Science sinks the myth of a slow death in quicksand

[QUOTE]IT IS a staple scene of B-movies and Westerns: the cowboy stumbles into a patch of quicksand and is sucked under until only his stetson remains on top, or sinks up to his neck until hauled out by his sidekick.

Both scenarios have now been proved to fly in the face of physics. Research has shown that it is impossible for people to sink into quicksand much beyond the waist

 

Ever watch Mythbusters?

The first part is true - sand suspended in water is denser than water alone, therefore a person would be much more buoyant. However, I don't recall anything about extraction being difficult in any way. When floating in the quicksand the person would bob up and down quite easily, implying it'd be of no big deal to get out.

 

obviouly this guy has never experienced thick mud IRL, especially the kind that forms after the tide goes out, or on top of a spring. If people float so easily in the stuff, which is essentially water once "the sand and clay then fall to the bottom of the mixture," perhaps he can go on to explain how no-one has ever drowned in an ocean, which is more bouyant than plain water, as well :/

 

The quicksand that Mythbusters used was water perculating up through sand. Entirely different from mud. (Don't ask me if that's what "real" quicksand is like - I've never encountered the stuff. )

Are you implying that quicksand and salt water have the same density?

 

Hhaahahahahaah Princess Bride. Good movie and how about the rats of enormous size hahaahahaha... Still though you can't drown in quicksand, being torn in half trying to get out doesn't sound too appetizing either!

 

You can't jump out of quicksand b/c of the vacuum and viscosity, but its entirely easy to get out of - you just have to do it slowly.

 

let's get a 6-pack and test this

 

The problem with quicksand is that if you use the proper TYPE of sand, if you wait til it dries to pull yourself out, it will turn to concrete.

Mythbusters is right in the fact that you should relax, and just increase surface area (float on back)to get to nearest object to grab. If that is not possible, it can harden and crush your lungs.

John

 

I'm not implying they're the same buoyancy. I'm implying that "quicksand," as found in a laboratory, is more likely to be fundamentally different than that which has actually claimed a life or two, than it is likely to be identical. The article says the sand and clay come out of suspension once it is disturbed, leaving essentially dirty water on top of thick mud. I doubt dirty water is much more buoyant than seawater, which has claimed innumerable lives.

You can make all kinds of "quicksand" in a controlled environment, but nothing "proves" no-one or no animal has ever drowned or otherwise succumbed after getting stuck in a natural occurence of the stuff (which I am sure appears in more than one guise in nature, as well). I don't buy the "tearing in half" theory at all, as I seriously doubt a person could or would grip a rope so tight their torso would separate before they let go, the rope was ripped from their hands, or their arms were ripped from their sockets.

 

I like how you think