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Wanggongchang Explosion
- MeteorMarc 7y agoThe following resources provide some context about the frequency of high energy atmospheric meteorite impacts: https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/ https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_air_bursts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_air_bursts Edited 14:32 MET
- The_rationalist 7y agoSee also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nucle...
- mirimir 7y agoMaybe they had learned to make picric acid. One of the early methods involved nitrating silk. But for that, you need nitric and sulfuric acids. Nitric acid you can make from sulfuric acid and alkali nitrates. And sulfuric acid was discovered by Rhazes (Zakariya al-Razi) in ~900 AD. So it's possible. Or maybe ammonium nitrate. That was known in antiquity, but not as an explosive. But maybe they discovered that. And indeed, mixtures of ammonium nitrate, picric acid and anything carbonaceous are decent ~high explosives.
- IAmGraydon 7y agoThe energy released would have required at least 20,000,000 pounds of high explosive. There is simply no way they had the resources to manufacture in those quantities.
- mirimir 7y agoTrue enough, but maybe the reports have been exaggerated. The Texas City disaster,[0] involved ~2 million kg of ammonium nitrate. But TFA notes that the facility produced only ~400 kg gunpowder per day. Let alone ammonium nitrate, if any. So what, bolide? 0) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_City_disaster
- IAmGraydon 7y agoBolide is certainly the most likely explanation, in my opinion.
- catalogia 7y agoWikipedia puts the TNT equivalency of ammonium nitrate at 2.38 kg of ammonium nitrate for one kg of TNT. The Texas City explosion had 2,200 tons of ammonium nitrate present, so my estimate for the potential TNT equivalency of that explosion is just less than one kiloton. Meaning the Wanggongchang explosion was 10-20x as big (my math might be a bit off there, but probably not by an order of magnitude.) Even the Halifax explosion wasn't nearly as big as the Wanggongchang explosion. It's hard for me to fathom they had so much explosives there.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- 11thEarlOfMar 7y agoWonder how it compared to the Tianjin explosion in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nr6Tlu0EvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nr6Tlu0EvM Wait for the 3rd explosion at 0:50.
- kijin 7y agoWanggongchang is estimated to have been about 10 kilotons, roughly the equivalent of the Hiroshima nuke. Tunguska was at least 10 megatons. In comparison, the three explosions at Tianjin add up to a measly 360 tons of TNT [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Tianjin_explosions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Tianjin_explosions
- catalogia 7y agoThe largest PEPCON explosion was about 1 kiloton: (1m37s) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSx54CkWsQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGSx54CkWsQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEPCON_disaster
- emmelaich 7y agoOr another fireworks disaster, in Netherlends 2000, a series of explosions from 0.8kT to 5kT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enschede_fireworks_disaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enschede_fireworks_disaster
- jetzzz 7y agoSee also 1490 Ch'ing-yang event: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1490_Ch%27ing-yang_event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1490_Ch%27ing-yang_event
- pedrocx486 7y agoI know this is a quite off topic but as I was reading this and got to the "silk strands" clouds, I couldn't stop thinking about Death Stranding and the "voidout" events in the game.
- darkerside 7y agoA combination of meteorite air burst with compounding effects from a combustion explosion due to ammunition storage seems like it could have unpredictable effects that could account for some of the strange outcomes seen here.
- mannykannot 7y agoIndeed - a bolide crossing the city from northeast to southwest is by far the most plausible explanation, though, as the sky was clear, it would surely have been seen as a fireball, as in Chelyabinsk? Therefore, I would guess that the "bright streak" was coincident with the initial "roaring rumble", rather than following it, and the reports are conflating the passage of the fireball with its final explosion. If it caused the detonation or deflagration of the armory's gunpowder, that might account for most of the clouds, including trails of smoke from burning fragments thrown high into the air (the "messy strands of silk"?)
- dmix 7y ago> Tianqi Emperor's only remaining heir, the 7-month-old Crown Prince Zhu Cijiong (朱慈炅), died from the shock.[1] How does one die of shock? I'm curious if this is just an old medical description or possibly the weakness of a 7-month old baby at the time.
- grzm 7y agoExplosions can cause shock waves which can cause injury in and of themselves (as opposed to injuries cause by thrown objects or fire). This could be what they're alluding to. I couldn't access the document[0] referenced in the Wikipedia article to confirm this reading. [0]: https://www.allbestessays.com/essay/Solving-a-Mystery-of-400-Years-An-Explanation-to/47238.html https://www.allbestessays.com/essay/Solving-a-Mystery-of-400... Mythbusters often highlighted this when working with explosions by using rupture disks at different distances from the explosion to measure the amount of damage incurred due to the pressure wave. https://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com/news-reports/article/15554841/rupture-disc-aids-explosion-testing-on-mythbusters-tv-show https://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com/news-reports/article/1555...
- foobar_fighter 7y agoMedical shock refers to very low blood pressure which results in poor oxygenation. It's usually fatal if left untreated. (It can be treated with oxygen and IV fluids). I would guess, though, that 'shock' is used in this context to refer to the explosion (as in shock wave).
- ncmncm 7y agoMedical shock is much more vague. The version mentioned is one form which may itself have several different causes. Don't try to impress a medical doctor by mentioning shock. But the cause of death of the heir is far more profoundly vague, linguistically, although at the same time more specific.
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- xwdv 7y agoImagine being killed in such an explosion, never really knowing what was happening as you died.
- jsjohnst 7y agoI’m not one of the down-voters, but the death was likely near instant for most involved.
- crazygringo 7y agoWhile the Wikipedia article says "no academic consensus has been reached" it seems pretty clear from the "possible causes" section that a bolide (meteor exploding in the air above) is the only explanation listed which seems to fit the facts. I'm curious, therefore, why the lack of consensus? Is there any evidence inconsistent with the bolide hypothesis? Or is there just no positive proof whatsoever (e.g. some type of meteor residue or other) so it can never be conclusively demonstrated?
- appleflaxen 7y ago> The ground around the immediate vicinity of Wanggongchang Armory, the epicenter of the explosion, had sunken for over 2 zhangs (about 6.5 m or 21 feet), but there was a notable lack of fire damage it seems a bit improbable that a bolide would just so happen to hit the armory. Given that bolide events are rare to begin with, the low chance of hitting a military building is enough to make me skeptical. I have no idea what contemporary chemical explosives were extant, but if there were any plausible agent I would favor that instead.
- catalogia 7y ago> I have no idea what contemporary chemical explosives were extant Only black-powder. Nitroglycerin, the first practical explosive more powerful than black-powder, was invented two centuries later.
- MawKKe 7y ago> it seems a bit improbable that a bolide would just so happen to hit the armory. Given that bolide events are rare to begin with, the low chance of hitting a military building is enough to make me skeptical. Well, isn't the probability of hitting the armory identical to that of hitting anywhere else on the planet?
- colanderman 7y agoYes, but the probability of hitting a place that contains many other explosive agents which could cause the same effect is far far lower than hitting anywhere else on the planet.
- duelingjello 7y agoBolide. The area, scale and dispersion of effects in the descriptions is incongruent with a point source explosion of black powder.
- saagarjha 7y agoIt’s interesting to see the use of a number of non-standard units of measurement in describing the event.