• Question: if you were put in a diamond orb big enough to stand up in would yo be able to survive a nucular blast

    Asked by anon-175331 to Thomas, hayleypincott, Ella, David, Alison, Alex on 13 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: David Mills

      David Mills answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      That’s an interesting question.

      I think the answer is no, here’s my thinking on it.

      Diamond is a strong, hard material so you’d think it would be perfect to survive a nuclear blast, however diamond is brittle – it will shatter if hit hard. I think the blast wave from a nuclear bomb might hit hard enough to shatter the diamond.

      If the diamond doesn’t shatter, then we have another problem. A nuclear blast is very very hot (a million or so degrees C for half a second or so, getting cooler with time, but still hot). Diamond is a very good conductor of heat (it’s one way you can tell real from fake diamond, real diamond feel cold on your lips as they conduct away your body heat – fake ones are not to good and don’t feel cold). If you’re inside a giant diamond what’s being heated to thousands of degrees by the blast you’re also going to get very very hot very quickly. Basically you’ll cook. Diamond also burns in air if you get it hot enough, so you’ll at least get to have the world’s most expensive cremation for your funeral.

      If that all doesn’t get you, then the X-rays and UV radiation from the nuclear blast will easily pass through the diamond and kill you that way.

      So I’m pretty sure a diamond won’t save you. Sorry.

    • Photo: Alison Hughes

      Alison Hughes answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      I agree with David on his points. Additionally, even if you did manage to survive the blast and heat, you would need to be able to survive in the diamond orb for a loooong time as the radiation levels will be too high for you to survive outside the orb.

    • Photo: Hayley Pincott

      Hayley Pincott answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      Glad David answered this one, I would have said even if a diamond orb withstood the initial blast it’s all the radiation that would most definitely get you.

    • Photo: Ella Mercer

      Ella Mercer answered on 14 Jun 2018:

      Now that David’s answered your question and it doesn’t look like a diamond orb will work … what else do you think you could use??

    • Photo: Thomas Perriment

      Thomas Perriment answered on 18 Jun 2018:

      So there are few different risks with nuclear blasts, in order then physical blast and pressure wave generated – the explosion is so powerful that a huge pressure wave is created which can topple buildings! Next comes the heat, nothing can withstand it – followed by possibly years of radiation. So the ability of a diamond to protect you from the pressure wave: depends on how close you are! If you are right next to it, there is a real risk of the diamond shattering, and even if it didn’t you’d be thrown! So no surviving that unless you’re quite far away. The heat would be conducted through the diamond and you’d quickly succumb to the increased temperature and pressure inside the diamond. Next up is radiation, the crystalline arrangement and atomic structure of diamond doesn’t do much to dampen or block radiation, so you’d be exposed! Your best bet is to be far, far away, or as deep underground as possible.

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