Comment on Would Nuclear Weapons be as destructive in ship to ship space combat, as they are on the ground in an atmosphere?

c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• ThrowawayPermanente@sh.itjust.works ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I think so. I don’t think the bomb directly generates a shockwave, but rather the shockwave is generated by air being superheated which causes a pressure spike. All of the energy that would superheat air would still be present even if the bomb was activated in space, it would just be acting on the first thing it touches ie. the hull of the ship. Does vaporized metal still increase in pressure as temperature increases? I’m guessing it does, which should produce a shockwave. But idk, I’m not a doctor

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• FireRetardant@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Chances are there isnt enough air to make a significant difference and any ship large enough to have enough air would have air lock systems as a safety net.

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  • c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Right, but the ship itself would allow the shockwave, metal is still matter for vibrations to follow.

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    • Hereforpron2@lemmynsfw.com ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The shock wave needs a medium (air) to travel through. So if the bomb was touching a ship, it would certainly transfer kinetic energy, but if there was any space (not air) between them, there is still no shockwave for the ship to feel.

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      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        A railgun would be far more effective for transfering kinetic energy and it’s munitions would likely be cheaper

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      • zephr_c@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        A shockwave can travel along the solid structure itself as the medium. Any ship that is actually directly hit would be vaporized. It’s just the whole point of nuke is not needing a direct hit. I doubt any realistic space vessel with anything even remotely similar to plausible near future technology could survive a direct hit from even a moderately sized conventional explosive.

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    • piecat@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      That would have to be a big ship to feel a shock wave without being consumed by the ball of plasma

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      • c0mbatbag3l@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Where would that come from? According to a posted article in this thread thermal energy can’t transfer either unless by direct connection and radiation would be the biggest factor, with increasing size compared to on the surface due to lack of atmosphere “attenuating” the distance it travels.

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