Christmas Question of the year : What kills you in an explosion?

Pressure can be lethal because it forces massive amounts of air against you. Debris obviously kills.

Any of the above...




j-

It's the flames yo

Pretty much depends on the explosion, and your proximity to it.

Air pressure could do it, debris could do it, the flames could do it, and finally... the vacuum caused after the explosion and air races back to the point of origin.

Thanks! So basically, the pressure is the main killer? The massive amounts of air against you would be like a car hitting you?

We were watching a movie tonight (Yeah, a nice Christmas movie) and we were wondering.

Not just the pressure? How do you like your chances with a piece of metal petruding from your stomach? / or other body part

It takes massive amounts of pressure to kill you...more likely its the flying debris


of course not all explosions are the same a stick of TNT its the debris (if you die at all)

a small nuclear explosion its the radiation/heat

My guess: debris kills more people than the pressure. Bomb squads use shields and barriers for protection against debris, but the shields wouldn't protect against the pressure of a blast, so presumably they might survive the pressure. (Not that they always survive when a bomb detonates).

Also, most people-killing bombmakers seem to use shrapnel in the bombs, even in WWII hand grenades. When you read of injuries from US bombings, often mention shrapnel wounds, so I assume we're still using shrapnel. Modern suicide bombers often pack little pieces of metal in their bombs, and I would presume they know what they're doing. Maybe the pressure could kill too, but I'm guessing the shrapnel is more important, at least for wider radii.

Concussion grenades, which US police use to disorient people in house raids and such, minimize debris, although perhaps they also limit the explosive force to reduce casualties.

Corollary question: I wonder if pressure is more lethal underwater. I know fish are mangled by pressure from underwater bombs, but I think that's due to fragile air bladder anatomy. Would divers as vulnerable to pressure-only attacks?

You've asked at the right time. I'm an engineer and deal with explosives.

If it's a bare explosive, there's a phenomenon called "Blast Overpressure," which is a pressure wave in air many times stronger (intensity, velocity, etc) than just noise. Depending on the intensity, it can blow out your ears, collapse your lungs and do other things to kill you. The kill mechanism isn't the air hitting you, it is that the energy is transferred directly through your body (the wave keeps going, only a small portion of it is reflected).

If it's a weapon, like a bomb or some other device that fragments, then the fragments will reach you before the pressure wave. Obviously, hot razor-sharp pieces of metal travelling many times the speed of sound will kill you.

If you are outside a building and the blast is contained until the structure breaks, then it could be either pressure or fragments.

If you are inside a building, it depends on the weapon. Some are intended to kill people from the pressure generated, some are intended to break up the structure and use the building's debris as the kill mechanism.

In terms of the heat, the heat from a high-energy explosion is very high, but short-lived, especially if vented to the atmosphere. It'll burn, char and mangle, but unless you are fairly close, the heat isn't a major issue.

The "concussion" grenades that are often used in urban warfare produce a pressure wave to incapacitate, and lots of noise/light. The noise and light are at a level that causes an information overload, leaving the victim unable to really act or respond.

Underwater... pressure waves from explosions are very strong, and there's some addition effects underwater that make it particularily violent. Divers would be affected.

Nuclear explosions are another beast. There's incredibly intense heat, and an enormous series of shock and pressure waves.

The "vacuum" created as air rushes back to fill the void, is called rarifaction. Not a kill mechanism.

Do you want to tell us something?

Lack of oxygen

the shockwave can really mess up your organs.

Whatever it is - don't do it CSI will get you...

great explanation

blunt trauma

Hahahaha..



Nah.. It was just a simple question. There's no "intention" behind it. :love-smil

Wow! Thanks for the explanation! Nice.

See, we can learn something on this board.

Merrry X-Mas guys..