The Ugly Physics in Indiana Jones

Posted by Paul A. Heckert Jul 9, 2008

I blogged about the good and bad physics in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The really ugly physics has to be surviving a nuclear blast in a refrigerator. Is your refrigerator lead lined to protect food and occupants from radiation? Mine isn't. The one our audacious archeologist used was. The lining must have been thin. With walls no thicker than a normal refrigerator, most of the wall would be thermal insulation to keep food cold. The amount of radiation protection a lead lining provides depends on the thickness of the lead. A nuclear blast produces lots of radiation requiring a thick lead lining. I didn't do the math, but I'm guessing that the lead lining would not be thick enough to protect Indiana from a nuclear blast.

Nuclear blasts also produce a lot of heat. Refrigerators are insulated, but not that much. Any food, or occupants, are more likely to be cooked than still cold.

Then there is the landing. Indiana Jones was blasted into the air. We see the refrigerator and miraculously cool archeologist fall and bounce. Neither the refrigerator nor the ground appear dented. The impulse momentum law in physics says the change in momentum equals the force times the time. Falling and bouncing back represents a large momentum change. With no denting, the force was applied rapidly. Hence, the force has to be very large to change the momentum. The occupant of a refrigerator falling from a large height would not likely survive.

Of course most of us would not survive most of the scenes in Indiana Jones movies, so turn off the physics parts of your brain and enjoy the ride.