Thread: QUESTION about the EMP bomb

I know that that EMP bomb can stop anything work with electricity if this is true...did the scientists succeded to make this bomb???


I think that the sun oneday can change its radio activity and send us this kind of EMP and the atmosphere will fail to protect us from this radiation and in this case ...nothing will work like PC's ,TV's ,Cars ,Buses ,airplanes ...............


I think also that the Electric spark which causes Starting bullet will stop too ...in this case we won't have even weapons we have to use only swords like ancient civilizations..


is this true??????????

Not really.

Whenever an EM field moves across a conductor, it induces a voltage in that conductor. This is principle that all transformers work on.

When a nuclear bomb goes off, it creates a tremendous EM pulse. If the bomb is exploded at high altitude, the EMP travels much much farther. Electronics generally run on low voltages and currents, when the pulse hits these devices , it induces a voltage spike that is much greater that what the chips normally run on, frying them. So, pretty much anything with a IC chip will stop working. Older, non-chip electric devices, such as toasters, should not be effected that much.

Guns are not fired with an electrical spark, at least not yet. They use a mechanical primer. So don't worry, you can still shoot the hell out of people after an EMP attack.

there was a discovery channel program called "Future Weapons" that demostrates the host drive under the EMP bomb and the car clicked and stopped, no damage done to the driver. An EMP pulse sends heavy currents to all conducting material and heat up the object. all objects react differently as a result of differing resistance. theoretically, if an object is a perfect conductor with no resistance to the flow of electricity, the pulse will not heat it up since the object doesnt resist flow at all.

Originally Posted by MacGyver1968

Guns are not fired with an electrical spark, at least not yet. They use a mechanical primer. So don't worry, you can still shoot the hell out of people after an EMP attack.

An American weapons company has electronisized weaponary, it has made an electronic firing mechanism which doesn't jam, it's their electrical version of the Kalashnikov (jealosy), so in a nuclear war, their weopons won't work

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Originally Posted by MacGyver1968

Guns are not fired with an electrical spark, at least not yet. They use a mechanical primer. So don't worry, you can still shoot the hell out of people after an EMP attack.

An American weapons company has electronisized weaponary, it has made an electronic firing mechanism which doesn't jam, it's their electrical version of the Kalashnikov (jealosy), so in a nuclear war, their weopons won't work

Do you know the eaxct mechanism they use?

If not, that's a very rash statement to make, for example, they could use a piezoelectric device which would be immune to the EMP. they could 'screen' any electronics which would also negate the pulse.
They could be using types of electronic components that are immune to EMP (yes, they do exist).

Your TV, video, PC mobile phone and other domestic items may all suffer if subjected to an EMP but none of the electronics in most modern military vehicles would.

You need to google 'Faraday's cage', that will show you how you can aviod suffering from EMP. :wink:

i can't remember, it was a documentor about a year ago

I thought a Faraday cage was just too stop electrical signals from passing through,also wouldn't it be very impractical to build?

Er, google 'Faraday's Cage Wiki' for a full explanation. Read the whole article and follow some of the links.

Originally Posted by Nevyn

Originally Posted by MacGyver1968

Guns are not fired with an electrical spark, at least not yet. They use a mechanical primer. So don't worry, you can still shoot the hell out of people after an EMP attack.

An American weapons company has electronisized weaponary, it has made an electronic firing mechanism which doesn't jam, it's their electrical version of the Kalashnikov (jealosy), so in a nuclear war, their weopons won't work

EMP's will only affect circuits with current flowing through them. It will not affect anything within an open circuit. Unless there is some charge left in capacitors.

A fifty year long career in electronics says you are wrong there Leo...

An emp will induce a voltage into any conductor, if sufficient power is induced any circuit may be dmaged.

Originally Posted by Megabrain

A fifty year long career in electronics says you are wrong there Leo...

An emp will induce a voltage into any conductor, if sufficient power is induced any circuit may be dmaged.

i agree with Megabrain

Originally Posted by Megabrain

A fifty year long career in electronics says you are wrong there Leo...

An emp will induce a voltage into any conductor, if sufficient power is induced any circuit may be dmaged.

Oh, I didnt realise that. I assumed that as lightning can cause an EMP, this is why my parents always turned the mains power off in the house whenever there was a thunderstorm overhead.

Incidentally, how come, if there is an EMP that it would not affect our nerve-cells / brain ?

Cos your nerves mostly communicate by chemicals the little amount of electricity does not travel through a continuous conductor af any length - that's also why medical scanners don't screw you!

Originally Posted by leohopkins

Incidentally, how come, if there is an EMP that it would not affect our nerve-cells / brain ?

Megabrain is basically correct. The fact that that nerves carry 'electricity' is a common misconception.

A more correct definition is that nerves carry impulses. These impulses move due to variations in charge between the inside and outside of the nerve.

Theses charges are caused by the presence or lack thereof of postively charged ions.

The impulse is therefore chemical and not electrical.

Would it be possible to make a EM laser?

YES

Just turn on any laser, they all produce electromagnetic waves.

Originally Posted by wert

YES

Just turn on any laser, they all produce electromagnetic waves.

But none of them short any thing out

That is essentially because the wavelength of the wave is far smaller than the conductors it strikes, the wavelenght and pathlength then conspire to ensure that any induced voltages all cancel out.

The EMP essentially couples in to conductors of a similar length to the wavelength of the pulse (just like for best reception a radio needs an aerial of specific characteristics including length).

Also you can deflect a laser with kitchen food wrap. so just wrap you electronics in it and no more problems.

An EMP bomb works by setting off a high speed charge at one end of a long energised coil, as the coil is destroyed the magnetic field is compressed into a smaller and smaller portion until the coil is gone leaving the magnetic to collapse producing the 'spike'.

Originally Posted by wert

so just wrap you electronics in it and no more problems.

But my clear plastic computer case looks so badass.

:wink: