Do shockwaves collide?

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If I have two bombs that have a 5 mile blast radius, and I set them off simultaneously 1 mile apart, what happens in the middle?

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Pressure in each wave adds to the other as they meet. For an instant, their magnitudes combine, after which each pressure wave carries on.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Shock waves are kinda like really strong sound waves.

They will interfere. So they will either add up or cancel each or something in between. Some parts might be stronger some might be weaker. Theoretically you could make a shockwave that exactly cancels out an incoming one. But the shockwave would continue to travel after reaching the middle as if nothing had happened.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The easiest way to picture this is to imagine big rocks being dropped in water a few feet from each other. The ripples you see from each rock are the shockwaves you are asking about. Yes, they will collide but they may not interact in the way you expect.