calutron

A Calutron was a mass spectrometer used for separating the isotopes of uranium developed by Ernest O. Lawrence during the Manhattan Project. Its name is a concatenation of Cal. U.-tron, in tribute to the University of California, Lawrence's institution. They were implemented for industrial scale uranium enrichment at the Oak Ridge, Tennessee Y-12 plant established during the war, and provided much of the uranium used for the "Little Boy" nuclear weapon which was dropped onto Hiroshima in 1945. In a mass spectrometer a vaporised quantity of a sample is bombarded with high energy electrons which causes them to become positively charged ions. They are then accelerated and subsequently deflected by Magnetic fields. They then collide with a plate, producing a measurable electric current. The mass of the ions can be calculated according to the strength of the field and the charge of the ions.

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