[Origin]

A truly equivalent scenario would involve placing an object of the same weight on your abdomen. Hypothetically, placing a 63.4 kg block with an area of 0.2x0.2 meters on my abdomen would be fatal. However, my own body weight was 63.4 kg, I could lie on a 0.2x0.2 meter concrete block for one minute without experiencing any pain or injury.

I cannot believe Yahya still can't understand this.  Talk about beating a dead horse...

[Kryptid]

Science does not recognize the concept of "squeezed" pressure; pressure must remain the same when the force, material, and area are unchanged.

Not so. The pressure on your stomach might be the same, but the pressure acting on your back would be different in the two scenarios. In one, the ground is pressing against your back and in the other it is not.

[Yahya A.Sharif (OP)]

Science does not recognize the concept of "squeezed" pressure; pressure must remain the same when the force, material, and area are unchanged.

Not so. The pressure on your stomach might be the same, but the pressure acting on your back would be different in the two scenarios. In one, the ground is pressing against your back and in the other it is not.

My experiment does not compare the pressure on my back; it compares the pressure on my abdomen. In theory, the pressure should be the same, but it is not. I was able to lie on my abdomen on a single concrete block without harm. However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

[Kryptid]

My experiment does not compare the pressure on my back; it compares the pressure on my abdomen.

Then it is missing something.

However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

What was the surface area of the concrete block you laid on top of?

[Bored chemist]

However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

How do you know?
You seem to be just restating your opinion and then claiming reality does not agree with it.

[Yahya A.Sharif (OP)]

What was the surface area of the concrete block you laid on top of?

0.2 m width, 0.2 m length.

[Yahya A.Sharif (OP)]

However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

You seem to be just restating your opinion and then claiming reality does not agree with it.

So, you're saying that placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks on an average human abdomen is considered safe?

[alancalverd]

You seem to be drifting from a hypothetical experiment (2 August) to a claim of actual experience (reply # 145 above). Frankly I doubt that the experiment, if you did carry it out, met the criteria of my proposal (#135 above) which would precisely replicate the pressure in either direction.

[Bored chemist]

However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

You seem to be just restating your opinion and then claiming reality does not agree with it.

So, you're saying that placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks on an average human abdomen is considered safe?

It isn't me that's saying it.
The laws of physics are saying it.

If you can support your 65 KG weight on a 20 cm by 20 cm concrete block then it is almost certain that you can support 65 Kg of concrete on your abdomen.

(The uncertainty results from the fact that the human body isn't completely symmetrical)


Nobody is saying it would be comfortable, or a good idea.
Have you done what was asked and supported your whole weight on just 20 by 20 as someone suggested- perhaps on top of a farm gate post?
If you say that's safe, then the laws of physics say that the reverse- you supporting the blocks- is also safe.

[paul cotter]

To try to support one's entire body weight on a 0.2x 0.2 block would be very difficult unless done at height as BC has suggested. It would be next to impossible to prevent some load bearing via the legs and upper body.

[alancalverd]

I have never objected to having a 65 kg woman place herself on me. Why anyone would prefer a concrete block is a complete mystery, but alii aliquam preferent.

[paul cotter]

You don't object but the boss may not approve, ie being caught in flagrante delicto.

[Yahya A.Sharif (OP)]

However, placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks directly on my abdomen would be fatal.

You seem to be just restating your opinion and then claiming reality does not agree with it.

So, you're saying that placing four 15‑kg concrete blocks on an average human abdomen is considered safe?

It isn't me that's saying it.
The laws of physics are saying it.

If you can support your 65 KG weight on a 20 cm by 20 cm concrete block then it is almost certain that you can support 65 Kg of concrete on your abdomen.

(The uncertainty results from the fact that the human body isn't completely symmetrical)


Nobody is saying it would be comfortable, or a good idea.
Have you done what was asked and supported your whole weight on just 20 by 20 as someone suggested- perhaps on top of a farm gate post?
If you say that's safe, then the laws of physics say that the reverse- you supporting the blocks- is also safe.

In this image, point B experiences more pressure than point A, even when the contact areas are equal. To lift the lever upward, it would require less effort at point A. This remains consistent with the principles of physics. The concept of biomechanical advantage does not contradict the laws of physics. Physics does not support the irrational idea that placing four 15 kg concrete blocks on one's abdomen is a safe procedure.

[Bored chemist]

Re " Physics does not support the irrational idea that placing four 15 kg concrete blocks on one's abdomen is a safe procedure"

Nice claim.
Prove it.

[Bored chemist]

To try to support one's entire body weight on a 0.2x 0.2 block would be very difficult unless done at height as BC has suggested. It would be next to impossible to prevent some load bearing via the legs and upper body.

For the record,  it wasn't my observation, but Alan's.

Hypothetically, placing a 63.4 kg block with an area of 0.2x0.2 meters on my abdomen would be fatal. However, my own body weight was 63.4 kg, I could lie on a 0.2x0.2 meter concrete block for one minute without experiencing any pain or injury.

Why the hypothesis? Try it! Just find a farm gatepost (they are usually about 15 x 15 cm) and nail a 20 x 20 piece of 15 mm plywood to the top. Unless you are a trained gymnast or bodybuilder, I doubt that you would manage more then 10 seconds suspended prone by your abdomen.

Less dangerously, stack four house bricks to make a pile 215 x 215 mm x 130 mm high. Drape yourself over them, then raise your arms and legs so that your entire weight is borne by the bricks. If your paraspinal muscles aren't strong enough, just use one layer of bricks (65 mm high), get a "friend" to truss you to a pole (feet, hips, shoulders) and when you are steady, put your hands behind your head.

The problem is that the OP forgot to do the experiment.

[Kryptid]

For the sake of being thorough, I just got done performing a similar experiment. I just got my brother, who weighs 158.2 pounds (71.9 kilograms) at the moment, to stand on my stomach. It wasn't comfortable and I had to tense my abs, but it wasn't painful either. Let alone lethal. That's more weight than 60 kilograms of concrete. The issue is the surface area, since measuring the surface area of feet isn't straightforward. Still, I wouldn't expect it to be all that far off from 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters.

[Bored chemist]

For the sake of being thorough, I just got done performing a similar experiment. I just got my brother, who weighs 158.2 pounds (71.9 kilograms) at the moment, to stand on my stomach. It wasn't comfortable and I had to tense my abs, but it wasn't painful either. Let alone lethal. That's more weight than 60 kilograms of concrete. The issue is the surface area, since measuring the surface area of feet isn't straightforward. Still, I wouldn't expect it to be all that far off from 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters.

Thanks for actually doing the OP's job which he has consistently failed to do.
Was your brother  wearing socks?
Because  Yahya A.Sharif's claim is that biology magically makes it different and (we can reasonably assume) your brother is biological.
But (as long as they are clean) his socks aren't.

[alancalverd]

Wool or cotton socks.

[Kryptid]

He wasn't wearing socks, but I was wearing a shirt.

[alancalverd]

Aha! So you can test the OP's theory by repeating the experiment with nylon socks and no shirt. That's proper science.

If you die, I promise BC and I will report the result to Yahya's conference as confirmation of his hypothesis, and you will qualify for a posthumous Darwin award. Just get your brother to post the photos and death certificate here.