One of the standard action film clichés that really bugs me is the scene in which the hero and the heroine are shown, in slow motion, running away from an explosion. Every time I see that, I think, "That is nonsense. An explosion expands much faster than anyone can run." But of course I don't know that, so I just grumble a bit to myself and go on watching. This morning, during my regular four mile walk, I started thinking about this, for some bizarre reason, so when I got home, I turned to Google. As always, Google did not disappoint. Here is a passage from a site I found, at http://express.howstuffworks.com/explosion.htm.
"Can you really outrun an explosion, like Sydney does every other week on "Alias"?
Let's go to the starting blocks: Sydney vs. chunk of C-4 explosive.
Let's go to the starting blocks: Sydney vs. chunk of C-4 explosive.
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Let's say Sydney can sprint at about 15 miles per hour, or 22 feet per second. If we give her a 10-foot head start to get to top speed, she'll be 32 feet away from the center of the blast one second after the C-4 detonates. Not too shabby, but it's not nearly fast enough. A C-4 explosion will expand at a rate of 26,400 feet per second. In other words, the blast is so fast it's almost instantaneous. If she were in range of the explosion, she wouldn't have time to think about running - or anything else. "
Never mind Alias, which I have never watched [so I don't know whom Sydney is]. Isn't this cool?
