2006-07-21 06:28:58 · 15 answers · asked by kathy6500 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Check out this cool animated explaination
http://www.howstuffworks.com/quicksand.htm
2006-07-21 06:33:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
How many times have you watched a movie where the hero is sucked down into a pit of quicksand, only to be saved at the last minute by grabbing a nearby tree branch and pulling himself out? If you believed what you saw in movies, you might think that quicksand is a living creature that can suck you down into a bottomless pit, never to be heard from again. But no -- the actual properties of quicksand are not quite those portrayed in the movies. With quicksand, the more you struggle in it the faster you will sink. If you just relax, your body will float in it because your body is less dense than the quicksand.
Quicksand is not quite the fearsome force of nature that you sometimes see on the big screen. In fact, quicksand is rarely deeper than a few feet. It can occur almost anywhere if the right conditions are present. Quicksand is basically just ordinary sand that has been so saturated with water that the friction between sand particles is reduced. The resulting sand is a mushy mixture of sand and water that can no longer support any weight.
2006-07-21 13:32:54 · answer #2 · answered by kntim323 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, quicksand sinks someone based on there movement. Lets say your feet have already been sunk, and your trying to get them out of the sand. The more you move the more you sink.
It is like sifted flour in a bowl, the flour has a lot of air in it. If you hit the bowl the air will let out and the flour looks and feels heavier.
Quicksand has a lot of water in it, and if you start making sudden movements you notice that you are having a hard time walking in the sand because when you take a step your letting out the "air" or moving the water around in the sand.
2006-07-21 13:41:05 · answer #3 · answered by ArticExplosion 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the quicksand goes a lot slower, and it doesn't kill you by suffocating you, not nessecarily the way the movies show it. When you get about halfway in, or up to your chest, the quicksand actually doesn't let you breathe. There is no way for your lungs to fill up because there is no room left. The quicksand squeezes in and suffocates you that way.
2006-07-21 17:05:50 · answer #4 · answered by Tnay 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mythbusters did a show on this.
The answer is, no. It's difficult to move in quicksand, so getting out would be a trick, but you will not sink in quicksand anymore than you would in water; buoyancy takes over after a certain point. However, since it is hard to move in and you might mot be able to get yourself out easily, you could still die...
2006-07-21 13:34:06 · answer #5 · answered by P. M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, it doesnt. People are too boyant to sink in quicksand. It was on Mythbusters like a month ago.
2006-07-21 13:32:33 · answer #6 · answered by Jeremy R 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mythbusters actually set up a tank and made quicksand. The person just floated on it. I would guess that if you kicked your feet, it would cause a vacumm under you and pull you down. ut if you stand still, or lean back, you will float.
2006-07-21 17:34:23 · answer #7 · answered by jdomanico 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a good question, does quicksand exist, if so, where?
2006-07-21 13:31:55 · answer #8 · answered by Maestro 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but if you don't struggle then you shouldn't sink too fast.
2006-07-21 13:34:07 · answer #9 · answered by Johnson R 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2006-07-21 23:37:30 · answer #10 · answered by Eve W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋