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What Happens If You Fall Into Quicksand?

What If | February 26, 2026



The reason you don’t normally sink into the sand when you go to the beach is due to a physics phenomenon known as force chain. Basically, when a bajillion grains of sand are jammed together in one place, their weight gets distributed over a large area, keeping you and your camels safely above ground. But if any water happens to seep up from underground, it mixes with the sand to create a surface that looks solid, but isn’t…

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Transcript and sources: https://insh.world/science/what-if-you-fell-into-quicksand/

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Watch more what-if scenarios:
Planet Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-HhCwYD7rc&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJCzxwmCq0NNpYq9N9wyb2l
The Cosmos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfuJyVkMH_g&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJno6oFF9nLGuwXNGYHmE8U
Technology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS3bBO05fpU&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIeRY3JtgXgoGqSEB7kDdKO
Your Body: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmXR46TrbA8&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTJNsV9FFeNAKl2ySsHj8GZO
Humanity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCDQIyXGnw&list=PLZdXRHYAVxTIFnvmOeWbv-Mt8zFxSCSvZ

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Comments

This post currently has 50 comments.

  1. @AudieHolland

    February 26, 2026 at 11:59 am

    A Dutch technical university did an experiment with artificially created quicksand in a giant metal barrel.
    A student was lowered into the vat and it turned out quicksand acts a lot like water, only heavier.
    So your body has buoyancy in quicksand, more than in water actually and you can never get sucked under.

    The main reason people have died in quicksand is that they died of exposure after getting stuck or were drowned by the incoming tide.

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