We've all seen quicksand in movies a character falls in it and gets stuck up
to their waist then that's it they're stuck in there's no way they can escape
but it's not actually what happens when you fall into quicksand how accurate are
movies today we're going to find out exactly what happens if you were to fall
in quicksand we're also going to find out why
quicksand works in the way it does I don't even give you some tips on how to
escape from quicksand I'm charlie today we're going to look at
what if you fell in quicksand before we get into it why not subscribe
and press the notification bell - we've all seen those scary movies set in the
jungle someone is running through the jungle when all of a sudden they fall
into quicksand eventually they sink down and become submerged under the sand but
could that happen to you well the good news is no it's actually totally
impossible to be fully submerged in quicksand movies simply do this because
it's traumatic but why do you sink in quicksand in the first place after all
when you go to the beach it's not like you sink down well the reason why you
don't sink at the beach is because of something known as force chain this is a
physics phenomenon because there are trillions of grains of sand all jammed
together in one place their weight gets distributed over a large area this is
similar to the popular benef males experiment that is where if you lay on a
bed of nails it won't hurt but obviously if you lay
on one nail it would so because of force chain that's why you don't sink at the
beach because quicksand is in very small pockets it's not a big surface area this
means the weight of the sand is not distributed evenly this causes there to
be no force chain meaning you do sink if any water does come up from underground
then it mixes with the sand to make it look solid but really it's not but why
won't you ever get submerged fully under quicksand well the reason simple that's
because it's rarely more than a few feet deep most of the time you can only sink
as low as your waist however that doesn't mean quicksand isn't dangerous
some people actually get stuck in quicksand and then starve they then
passed away from a mix of starvation and dehydration now in some high stress
conditions you can actually sink below the surface but this is only when you've
really struggle you see quicksand is a non-newtonian fluid
means it's neither a solid nor a liquid when it's not being touched it's a solid
but if you touch it by moving around then it becomes a liquid causing you to
sink that's why if you fall in quicksand you should never panic moving it around
will rapidly shift the weight of the sand sucking you down deeper but if you
do fall in quicksand don't just sit there
that's because quicksand gets thicker over time this means the longer you're
in it the harder it's gonna be for you to get out but on that note how do you
escape quicksand well it's actually pretty simple you need to lay on your
back and then use your arms to pull yourself up to safety but this is gonna
take you a long time in fact one study found that the force needed to pull your
foot out of quicksand at 1 centimeter per second would be the equivalent to
lifting a car this means you're going to be moving at way less than one
centimeter per second if you're in an area with people then you should call
the emergency services ask for the Coast Guard and they'll be able to pump water
down where your legs are stuck this will allow you to loosen them up out of the
sand and get yourself out but you'd better do this quickly every minute
you're in quicksand you're at risk of sunstroke hypothermia dehydration or
starvation also you could even drown quicksand is often found near the sea
because it's easier for water to rise up through the sand keep in mind every six
hours the tide changes so you'd better not hang around in quicksand for longer
than six hours or you may drown people who have got stuck in quicksand and
later freed himself has said afterwards they're in lots of pain your entire body
is being squashed by densely packed sand this pressure can cause permanent nerve
damage and in some cases people have to be amputated and loose their legs it's
best to simply avoid quicksand in the first place quicksand can be found by
riverbanks marshes Lakes shorelines beaches and also areas near underground
Springs so now we know that quick sound in movies is pretty unrealistic we've
also learned what happens if you fall in quicksand and why and of course how to
escape if you ever find yourself in this very sticky situation
but now it's time to make your voice heard vote in the poem the top right
corner have you ever had an experience with quicksand if you want some more
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