/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.6939259]

1. Can today's EMP machines/nukes turn out a hand held flashlight?

2. Is the sun capable of putting out a constant stream of EMP that's strong enough to shut down all electronics - or the very least anything electronic from leaving the earth?

[Anonymous No.6939329]

1. yes
2. yes but we are pretty far away from sun

i suggest you read for yourself
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse

[Anonymous No.6939342]

>>6939259
1. No. EMP work by using a strong pulse fluctuating electromagnetic fields - radio waves, basically - to induce currents in wires as though they were antennas. This can fry components, like electronics, that are sensitive to these voltage surges.

A flashlight, on the other hand, pretty much just contains a lightbulb, a switch, and a battery - none of which are particularly sensitive even to very large fluctuations of a few volts. It won't give a shit. An EMP powerful enough to zorch a flashlight would have other, far more noticeable effects - it would essentially be like sticking everything in range inside a microwave oven.

2. No. However, there are pulsed events that can come close - see, for instance, the Carrington event, which could fry the electrical grid of a whole hemisphere if it reoccurred. However, it would not shut down small electronics - the disruption (thought quite large) would be mostly felt in very long antennas like power lines, and small handheld devices like cellphones would very likely survive. And also, these events are quite rare, and absolutely could not happen in a constant, long-term stream.

[Anonymous No.6939349]

>>6939342
>1. No. EMP work by using a strong pulse fluctuating electromagnetic fields - radio waves, basically - to induce currents in wires as though they were antennas.

Aaargh. Forgot to proofread.

Let me rephrase.

>No. EMPs work by using a strong pulse of fluctuating electromagnetic fields - intense radio waves, basically - to induce currents in wires; it's fundamentally the same principle as electromagnetic waves creating a signal in an antenna.

>This can fry components - like the transistors and integrated circuits found in electronics - that are sensitive to these voltage surges.

[Anonymous No.6939352]

>>6939342
incan/halogen bulbs would survive, led... the dont like high rads. plus all the tiny circuit boards,,,
yeah a 2d maglite incan... no problem

[Anonymous No.6939360]

>>6939352
A basic LED flashlight wouldn't have any tiny circuit boards in it. Some of them have bells and whistles like electronic circuits for dimming or flashing, but frankly an LED on its own is pretty robust against a brief voltage surge.

[Anonymous No.6939433]

>>6939259
1. yes, but practically no. EMPs can't really damage stuff that is shut off, which is probably going to be the case of most of the flashlights that you own. Now one of the things the study below found is that " damage to telephones, cell phones, and other communications devices would not be sufficient to curtail higher than normal call volumes on the civilian telecommunications network after exposure to either low or high E1 EMP levels."

TL;DR even cellphones with their tiny ICs and antennas are fairly robust against permanent damage from EMPs. So I'd expect a flashlight with a metal case to withstand a pretty large EMP, even if it had special LED driving circuitry.

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf

Of course the real problem with an EMP is that it fucks up a lot of the infrastructure. All that big industrial equipment with big long cables is sort of fucked.

2. no, the sun can't make EMPs. The sun can induce currents in the electrical grid, but it won't be able to get anywhere near frying a cellphone

[Anonymous No.6939495]

>>6939342
>a lightbulb
welcome to 21st century, newfriend,
we use LED lightsource in flashlight nao,
it has current-regulating circuit
can be fuck by EMP
so sorry for you

[Anonymous No.6939522]

>>6939495

>>6939360
>>6939433