Boston Molasses Disaster: Eyewitness Accounts & Impact

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the Boston Molasses Disaster, specifically focusing on eyewitness accounts of a rush of air preceding the molasses flood and the physics involved. Participants explore the potential causes of this phenomenon and compare it to other disasters, such as the 2004 tsunami.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question whether flowing molasses could produce a powerful rush of air at 50 km/h, and if so, why water does not exhibit similar behavior.
  • Others suggest that the rush of air may have been caused by gases built up during fermentation, potentially resulting in a small explosion rather than being directly related to the motion of the molasses.
  • One participant notes the size of the molasses tank and its potential impact when collapsing, comparing it to the mechanics of tsunami waves and their effects on debris.
  • There is a discussion about the relevance of the rush of air to the overall disaster, with some arguing that the sheer volume of molasses released is the more critical factor in the tragedy.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the causes of the rush of air and its significance to the disaster. There is no consensus on whether the rush was due to the molasses itself or other factors, and the discussion remains unresolved regarding the physics involved.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes assumptions about the behavior of fluids and gases under specific conditions, as well as the historical context of the disaster, which may limit the applicability of modern scientific understanding.

jan k
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Hello,
I have a question about the Boston Molasses disaster.

Eyewitnesses of this molasses flood speak of a preceding rush of wind that picked everything and everyone up (before engulfing them in molasses).

Wikipedia:

The Boston Globe reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet." Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into Boston Harbor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Molasses_Disaster

Yet, when I look at the horrible footage from the 2004 tsunami, a person in swimming trunks is just stoically awaiting the wave, standing straight before it hits him.My questions being:

- Would flowing molasses actually produce a powerful rush of air at 50km/h?

- If so, why doesn’t water do this?Or was this rush of air probably caused by the ‘explosion’ of the ruptured tank? (Apparently, the rivets shot out, sounding like machine-gun fire.)Greetings and thanks

PS:
other sources
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/?page=2
http://edp.org/molyank.htm (by John Mason Reprinted from Yankee Magazine (Dublin, New Hampshire: January 1965), pages 52-53 and 109-111.)

The disaster took place in 1919 and molasses disasters are fairly scarce, so I guess there's not much scientific evidence to go on.

(Edited on request.)
 
Last edited:
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jan k said:
Hello,
I have a question about the Boston Molasses disaster.

Eyewitnesses of this molasses flood speak of a preceding rush of wind that picked everything and everyone up (before engulfing them in molasses).

Wikipedia:

The Boston Globe reported that people "were picked up by a rush of air and hurled many feet." Others had debris hurled at them from the rush of sweet-smelling air. A truck was picked up and hurled into Boston Harbor.
Yet, when I look at the horrible footage from the 2004 tsunami, a person in swimming trunks is just stoically awaiting the wave, standing straight before it hits him.My questions being:

- Would flowing molasses make actually produce a powerful rush of air at 50km/h?

- If so, why doesn’t water do this?Or was this rush of air probably caused by the ‘explosion’ of the ruptured tank? (Apparently, the rivets shot out, sounding like machine-gun fire.)Greetings and thanks

Welcome to the PF.

Can you provide a link to the wikipedia article, and hopefully to some more mainstream scientific sources? Thanks.
 
Sounds a bit dubious, but the rush of air was probably not due to the motion of the molasses, but due to gases which had built up during the fermentation processes. This could conceivable produce very strong "winds", aka a small explosion.
 
The molasses tank in the Boston disaster was approximately 50 feet tall and 90 feet in diameter. That's a tank which is approximately as tall as a 5-story building, collapsing all at once and releasing its contents.

A tsunami, before it reaches shore, travels thru deep water almost imperceptibly. It's only when the disturbance reaches shallow water that large waves can develop. The 2004 tsunami, in some places, produced more of a surge of water which was a few feet deep on shore, rather than a large wave. Nevertheless, this surge of water was enough to collect debris after it came ashore and propel this debris ahead of it, causing damage to structures and injuring people caught in its path. The gentleman in your video was lucky; there were thousands who were not so fortunate.
 
Thank you.

Off course:
SteamKing said:
The gentleman in your video was lucky; there were thousands who were not so fortunate.

No, he died. But he lived on his feet until the wave took him.

So...I guess, in the case of an 'explosion', the rush of sweet air wouldn't have rounded the corner along with the flowing molasses.
 
jan k said:
Thank you.

Off course:No, he died. But he lived on his feet until the wave took him.

So...I guess, in the case of an 'explosion', the rush of sweet air wouldn't have rounded the corner along with the flowing molasses.

Whether there was a rush of air at Boston in 1919 is pretty much irrelevant to that disaster. There was still reportedly millions of gallons of molasses discharged in a short amount of time which killed or maimed its victims. Being choked on molasses is not a pretty end for anyone.
 
It's relevant to me.
Thanks for the info.