Timeline for Why don't things get destroyed by gas molecules flying around?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 24, 2015 at 14:13 | answer | added | mmesser314 | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 24, 2015 at 12:15 | comment | added | HyperLuminal | @RobAu Very true. :) | |
| Apr 24, 2015 at 12:15 | vote | accept | HyperLuminal | ||
| Apr 24, 2015 at 11:26 | comment | added | Rob Audenaerde | This would also be an awesome xkcd what-if :) | |
| Apr 24, 2015 at 10:02 | history | protected | Qmechanic♦ | ||
| Apr 24, 2015 at 2:40 | answer | added | Artelius | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 20:00 | answer | added | Owen | timeline score: 0 | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:51 | comment | added | Solomon Slow | @user2357112 I admit, my analogy was weak. I should have said, if you were made of trillions of trillions of trillions of indestructible bullets. The kinetic energy of an air molecule is very low compared to the amount of energy needed to break a molecule apart. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:46 | comment | added | Solomon Slow | @user2357112 You are made of molecules that are mostly made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. Air is made of molecules that are mostly made of carbon hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen atoms. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:34 | comment | added | ChrisM | @HyperLuminal If you sample a large enough area of the wall yes. However, the bullets carry enough kinetic energy to deform most things so the wall would eventually crumble. The difference between the two scenarios is perfectly elucidated in Brionius' answer. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:27 | comment | added | HyperLuminal | @Chris2807 So firing a lot of bullets on the other side of the wall will exert an opposite pressure on the other side of the wall...and support it? | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:19 | comment | added | ChrisM | @hyperluminal haha that's not the point I was making. I was saying that part of the reason we don't collapse under the forces exerted by air pressure is because internally our bodies have a roughly similar pressure exerted outwards. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 12:14 | comment | added | HyperLuminal | @Chris2807 So... if bullets were theoretically randomly shot out in all directions.. they would merely apply pressure? | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 3:56 | comment | added | Beta | There are solid materials that can be quickly destroyed by the impact of air molecules at ordinary temperatures. And around here, they have been. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 0:14 | comment | added | user2357112 | @jameslarge: Uh... no? Both of those sentences are incorrect, or at the very least misleading. A bullet made of flesh would do quite a bit of damage to flesh, bullets made of metal do quite a bit of damage to targets made of metal, and the composition of a human is quite different from the composition of air. | |
| Apr 23, 2015 at 0:10 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackPhysics/status/591031248128212992 | ||
| S Apr 22, 2015 at 21:46 | history | suggested | Keen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
corrected spelling; side-stepped potential arguments about whether microscopic world counts as "real"
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| Apr 22, 2015 at 21:34 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Apr 22, 2015 at 21:46 | |||||
| Apr 22, 2015 at 19:26 | comment | added | QuadmasterXLII | We all know that air pressure (from all those tiny collisions) can destroy stuff, but to make it concrete here's a picture of a train car crushed when the air one the inside was taken out: i.ytimg.com/vi/Zz95_VvTxZM/hqdefault.jpg | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 18:23 | comment | added | Solomon Slow | Bullets would not hurt as much if you were made of the same stuff as the bullets. You are made of the same stuff as the air. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 17:21 | history | edited | Qmechanic♦ |
edited tags
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| Apr 22, 2015 at 17:15 | answer | added | Name | timeline score: 3 | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 14:12 | answer | added | Brionius | timeline score: 65 | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 13:34 | comment | added | ChrisM | that isn't really relevant. Air pressure is reasonably uniform so there are no nett forces on bodies in general. If you really want to understand your question look at the average momentum for a Boltzmann distributed gas and momentum of a bullet. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 13:29 | comment | added | HyperLuminal | @Chris2807 Yes, but remember, at sea level air exerts about a ton of pressure upon your body. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 13:21 | comment | added | ChrisM | Think about the momenta of the gas particles. | |
| Apr 22, 2015 at 13:14 | history | asked | HyperLuminal | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
