I’m deeply curious about how EMP’s work (I’m hoping to learn more for a story I’m writing), but I don’t really understand what they do or how they do what they do. I’d also be very interested to know what kinds of technology they affect and which kinds they do not, as well as the extent to which said technology is disabled (and for how long). I tried searching for a lot of these answers on Google but I couldn’t find anything adequately specific enough or clear enough to get into my layman’s head, so here I am!
In: Technology
Electromagnetic Pulses are bursts of energy radiating out from a high-energy event, like a lightning strike or nuclear detonation, or even just switching on a strong enough power source. Just throws Electromagnetic energy out everywhere, messing with magnetic fields and electrical circuits.
EMPs don’t temporarily disable things, they break them. Wires and circuits are made to handle a certain amount of energy. If the pulse is strong enough, it simply overloads the conductor and burns it to a crisp. Your tech stays down until you can replace the wires/solder contacts/whatever.
Equipment can be shielded from an EMP by surrounding it with conductive material that directs the energy away from the vulnerable equipment.
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