<p>It depends what you mean by "very strong". </p>

<p>The announced first detection (14th September 2015) was considered a very strong signal and that still only stretched the 4 km detector arms by less than the width of a proton (a tiny particle inside the nucleus of an atom). This wave would have no effect on a person.</p>

<p>You could hypothesis a stronger wave that would stretch and squish a person, I'm not sure what effect this would have but there are no objects in nature capable of producing waves this strong, even something as close as our sun becoming a supernova wouldn't be that strong, so it will never happen in real life.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-15T23:06:56.807Z
I would think (but I'm not smart enough to do the math) that if you had a situation where the gravitational wave could be felt, then the tidal forces would uncomfortably large as well, but perhaps that would depend on the size of the black holes.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-15T15:50:21.530Z
2016-02-15T15:50:21.530Z
FJC
<p>What would happen if a strong gravitational wave passed through a human body or any other kind of material? </p>

<p>The shape of the human body would change?</p>

<p>Would the human body be distorted apart? </p>

<p>If so, would the person survive?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-16T01:13:07.300Z
The closest thing to your question would be if tidal forces ripped apart someone's body (i.e. by a black hole).
Sir Cumference
<tidal-forces><gravitational-waves>
The effect of gravitational wave is like tidal forces?
questionhang
# The effect of gravitational wave is like tidal forces?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-02-15)

What would happen if a strong gravitational wave passed through a human body or any other kind of material?

The shape of the human body would change?

Would the human body be distorted apart?

If so, would the person survive?

**Tags:** tidal-forces, gravitational-waves
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The closest thing to your question would be if tidal forces ripped apart someone's body (i.e. by a black hole).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-02-15. Score: 6

It depends what you mean by "very strong".

The announced first detection (14th September 2015) was considered a very strong signal and that still only stretched the 4 km detector arms by less than the width of a proton (a tiny particle inside the nucleus of an atom). This wave would have no effect on a person.

You could hypothesis a stronger wave that would stretch and squish a person, I'm not sure what effect this would have but there are no objects in nature capable of producing waves this strong, even something as close as our sun becoming a supernova wouldn't be that strong, so it will never happen in real life.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I would think (but I'm not smart enough to do the math) that if you had a situation where the gravitational wave could be felt, then the tidal forces would uncomfortably large as well, but perhaps that would depend on the size of the black holes.  

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