The Titan submarine suffered an internal explosion while diving to explore the wreckage of the Titanic last week, killing all five of its passengers. And this catastrophic accident sparked a new discussion on the internet: Why didn’t the Titan’s implosion occur as the deep-seated Titanic sank? In other words, why didn’t the Titanic explode as it sank?
Last week, radio show host Jesse Kelly tweeted, “I have a really stupid question: If the water pressure is bad enough to crush a submarine like Whoopi Goldberg stepping on a grape, how does the Titanic sit at the bottom and are relatively solid?” asked. Of course, some were quick to mock the question, but many also supported it, voicing their own surprise.
To answer this question, we first need to look at why implosions occur. These inward explosions occur when objects collapse on themselves as a result of the pressure difference between internal and external pressure.
“When an underwater vehicle is in the depths of the ocean, it experiences the force generated by water pressure on its surface,” Arun Bansil, professor of physics at Northeastern University, wrote for Northeastern Global News. “When this force becomes greater than the force the hull can withstand, the vehicle becomes violent. somehow it explodes.”
As long as there is lower pressure inside an object than outside, explosions can occur on its surface. For example, a box in which a vacuum is created by removing all the air inside will collapse into itself.
To answer the question of why the Titanic didn’t explode despite the Titanic’s explosion, what we need to do is to look at the story of the Titanic’s sinking. In fact, parts of the Titanic experienced the same internal explosion, but this was not decisive.
The stern of the Titanic probably exploded about 60 meters below the surface. After these first explosions or explosions, the air inside the ship was released and water filled inside, causing the pressure to be equal in the outer and inner parts, and the parts that did not explode were able to survive this devastating event.
Since a large enough portion of the ship did not experience these explosions, the Titanic managed to sink relatively “safely”.
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