Can an EMP take out a city, or more?

Above this would be a dangerous weapon, I think it would kill many. Think about if all electronic frequencies were gone completely, planes would have no form of landing which would evidently crash. Cars which are controlled by computer chips would carreen off a road and crash or most likely hit another car. Barges and ships that pull in may involve a hostile takeover or takedown if identification is not made but then again ships would lose control and may continue to trek to a destination and stop shotrtly or continue with momentum to a point where it may cause destruction. I know there have to've been people here who have seen Goldeneye. Oh and 300 miles above Kansas is space buddies an explosion from an EMP may cause no effect. Must rembember that space starts after 60 miles from ground up.

There still seems to be much confusion about Neutron Bombs and EMP or 'E' Bombs.

Primarily, a Neutron Bomb is designed to kill people by irradiating them, using Neutron Induced Activity - Alpha and Beta Particles and Gamma Rays.

By using even a 'low yield' Neutron Bomb, you not only do kill people but you irradiate the ground and buildings as well, thus denying yourself the ability to occupy terrain.

An EMP or 'E' Bomb, is designed primarily, to knock out an enemy's Command and Control system by disrupting or destroying his ability to produce and distribute electrical power.

The Neutron Bomb is just another nuclear weapon, whereas the EMP Bomb is a conventional weapon in another clever package.

Originally posted by newtron25
Theoretically, an EMP, if attached to a tunnelling missle and lodged at a sufficient depth beneath the surface (i.e., not immediately accessible by bomb squads) could be set up to continuously pulse and place the equivalent of a Giant's Footstep upon a city, crushing operations of all electronic devices.

You do know that lacing an EMP device in the ground would be next to usless as the Em waves wouldn't be able to propogate. I don't understand the rest of your posts and I know alot about physics, do you know what yoiu're talking about ?

Actually, I know very little about physics.

Tell us all then how much you know by listing your credentials, by listing your schooling, your credits and your long and varied lists of inventions and innovations in the field. I honestly have no credentials, but I do have an imagination, one that is capable of furthering discussion. My mind is facile and capable of learning except for people who would throw ridicule rather than usable information.

Admittedly, I will tell you that my understanding of physics is relegated to the casual internet browsing and the once-in-a-while science fiction novels that include descriptions of devices. So, if you are going to tell me that you are an engineering student or graduate, then correct us all instead of posting with one puffed up post about how one person, in this case me, knows so much less than you do. If that was your intent, lift hand above shoulder, lower hand firmly upon back until satisfying thud is heard, repeat as necessary.

I can say, however, that my ideas are just that: opinions and ideas. Were it not for people putting forth original ideas and trying to see beyond what they know, progress would be rather slow and I believe we'd all be accepting Newtonian rather than Quantum physics today. I also believe this forum would exist for a very short time from lack of interest.

Again, what do you know, oh flaming peace sign man? Light up this space with your intellect.

Just pointing pout that what you wrote didn't make any sense, that is all. I just wish sometimes people wouldn't write bizarre stuff which has no basis on reality.
All teh posts have been serious and informative except for your one.

And your posts are no more than postured machismo.

Sorry if I use words outside your comfort zone. My deepest apologies.

For my final exam, here's what I know:

EMP = Electromagnetic pulse

Weapon = thing that people use to defend or attack others

Bomb = thing that goes "boom" or sends its parts flying in all directions really, really fast

Electronics = stuff like calculators, cell phones, clock radios, puters, thermostats especially the kind with digital readout that you can program, etc.

What happens when an EMP 'splodes? Well, frankly I don't know because from what I've been told by the man with the flaming peace sign my posts don't make any sense.

What do you think happens? I think an EMP creates waves of particles either electrons or protons (I know, those are big kid words) that mess up my electronics like my clock radio and my puter.

Can an EMP take out a city or more? Hmmmmm, I've got a scale model of Detroit in my basement. I sometimes take my Godzilla toy through there and make all kinds of damage. It's cool. But I'll bet I could also disrupt the electricity by flickering the switch at the breaker box....


How'd I score?

YAWN, and you wonder why people don't take you seriously. You just drivel. Just let it go, all I said was you don't know what you're talking about, which you clearly don't. Why don't you just read some moreabout EMP and cm back with an informed opinion that will actually ad something to the thread. OK.

A high-altitude nuclear detonation produces an immediate flux of gamma rays from the nuclear reactions within the device. These photons in turn produce high energy free electrons by Compton scattering at altitudes between (roughly) 20 and 40 km. These electrons are then trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field, giving rise to an oscillating electric current. This current is asymmetric in general and gives rise to a rapidly rising radiated electromagnetic field called an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). Because the electrons are trapped essentially simultaneously, a very large electromagnetic source radiates coherently.

This kind of weapon seems to be rather indiscriminate. It would cast a rather large effect across a large area, but there is no stealth to this sort of attack. You'd see the fireball and flash, not to mention feeling the blast concussion when it is detonated.

Source Region Electro-magnetic Pulse [SREMP] is produced by low-altitude nuclear bursts. An effective net vertical electron current is formed by the asymmetric deposition of electrons in the atmosphere and the ground, and the formation and decay of this current emits a pulse of electromagnetic radiation in directions perpendicular to the current. The asymmetry from a low-altitude explosion occurs because some electrons emitted downward are trapped in the upper millimeter of the Earth’s surface while others, moving upward and outward, can travel long distances in the atmosphere, producing ionization and charge separation. A weaker asymmetry can exist for higher altitude explosions due to the density gradient of the atmosphere.

This particular type of detonation appears to have a more direct, if assymetrical, effect on a target. The result could be more devastating, but not as predictable and would be more localized.


Did you know that devices were actually detonated in the Van Allen Belt to test the effects of these sorts of weapons? Read on:

Initially, the plasma from the weapon is slightly conducting; the geomagnetic field cannot penetrate this volume and is displaced as a result. This impulsive distortion of the geomagnetic field was observed worldwide in the case of the STARFISH test. To be sure, the size of the signal from this process is not large, but systems connected to long lines (e.g., power lines, telephone wires, and tracking wire antennas) are at risk because of the large size of the induced current. The additive effects of the MHD-EMP can cause damage to unprotected civilian and military systems that depend on or use long-line cables. Small, isolated, systems tend to be unaffected.

These are clipped segments, albeit out of sequence, from Fas.org

They are scientists, I am merely an internet surfer. Pardon the drivel.

OK this should be a welcome addition to this thread
EM breakthrough