What happens if someone falls into a wet cement pit?
Posted by Impressive-Poet-5827@reddit | mythbusters | View on Reddit | 28 comments
I know this may sound weird, but I was wondering,
What could happen to your skin, body, and yourself if you fall into wet cement?
Could you possibly sink? Could you possibly bleed? Could your body not be found? How can you get out? What happens if you can't move inside in the pit?
Please feel free to let me know
Swaggles21@reddit
3 things I think would happen, concrete is highly alkaline pH around 12-13 so chemical burns, concrete curing is exothermic so possible burns, and also ya know depending on if you can breath still or not that might be an issue
HeyNow646@reddit
You’re correct about the alkali burns. Keep in mind that the cement is fairly dense, and you will become weak when trapped. Eventually it will push against your lungs as you exhale, and you will not have the strength to push it away as you inhale, and you will asphyxiate.
gijsh_01@reddit
wont yuo just float on it than?
in the veratasium vedeo he cant get deeper than his hips than he jsut floats
alohaaina96792@reddit
What? How did you pull this out of your ass? Concrete is safe to touch to the point it covers hands fingers and forearms without chemical burns on basically everyone that isn’t a statistical outlier. You can check out any bag of quick-Crete at your local hardware store. It’s so safe they let anyone buy it, you don’t even need a special chemical handling license or gloves or anything, (although recommended cause it’s fucking concrete mix).
mattythegee@reddit
Dry cement isn’t the issue, curing concrete is. Concrete burns are in fact a thing but it’s a slow onset
alohaaina96792@reddit
I had no idea I just know I’ve touched plenty of wet concrete/ cement and nothing crazy happened. But I obviously know nothing real about concrete. Thanks for educating me.
art-of-war@reddit
This guy is right. I went outside and touched my concrete driveway and I feel fine!
Minja78@reddit
What? How did you pull this out of your ass?
dasreboot@reddit
worked as a concrete truck driver. coworker took off his shoes to help a homeowner finish his concrete to get a tip. ended up at the hospital with chemical burns on his feet.
Barry-umm@reddit
You've never finished concrete before. It will absolutely damage your skin if left in place too long.
Swaggles21@reddit
I took the original question as falling into what essentially would amount to a swimming pool of completely wet concrete that hasn't set and then presented what might happen if you were in the concrete for a long period of time
hotvedub@reddit
I have very sensitive skin issues and all that concrete causes when I work with it is dry skin.
Lan-Hikari86@reddit
They float. The cement is way heavier than water
ThatSandwich@reddit
This is the answer.
Mythbusters did the same thing with quicksand. Doesn't matter how deep it is because you're naturally buoyant in a semi-liquid material that's so dense. Adam had Jamie bouncing on his head trying to force him down into the quicksand but he'd just pop right back up.
Weegert@reddit
Veritasium made a great video on YouTube talking about this about a year ago. It's titled Getting Buried In Concrete To Explain How It Works
NationCrisis@reddit
The video in question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVAzS5duAs
jolly_rodger42@reddit
It was a really good video
Pgriffin1999@reddit
I think you are more than likely to suffocate, choke, or can't breathe within 30 seconds of being trapped
IAmMey@reddit
There’s a veritasium video where they tried to pour concrete into a giant ball with the guy inside it. Controlled for safety quite well. They had a lift at the ready in case they couldn’t pull him out. But he started floating and it required a lot of effort to push himself deeper into the mix. I think he sank to about mid thigh while standing.
Get_a_Grip_comic@reddit
nah your nose will keep you breathing
KeithMyArthe@reddit
With my luck, if I survived like that, it would only be ten minutes before a tribe of homeless fire ants found my nostrils.
^* ^Grumbles
chzygorditacrnch@reddit
Remember when they painted themselves gold, and they got sick, their skin couldnt breathe. It may be similar with concrete..
p_user3@reddit
Doing a search for "what is the buoyancy of a human body in concrete" is probably not something you want in your work browser history.😄
Standard concrete is more dense than a human body, so you won't completely sink. There's a type of concrete that has been used experimentally at airports and runaway truck ramps that has tiny styrofoam balls mixed in it, so it goes "smoosh" when something hits it. You might sink in that.
As mentioned, concrete is alkaline and exothermic when curing. But so are plaster casts, and people used to get them all the time before fiberglass started taking over. Some stockinette and cotton rolls should work, though you may need a layer of plastic wrap to keep the moisture from seeping in.
You'd need some way to breathe. A mask with tubes to the outside is probably safer than a mask and oxygen tank, since the tank will run out at some point. You also need to consider your other bodily functions.
Unless you injure yourself when falling in, you shouldn't bleed. Concrete contains rough rocks called aggregate, so you can definitely cut yourself if you move about violently.
As to being found, it depends on how people are looking. If you're in a concrete block being cast for use as a movable barrier, the crane operator may notice that the block you're in is lighter than usual.
Someone with ground-penetrating radar will spot you as a low-density void in the concrete if they happen to pass directly over you with their unit.
If you can't move, you can't escape. I doubt you could swim your way out of concrete. As it hardens, assuming you've taken precautions about the alkalinity and heat, you'd be completely stuck and immobile. You might have trouble breathing as every time you exhale, concrete will try to fill the void left until it cures, making it difficult to inhale.
I've done something quite similar, so the above answers should be spot on. This is in the family-friendly section, so if you need more details, let's take it to private messaging
KeithMyArthe@reddit
I googled that, now ½hr layer there's a black helicopter hovering over my house. It's shining a spotlight in the back windows.
^I ^love ^you ^all
AirierWitch1066@reddit
Uh, hold on. I desperately want to know what you did that was similar.
p_user3@reddit
Take it to private messaging, please.
Remarkable_Diamond80@reddit
Ask Jimmy Hoffa. Oh, wait! Nevermind...
jolly_rodger42@reddit
I've wondered what would happen if someone jumped into a swimming pool full of Jello