So what would happen if you put a handheld explosively pumped flux compression generator (EPFCG) in a microwave and set it on high cook for say 5 minutes?
The only time I tried it, the metal parts arced and the microwave stopped working and smelled bad.
Wait you had your own EPFCG? Any chance you youtubed it?
I have no experience of these devices, but the answer seems pretty obviously ‘it depends’.
A microwave oven may just burn the explosive charge, rather than detonating it, in which case, the result is a kitchen fire.
A microwave may destroy the electrical and metallic components of the device, in which case you get a broken EPFCG, possibly followed by a kitchen fire.
The mere fact that you put something significantly metallic into the microwave may simply destroy the microwave oven before significant damage is done to the device inside. Kitchen fire is still a possibility in this case.
I guess the answer is actually ‘apart from the kitchen fire, it depends’. Seems very unlikely that the microwave would cause the device to perform its designed function flawlessly.
The mythbusters tried this. Turns out, if you put a brick of C4 in the microwave, insert a blasting cap, and attach some metal wire to the cap and have the wires sorta strewn around randomly…
The bomb will go off. Immediately. Sorta disappointingly for movies, it doesn’t take until the timer gets to zero or something. There is not even a perceptible delay. Just BOOM.
I would expect similar results for your situation, except not only would there be a boom, but the bomb going off would do whatever the EPFCG is supposed to do.
This raises a really interesting question for me because essentially the best way to describe the EPFCG is to think of it as a handheld compact EMP device. So going by your premise that it would activate the primary function of the EPFCG would that mean that it would shut off the microwave and cancel everything out or would it result in the entire houses power being shut off as a result
OR would the microwave itself insulate the EPFCG and isolate its effect to only the microwave?
So: If Schooldigger had put a device like this in his box instead of a cat…?
I am confused now…
The explosion itself will probably do a lot more harm to the microwave than the EMP will.
EMP weapons have been around since WWII. They aren’t new. Also, despite their hype on the internet, they don’t work very well. Part of the problem is the inverse square law. At 2 feet away from the EMP, the power level is 1/4th what it was at 1 foot. At 4 feet away, it’s 1/16th. You need a really big honkin EMP to do any practical damage. The EMP from a nuke can be pretty devastating. The EMP from anything else, not so much.
You also have the problem that any metal box is going to act like a natural Faraday cage and will shield whatever is inside from the EMP.
In WWII, EMPs were promised to make enemy bombers just drop out of the sky. While they were able to fry aircraft engine electrical systems in controlled laboratory tests, they were never able to make anything work under real world circumstances. EMPs became the next big thing in the 1970s as well, when they would be used by law enforcement to stop the cars of fleeing suspects. They had a few bugs to work out, but they were confident that they’d have a working system soon. These days, EMPs are again the next big thing for law enforcement. They plan on using them to stop the cars of fleeing suspects. And again. they have a few bugs to work out, but they are confident that they’ll have a working system soon. :rolleyes:
The EMP from your EPFCG might fry the microwave’s control circuit and might damage the magnetron. Other than that, the metal case of the microwave itself will keep much of the EMP inside the box. House wiring is far too rugged and simple to be damaged by an EMP of that size. The best (or worst, depending on your perspective) that you could hope for is maybe some damage to light bulbs and you’ll maybe damage some of the electronic devices in your house.
An EPFCG capable of producing an EMP much bigger than that won’t fit into your microwave.
I would bet the device would not fire. Military munitions are designed to be very safe when exposed to heat, shock or EMF.
The Mythbusters tried real hard to create a setup that would induce currents in the leads of a commercial blasting cap. And they succeeded. Surprise, surprise, surprise!! as Gomer used to say.
It would be overdone.
2 minutes on high is what the package says.
But, really, what would you expect to happen?
If it’s truly a “handheld” device, you’ll lose your hand . . . at least.