The Physics of Science Fiction: Electromagnetic Pulse

So here we have an explanation of a much mentioned yet rarely explained super weapon, the Electromagnetic Pulse or EMP. Using movie clips you're sure to recognize, I explain the process of Nuclear Fission, Compton Scattering, how this creates an EMP, and how this makes the EMP the most dangerous weapon of this century.

First I'll answer the obvious question: Where have I been for a year? Writing a urban fantasy young-adult novel, an idea I had way back 4 movies ago. And after this I'm going back to it. They take a long time ;) I've written one whole other book before, but that was a memoir where I knew how it began and how it ended. Writing a new story with new characters and getting a consistent plot? Harder than anything I've done before. After about 9 months of work, I have 200 single-spaced pages to show for it, which covers a lot of ground plot wise and conceptually, but there's still a great deal to do. This story first trounced itself on my head way back before Gravity and Potential Energy back in 2008. I wanted to get the Radiation movie done first, for professional purposes, before I left for while. And that turned out one of my better ideas, as Radiation is now being shown at Hanford and such in their training classes, as I had hoped.
EMP here was a break from writing, to give my brain the summer to plow through subconscious ideas for the novel, and that also worked better than I had hoped. But writing is SLOOOW. A good day is a single page. Quite a change from movie-making where I could go from beginning to end in 10 weeks, like EMP here.
Dont worry I'll make more movies. I'd forgotten how much fun they were. Radiation put a bad taste in my mouth, taking 6 months to complete, longer than it had any right to. This one was quicker faster and flowed far more easily. Joy ;)

Category:

Education

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• Physics
• science
• fiction
• EMP
• electron
• electromagnetic
• matrix
• star
• trek
• iron
• man
• pulse
• world
• war
• nuclear
• weapons
• space
• atomic
• nucleus
• proton
• gamma
• ray
• compton
• scatter
• ionize

[murphynapoleon]

Rubbish.

[SpreadingtheMuse]

@murphynapoleon Any chance of being more specific? We have a higher expectation of articulation on this forum

[Shipadge]

Aaah it's nuclear fusion not fission. Fission is for nuclear power plants. Fusion is the build up of atoms which leads to a large explosion

[SpreadingtheMuse]

@Shipadge Fusion is the fusing of two small elements into one big one. Thats what the Sun does, takes hydrogen and fuses it into helium, then fuses helium into carbon, etc. Atomic bombs work with Fission, where heavy elements bust apart into little ones. Plutonium fragmentates into Strontium, etc. The exception there is the Hydrogen bomb, where the Plutonium explosion is used to power a supply of helium, causing a fusion reaction, with about 5 times the power of a regular atomic bomb.

[RickMojave]

How long does the effect of an EMP to wear off?

[SpreadingtheMuse]

@RickMojave The EMP is instantaneous, its there then its gone. The problem is that its damage is permanent. Once your circuits are fried they're fried, and the only thing to do is replace them. But when you're talking about circuits for over 100,000,000 devices.... and all those circuits need to be built in factories which are also fried, factories no one can get to cause their cars are fried, on and on. With no electricity you cant fix ANYTHING

[trekkie117]

@OttomanDrifter91 i keep forgetting about those fuel pumps and what not. also, there is a possibility that you might yet be able to control an aircraft post-EMP. it's entirely reliant on you having phisical cables as opposed to fly-by-wire

[FrankaDith]

Interesting . 

[srkh28]

@kokofan50 Yeah, your most likely right - but no one did. emp is only easy to protect against by design.

[Uaz31]

@AtomSmashr

Perhaps it was not emp but the nuclear fallout I was thinking of. Maybe I am misinformed but I remember learning about the aftermath of a nuclear attack removing the charge from the atmosphere so that one would not be able to create a spark. Perhaps it was an outdated theory. Well thats somewhat comforting to know...I guess.