Deat by Shockwave
Uptherebels, thank you for that wonderfully professional explanation to the possible causes of dearth by shockwave and to the reference to commotio cordis in wikipedia. Now all I have to do is find out if Dr. Frysinger agrees that said cannon ball could produce the required...
seycyrus, a projectile traveling in the transonic range would be about 1130 ft/sec. Not an unheard of velocity. In this video you can see such a pressure wave.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Num9TR7wlrw&feature=related
DrClapeyron, Would you please extrapolate that train of thought.
billiards, Thank you for that input. Where canI find more info on that train of thought.
wysard, I don't think the blast from jet wash compares to a supersonic pressure wave. Remember, in the early days of supersonic flight, this...
Wysard, I didn't mean to deceive anyone but I posted that U-tube video before researching it. It is actually an elaborate piece of photography having an explosive squib detonate precisely as a bullet passes. It was not caused by the shock wave.
I did find another U-tube video, however, where you...
Wysard, MythBusters is where all this got started.:smile:
Chris, I use WP a lot because it's easily accessible, to others and myself. If I used something like Britannica, which I believe is a subscription service, other wouldn't have access to the info. Please don't hit me with that whiffle...
Some of you might find this interesting. I found Dr. Frysingers account of being knocked over by a supersonic shockwave particularly so;
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/soundbarrier.htm
Wysard, thank you, that is one of the best explanations I've received on this topic so far. I actually have the question out on several forums, including military medical, and so far I haven't had a whole lot of interest. :approve:
Integral, I don't really think so. The one instance that I can think of, the individual was standing with others on the quarterdeck and keeled over dead at the passing of a cannon ball. Non of the others were affected.
Stewartics, thanks for the reply but that's way overkill to the question at hand.
Integral, the documented acounts I'm referring to are in naval battles, and after about 1800 when cannon boring technology had improved, the muzzle velocities would have been in the 1000 ft/sec to 1600 ft/sec...
I'm not in the medical field and it has been a long time since my college physics courses so I turn to you folks for a possible answer and further explanation. It has been brought up on another forum concerning naval battles in the age of sail about the phenomena of sailors being killed or...