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Comic Book Physics
hij writes "NANDO net has an article about a physics professor at the University of Minnesota is offering a class in
Comic Book Physics. He looks into such things as the amount of calories that the Flash burns and the tension in spider-mans web."
"Of course," said Batman. "The acid-neutralizing pills in my utility belt rendered the acid harmless before it was able to burn us."
I don't remember the specific numbers of the question, but it was basically: if there were n gallons of 5 molar HCl in the vat and the pills were NaOH, how much must the pills have weighed? How much energy was released in the reaction, and are Batman and Robin likely to have survived?
Batman would have needed something like two tons of NaOH in his belt, and the resulting explosion would have evaporated all the water and fried the dynamic duo to a crisp.
I do understand that they are doing this basically to make some of these problems more interesting (I could understand it more if this was an elementary or high school class though....why would people taking college level physics courses need comic book subject matter as a motivation?) but it really does kind of miss the point. I.e. with that whole Flash question, it implies that Flash uses his own energy. My understanding of the Flash is that he accesses some mystical Speed Force that actually powers him, and it has nothing to do with burning any energy directly.
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
What I always wondered is where all that webbing comes from in the first place. I mean, that web cartridge can only fit so much material inside. They do run out eventually, but it always seemed to me like he could get way too much out of each one. In the movie, he can just shoot webbing out of his hands. Where do the proteins come from? I'd think that after swinging through the city for a while, he'd starve to death.
[insert witty quote here]
While the sentiments were probably circulating in fandom circles for a long time, Brodie's question was preceded by Larry Niven's classic short story/essay, Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex which appeared in his collection All The Myriad Ways over thirty years ago (1971). (That link points to what is probably a flagrant copyright violation.) Brodie's question is Niven's point four and six.
;-)
Sigh, some people just lack an education in the classics
-- Alastair
When I was in engineering school, the final exam in statics for mechanical engineers consisted of designing a flat link, out of a specified grade of aluminum plate, to connect two pins and go around some obstacles. Several hours at a drafting table were allowed. No computer access. No talking to anybody. A scaled drawing had to be turned in.
Each student's link was then machined, by a machinist following the drawing, out of aluminum plate as specified. The link was then placed in a hydraulic testing machine and the specified load was applied.
If the link broke, the student failed the course.
If the link didn't break, the link was weighed, and the grade depended on the weight, lighter weights yielding higher grades.
That's what engineering is about.
Hmm. According to current theory there are 13 dimensions. We exist
in 4 of them so that leaves 9 left over for all the rest. I think the
Star Trek comics have easily surpassed 9 dimensions. Lets not even
consider the number of dimensions an plains that The Sandman goes to.
What I have always wondered about is the economics of comic books. Who
read the death of Superman? Did you see all of the damage they caused
in the final fight between the two of them in a downtown area? I have
seen whole urban areas reduced to ruble but I never see any reference
to insurances policies against mutants. I never here about how the
stock market took a dive while waiting to find out if the world was
going to be destroyed. Do sales of tabloids go up if some one claims
to be caring $super_hero's baby? Where are all of these headlines?
Where are do these Evil_Super_Weapons manufactures get their funding
from? How does a contractor hide the one million dollars that it
earned from doing a upgrade to the Bat Cave from the IRS without them
asking questions? How does Bruce Wayne write off a million here or
there for replacement BatMobils?
Its things like this that caused me a long time ago to stop reading
Super Hero comics. I much prefer the mental drama comics instead of
the physical drama ones.
I mentioned The Sandman above. This is a prime example of the way
things should be done. When the moon is brought down to earth by one
a which for a spell involving the moon goddess, Gaiman makes a
point of mentioning that a hurricane altered its course as a result.
When Dream goes traveling on earth he uses a old Babylonian god that
is an expert at handling transportation issues like customs and knows
how to work the system. When Dr. Dee makes the whole world go insane
you see bits on TV letting you know that the whole world is indeed
going insane and not just the people in the diner. These things
aren't hidden in the background never to thought of like they are in
most comics for fear that it will ruin suspension of disbelief.
I love comics. I just wish that they didn't exist in a vacuum where
not just the rules of physics don't apply but the rules of economics
and media aren't even mentioned.
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