Honestly, I’m watching a war movie and a dude got hit by an IED. It got me thinking though, and I don’t quite get what is the lethal factor in an explosion?
There always seems to be fire in the movies, and it’s clearly a lot of force. But my question is what ACTUALLY happens to (I guess anything) that gets hit by a large bomb/explosion from a play by play/physics situation?
I feel like this is kinda dark, but I just had one of those curious moments and felt like this was the appropriate place to ask
In: Physics
Imagine if someone punched you. The force used would damage your muscles, and you would get bruises, as capillaries break.
If Mike Tyson punched you, the damage would be greater, perhaps breaking bones and damaging internal organs.
When the shock wave from an explosion hits someone, the force of the explosion is transferred into their body in a similar way to a punch, but is not so direct. It causes the same kinds of effects to the muscles, bones and organs.
Explosives that are designed to damage through this shock wave are generally refered to as concussion explosives, and used to be used commonly in grenades, for use in confined spaces.
Other explosives are used in similar ways, but are packed in containers that split apart and throw bits (called shrapnel) around at a very high speed. This shrapnel goes through the skin, and leads to bleeding.
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