The term has been so badly MISUSED so often that some dictionaries will refer to building implosions. NO NO NO, that’s totally wrong. It’s not physically possible.
The ONLY THING that can cause ANY implosion of ANYthing is if external pressure is greater than internal pressure. The inside air pressure of buildings is exactly the same as external air pressure … therefore… NO BUILDING IMPLOSION is possible.Buildings simply crumble due to many precisely timed explosions which cause it to fall inward by ordinary gravity, hopefully the desired direction, (inward if done correctly). THERE IS NO IMPLOSION involved.
As you can see, these buildings simply rolled on their side, no implosion.
THIS is a bubble imploding.
Bubble in the process of imploding.
A bubble imploding then vanishes to it's natural state.
Example - If you had a freestanding brick wall and set off explosions to make one side of the foundation crumble, the wall would fall in the desired direction (No implosion). If you had FOUR brick walls (like a building) and set off explosives to cause each wall to fall toward the center (like a building being demolished), there is NO implosion of that building (4 walls ) just simple gravity… NO external pressure caused the building to fall inward. It was a simple demolition, gravity, NOT an implosion.
IF you suck all the air out of a pop can, the can will implode because the outside atmospheric pressure will be greater than the inside pressure… THAT’s an implosion.
Heat up an oil drum then seal it airtight and spray it or cool it with cold water, the oil barrel will implode with significant force (LOUD noise from the shock wave). The external air rushes toward the implosion then stops abruptly, causing the noise.
Submarines can implode because the water pressure outside is greater than air pressure inside pushing out.
Hydraulic cylinders can cause implosions in the hydraulic fluid (Can actually destroy equipment due to the "slamming" (Jet) effect when the bubbles collapse=implode)
Ultrasonic vibrations can cause implosions in liquids and the friction of the collapsing bubbles can cause enough heat to boil the water, or
cavitation due to or ultra-high speed underwater propellers, can cause temporary air bubbles which instantly implode causing an "explosive" noise that sounds like boiling water. The bubbles implode so rapidly they create destructive shock waves (noise).
FINAL NOTE: "A BUILDING WILL NEVER IMPLODE" (It’s physically impossible).
Imploding pop can
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPBCeQKrw
Imploding oil drum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEqjIHclzp8&feature=related http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scidemos/ThermalPhysics/55GallonDrum/55GallonDrum.html
An example of a misuse of the word Implosion. but...see box "A real implosion".
http://www.howstuffworks.com/building-implosion.htm
If you like to see buildings here are Many demolitions (but not a single implosion).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK50So-yYRU
Building rolls over on roof
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/03/implosion-goes-wrong-buil_n_249940.html
I think my brain may have just imploded while trying to take this all in. (grin)
ReplyDeleteYou sound smart. What did you do while you were an adult? Anyone who's ever heard the old wive's tail about buildings blowing up in tornadoes due to a rapid change in air temperature, knows that what you are saying is true. Building blow up in a tornado because it's a damned strong circular wind~~I'd blow up, myself, except I moved out of the midwest tornado alley down to the southern NM tornado alley~
ReplyDeleteWell, you COULD set off a high incendiary device inside the building, that would consume most of the oxygen nearly instantly, and cause an implosion.
ReplyDeleteI cringe every time I hear "Building implosion"... it's just not right.
ReplyDeletevarainy - I suppose people DO implode when external pressure gets too great, most call it a mental breakdown though.
lowercase - Seems I've done most everything?.. I've always been fascinated with physics, science and technology (Gadgets). There's a bit of truth to houses blowing up in tornadoes. When combined with the strong winds which weaken the structure, when the vacuum in the vortex is over a house the external pressure is less than the internal house pressure an helps it to fly apart. It happens so quickly that opening windows would likely make little difference.
Yetanother - Yes, under the right conditions it could work. However the building would also need to be sealed tightly so the openings were as strong as the walls...unfortunately, too expensive. I thought of Saran Wrap, but... alas... not strong enough. Although, it would be an excellent way to bring down a building within it's own footprint, nearly guaranteed....no explosive skills necessary.
Most cold storage warehouses would only need the entry doors sealed, the rest of the building is usually just basically a big block.
ReplyDeleteThere is a way to test this if the entire congress shut up for 10 minutes or so wouldn't that decrease the hot air pressure in the building causing the out side air to rush in ward ? Not sure what kind of implosion might occur.
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ReplyDeleteyeta - Yes, and a warm day in a cold storage building, just the temp diff might help it implode ...?
ranky - In that case... all of Washington DC would implode.
Quite the science lesson here! I am not of the caliber to comment on this, only here to listen and learn :)
ReplyDeletechickie - It makes me cringe every time I hear about a building "implosion". I guess I believe in things being technically correct. Science and physics are kind of a passion of mine.
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