I Bought a Trinitite Online - Is It Real?

Let’s Combine History, Physics, and Some Fun

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While searching for some test objects for my radiation detectors comparison, I occasionally saw the online sale of trinitites for the price of only €29. This intrigued me for two reasons:

• Trinitite is a relatively rare thing — it is a mineral made from sand, melted in the first atomic bomb test on the Trinity site.
• Collecting trinitites from the original site in the US has been illegal since the 1950s. Thus, the question is straightforward— is this sample real or fake? Last but not least, the seller was not even from the US.

Why is trinitite an interesting collectible item? It is just a unique piece of history, at least for people interested in science and technology. Already in 1905, Albert Einstein formulated the famous equation E=mc², showing that even a small mass can store an enormous amount of energy. In the 1930s and 1940s, physicists from all over the world tried to reveal the secrets of atomic energy. As we know today, this race was not for pure academic purposes. And finally, in 1945, the atomic era began with the detonation of the first atomic bomb, and the world changed forever. Well, even today, many years later, nuclear weapons are one of the major sources of political tension and instability.