And These Guys Get To Reproduce - Page 2

NullAshton · #11 December 10th, 2005, 07:29 PM

Yeah. You'd think that Americans would know this. In all the movies, a bomb seems to be a dud, and when they go to investigate... BOOM!

Xrati · #12 December 10th, 2005, 07:58 PM

I'm sure IF, I was able to run 100 mph. The pressure wave from a high-explosive probably moves at 101!

narf poit chez BOOM · #13 December 10th, 2005, 09:21 PM

Hey, surviving has a higher priority than any worries about looking rediculous.

Thermodyne · #14 December 10th, 2005, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Xrati said:
I'm sure IF, I was able to run 100 mph. The pressure wave from a high-explosive probably moves at 101!

I can't speak for an un-fused bomb self detonating, but a nice tight ball of C4 has a blast wave that starts out at over 8800 meters/s. Get in the way of that, and they screen the dirt for your remains. The bomb in question is more likely to burn than blow. Without the detonator, it would be hard to concentrate enough energy to set it off. They are actually designed to withstand aircraft crashes without going off, even with the fuses in place.

Xrati · #15 December 11th, 2005, 12:59 PM

I knew if I posted a speed that someone would post the actual speed of an explosion. Soooo if an explosion expands at 8800 meters/s, THEN we can assume that a human could not exceed 8790 meters/s!!!

Renegade 13 · #16 December 11th, 2005, 02:45 PM

Well the explosion would initially be expanding at a rate of roughly 19,325 mph. By comparison, a person could maybe run at about 18 mph, and only for a very short time.

Baron Munchausen · #17 December 11th, 2005, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Xrati said:
I knew if I posted a speed that someone would post the actual speed of an explosion. Soooo if an explosion expands at 8800 meters/s, THEN we can assume that a human could not exceed 8790 meters/s!!!

Good god... 8800 meters a second is orbital velocity! Humans, nor any other flesh & blood creature, can't possibly run at a measurable fraction of that.

And C4 isn't really the most powerful of high explosives. It's just a relatively cheap/easy to manufacture explosive that is powerful enough for what the military wants to do with it. More exotic explosives could probably double that velocity.

AdmiralMartin · #18 December 12th, 2005, 01:00 PM

It works in the movies

Emperor's Child · #19 December 12th, 2005, 02:55 PM

Well, this is sort of a classic myth that does not have much basis in fact. Bombs and other munitions are typically designed to be dropped or damaged without exploding... Called Sailor Proofing or Soldier Proofing, depending on the background. Some of the newer bombs can even be shot or set afire and still wont explode.

Phoenix-D · #20 December 12th, 2005, 04:17 PM

C4 is sort of famous that way. You can supposedly set it on fire and all you get is some really nasty smelling smoke. No boom unless you hit it with just the right electrical spark.