BY

  @byronking9573 · 3 years ago

  It's worth mentioning that aircrew practiced for the first atomic missions by dropping dummy bombs -- in military aviation we simply call them "shapes" -- that were built with the approximate size and aerodynamics of the real thing; no explosive, of course. And nobody knew what the real thing would look like until it showed up. These shapes were generally spherical and painted orange, so loaders and aircrew quickly began calling them "Pumpkins," while practice flights were called "Pumpkin flights." Pumpkin flights occurred over US practice ranges, plus in the South Pacific. And several over Japan, pre August 6. This must have lulled Japanese defenders into a false sense of security because when the three-ship formation finally came with the real bomb, it encountered no air defense fire or fighter planes.

  272

• MI

  @Mike44460 · 3 years ago

  The Enola Gay was one of a group of very special B-29s. They were called "Silverplate" B-29s. They had fuel injection engines only used on the Silverplate planes as well as aluminum reverseable propeller blades. As you know, all but one gun station was removed and very quick opening and closing bomb bay doors.

  357

• JK

  @jkzero · 2 years ago (edited)

  With this video I launched my YouTube channel and won a Honorable Mention at the Summer of Math Exposition organized by @3b1b. You can support this newly created channel and growing community by liking, commenting, and subscribing. Thanks for watching and welcome to the channel.<br>You are welcome to watch the several follow-up videos of the series on the Physics of Nuclear Weapons <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_UV-wQj1lvUhNttvv4_KsYrQxHygj3Ey">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_UV-wQj1lvUhNttvv4_KsYrQxHygj3Ey</a>

  18

• ER

  @erikdevereux4997 · 3 years ago

  The bomb blast shown at the opening is Nagasaki. There are no films of the detonation of Little Boy over Hiroshima. The plane assigned to film the attack did not arrive in time.

  50

• MI

  @Mizo-Nozo · 1 year ago

  It took me so long to realize this was a math video that I was not going to comprehend at all

  3

• 50

  @5000rgb · 3 years ago

  I may have missed it in the video, but the decision to turn right was because the rotation of the propellers slightly improved the turning performance.

  61

• PH

  @PhilippeVuillame-gs6hh · 3 years ago

  I am French and I really appreciate your diction which allows me to understand almost every word, even if my level in math is not sufficient to understand everything.<br>Your videos are clear and captivating. Thank you very much

  94

• PA

  @PabloA64 · 3 years ago

  I think there was a fact that should have been considered. The bomb weighed almost 5 tons, so when the plane get released of such a weight, it will produce a direct vertical jump over the vertical to the ground. This abrupt altitude and speed change added to the beginning of the right turn maneuver, both results will produce a substantial change in the final trajectory. Very clear development, by the way. Kind regards.

  141

• RO

  @robertfindley921 · 1 year ago (edited)

  I always wondered why they turned sharply rather than go straight ahead. &nbsp;Sadly, the obvious didn&apos;t dawn on me, the bomb had forward momentum. &nbsp;Thanks! &nbsp;Love the plot of angles v distance near the end. &nbsp;It would be interesting to see the same plot for the Tsar Bomba.

  3