Text 23554, 69 rader
Skriven 2008-11-09 19:31:11 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 23465 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Loyalties
=================
08 Nov 08 09:59, Ward Dossche wrote to Roy Witt:


 RW>> RW>> Yeah, but then, the blast would destroy the moon.

 RW>> WD> Without a shockwave I doubt very much damage would be inflicted
 RW>> on
 RW>> WD> the moon.

 RW>> In your scenario, I don't either. But then, I'm assuming the device
 RW>> will actually explode and you're thinking it would self-destruct.

 WD> I meant to say ... there is no atmosphere in outer space.

Ahhhh, how true.

 WD> What would the effect of a nuclear detonation be there?

That is a perceptive question. Acoustic waves (sound) are produced when
the atoms/molecules are displaced from their equilibrium rest position by
a cyclic oscillating force. The restoring force for small displacements is
given by Hooke's Law (the displacement of the atoms/molecules is
proportional to the applied force).

The acoustic wave can be a shear wave in which the displacement is
perpendicular (up and down) to the direction of propagation of the wave.

It can also be longitudinal (compression) in which the displacement is in
the direction of the direction of propagation (back and forth).

Or the wave may be torsional, that is, the material twists back and forth
around the direction of propagation. Mathematically, a torsional wave can
be "decomposed" into a combination of compressional and shear components.

 WD>  Would it be a blast or a fart?

Even in the vacuum of space both material particles and light can be
generated by a cyclic process. This produces wave-like behavior in that
the motion of the particles and/or light is periodic. But since there is
no "restoring" force this type of periodic motion is not considered to be
acoustical.

Analogously, a machine gun sends out a periodic stream of projectiles, but
one does not categorize the stream of bullets as an acoustic wave because
THERE IS NO RESTORING FORCE. The key characteristic of an acoustic wave is
a restoring force operating.

 WD> I guess we all agree that the main destructive power of a nuclear
 WD> device is the shockwave ... so what if there is no atmosphere to
 WD> carry that shockwave?

You cannot have a shock wave in empty space, but it is possible for
the effects of an explosion to be felt away from the source.

In space, with no air to absorb the energy of the explosion, the gas and
debris of the nuclear explosion will just continue to travel at constant
speed until they hit something.

Consider the Sun as an example of a force (much bigger than a nuclear
explosion) sent out as a shockwave. You can't feel it, you can't see it,
but there is a shockwave. If there wasn't there wouldn't be the scientific
idea and reality of a solar sail...

                R\%/itt



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