What kills you when a bomb goes off?

Question

Assuming you are not hit with shrapnel from the bomb itself, and are not killed by any other type of debris what actually kills you when a bomb is detonated near you?

Answer 1

It's like a wall of highly compressed air and gases caused when the explosive suddenly goes from a solid to a gaseous state. A cup of water when boiled will expand in volume 14,000 times. Explosives like TNT expand even more than that. An overpressure as little as 2 lbs/sq. in. will knock an apartment building flat. A nuclear bomb causes a compression wall that can knock buildings over many miles away.

Answer 2

Shrapnel is a main killer. Most bombs meant to kill people are loaded with metal pieces so they are more effective. You can also be killed by the massive change in air pressure ripping you apart or the massive increase in heat energy burning you to death.

Common explosions are created by a chemical reaction which releases energy and gas.

Here's the reaction for TNT:
2 C7H5N3O6 → 3 N2 + 5 H2O + 7 CO + 7 C

See how for every 2 TNT molecules you get 3 Nitrogen molecules, 5 water molecules, 7 carbon monoxide molecules and 7 carbons? The seven carbons are less important, but the 7 carbon monoxide, and 3 Nitrogen molecules are gaseous under normal conditions (and the 5 water molecules are heated up enough in the exothermic reaction to be a gas). So for every 2 solid TNT molecules you get 21 gas molecules -- since gas volume matches its container, all these new molecules expand out to dramatically increase the air pressure surrounding the explosion.

So, in summary: The reaction happens extremely fast and is exothermic so it gets extremely hot (enough to burn). Explosives begin their life as a solid or a liquid have the capacity to create many gas molecules in the reaction from every single solid/liquid molecule of explosive. Since gas takes up much more volume than liquids or solids and the reaction is sudden, the change in pressure can rip off limbs or whatever.

Answer 3

The force of the blast wave is what would kill you. Most blast waves travel beyond the speed of sound, usually in the low thousand feet per second range, usually in the 1-5,000 ft / s range.

Now imagine getting hit full on with that kind of a sudden pressure, it's like getting slammed into concrete from a several hundred foot+ straight drop.

Answer 4

The shockwave of the blast rattles your brain inside your brain so hard against your skull that your basic impulses to breathe, heartbeat, etc, are interrupted. Lack of oxygen to the brain leads to death.
Many people have been revived after suffering blast trauma to the brain, and although technically living, their brains have suffered too much trauma, and they remain in a vegitative state.
Blast trauma is one of the leading causes of casualties for US forces in Iraq, caused by roadside IEDs.

Less-common incendiary bombs kill people with heat, causing massive burns to the victims' bodies. These are generally only used by aircraft, and not as man-portable devices, due to the large amount of fuel required to cause the intense heat. Concussive bombs require only a small amount of highly unstable solid or liquid.

Answer 5

The shock wave of most explosions propagates outward at around 15,000 feet per second (10,200 mph). If you get in the way bits of your body will try to catch up tearing you apart.

Answer 6

The concussive force of the expanding gases will kill you. Hit by a shock wave!

Answer 7

pressure of the air

Answer 8

one thing is that the air gets really hot , and when it goes through your windpipe , it will burn up your lungs and you die

Answer 9

Blast, heat, and radiation.