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Comic Book Physics
An anonymous reader writes "Seems many of the feats of SpiderMan, Superman and other superheroes obey the basic requirements of physics. So says a University of Minnesota physicist who uses nothing but comics to teach the subject. 'Comic books get their science right more often than one would expect ... I was able to find examples in superhero comic books of the correct descriptions of basic physical principles for a wide range of topics, including classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and even quantum physics.' Especially cool: Why Krypton *had* to explode."
I thought it was Jorel who sent his son to Earth. Wasn't Kalel the son's (i.e. Superman's) name?
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
The "el" ending means "god" (essentially), so it's not surprising that these names end up sounding slightly Jewish.
In a Lois and Clark episode, Superman said that he had a small field of invincibility around him that protected his clothing or anything else within its range. I believe that was in response to Lois asking why his suit could be damaged in the closet, but it was never damaged when he was wearing it.
And the muscular cyborg German dudes dance with sexy French Canadians
Can the mutant master of magnetism Magneto levitate people using the iron in their blood?
The iron in our blood is mostly in the hemoglobin, specifically the heme half. Heme is an iron-based complex, in which the iron is IIRC diamagnetic.
Therefore, I do not see how---oh, wait. I guess I'm wrong. Oops. Looks like I need to review my sigma/pi bondage.
"The Science of Superheroes," (Wiley Books 2002) by Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg (introduction by Dean Koontz). Same duo who brought you "The Computers of Star Trek." Weinberg also wrote "Cable" for Marvel.
For a different point of view, go to Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics. In particular, check out their write-up on Spider Man.
'Uncanny physics of comic book superheroes' Posted on Sunday, February 15 @ 16:20:59 EST by bjs
Can you teach a physics class with only comic books to illustrate the principles? University of Minnesota physics professor James Kakalios has been doing it since 1995, when he explained the principle of conservation of momentum by calculating the force of Spider-Man's web when it snagged the superhero's girlfriend as she plummeted from a great height. "Comic books get their science right more often than one would expect," said the gregarious Kakalios. "I was able to find examples in superhero comic books of the correct descriptions of basic physical principles for a wide range of topics, including classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and even quantum physics."
From the University of Minnesota:
Professor to describe 'uncanny physics of comic book superheroes'
Can you teach a physics class with only comic books to illustrate the principles? University of Minnesota physics professor James Kakalios has been doing it since 1995, when he explained the principle of conservation of momentum by calculating the force of Spider-Man's web when it snagged the superhero's girlfriend as she plummeted from a great height.
Kakalios will describe a freshman seminar class he teaches, "Physics of Comic Books," at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 15, during the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Seattle. His talk is part of the symposium "Pop Physics: The Interface Between Hard Science and Popular Culture," one of two symposia in the Science, Entertainment and the Media category.
"Comic books get their science right more often than one would expect," said the gregarious Kakalios. "I was able to find examples in superhero comic books of the correct descriptions of basic physical principles for a wide range of topics, including classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, and even quantum physics."
Take, for example, the strength of Superman. To leap a 30-story building in a single bound, Superman's leg muscles must produce nearly 6,000 pounds of force while jumping, Kakalios calculates. The Man of Steel was that strong because he was designed to resist Krypton's powerful gravity. But for a planet with an Earth-like surface to have so much stronger gravity, it would need neutron star material in its core--a highly unstable situation. No wonder the planet exploded. Other topics considered in Kakalios' class include:
# Is it possible to read minds as Prof. X of the X-Men does?
# If Spider-Man's webbing is as strong as real spider silk, could it support his weight as he swings between buildings?
# Can the mutant master of magnetism Magneto levitate people using the iron in their blood?
# If you could run as fast as the Flash, could you run up the side of a building or across the ocean, and how often would you need to eat?
"Once the physical concepts such as forces and motion, conservation of energy, electricity and magnetisms, and elementary quantum mechanics are introduced to answer these and other questions, their real-world applications to automobile airbags, cell phones, nanotechnology and black hole formation are explained," said Kakalios. "The students in this class ranged from engineering to history majors, and while not all were comic book fans, they all found it an engaging and entertaining way to learn critical thinking and basic physics concepts."
Don't you know it is now both immoral and criminal to think beyond the next quarterly report?
Here's an article (pdf) that Kakalios wrote for the Star Tribune. It discusses the simple physics behind a 1973 Spider-Man issue.
The Original article appeared in Physics Today, in November 2002.
what sig?
Also seen on Slashdot here in May 2002, so it's a repeat, but from a while ago.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Larry Niven dealt with a lot of this an essay about why Superman is always free on Saturday night.
It deals more with biology and psychology, but there's a lot of physics involved, too.
Heisenberg might have been here.
I would think that this comic explains the Slashdot Effect pretty well. :)
Ah am not a crook! (\(-__-)/)
actually no. nice try though.
#1 - any deflection in the bullet path ("ricochet") would have to at some point, engage the material as its path curved..
#2 - the material itself would be mashed (and probably torn) just by the sheer collision of a fast bullet and the wall.
Solid titanium?
It would shatter wouldn't it? It's extremely brittle unless in an alloy.
Any metallurgists out there? Edu-ma-cate us!
At least that was the way they told it back around 1960.
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
What are you talking about, dude? I know for sure that all the physics in the Fantastic Four is right -- Reed Richards knows this shit cold, man!
Hell - even my Calc-Based Physics Book by Halliday and Resnick from last year had an exercise on p=mv, proving that superman wouldn't be able to just stand there and deflect bullets.
But seriously (well, not so seriously), I have a copy of H&R here (I'm a physics professor). The problem says a gangster is shooting 100 bullets per minute at Superman. Each bullet has a mass of 3 grams, and their speed is 500 m/s. You're supposed to calculate the average force on his chest. The answer is 2.5 N, which isn't even enough to topple my 4-year-old daughter.
What really rapes the laws of physics is that Superman can fly in violation of Newton's third law (or conservation of momentum, which amounts to the same thing). For instance, when he's coming in for a landing, he just kills his momentum. What's he interacting with? Objects can't make forces on themselves! Whatever mysterious method he has for creating and destroying momentum at will, presumably it also accounts for his ability to stop a jumbo jet without recoiling, etc.
BTW, Larry Niven wrote a really funny article called "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex," about the horrific consequences if Superman was to attempt to have sex with an Earth woman. You can still find it in print -- it's been anthologized.
Find free books.
and, to paraphrase Calvin, "apparently her superpower is being able to fit into that skin-tight suit".
That was Hobbes. To which Calvin replied, "Nah, they can all do that."
This is what is called a "Freshman Seminar" which is a 2-3 credit class (this one was 2) just to get you comfortable with talking to professors and crap. It's not supposed to be all that serious. I also took "Science of Space Travel", and got an easy A but learned quite a bit. Both were fine classes, U of M is a good school.
Are you just dead wrong, or is there some big difference here?
He's a little wrong.
Kevlar vests are designed to fail. That's why there are multiple layers of Kevlar. Each layer slows the bullet as it fails. The plan is that before the bullet penetrates your flesh, it gives all of its energy to making the Kevlar fail.
I have a Kevlar vest and I stabbed the rear panel with a survival knife. No penetration at all, but I have read of police who were shot with broadhead hunting arrows and the vests were only useful to them as big band-aids.
You're Kevlar gloves aren't uncuttable, they just don't cust as easily as your skin, hopefully you'll get your hand out of the way before the Kevlar in the glove fails.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
His hair don't grow.
Except in one episode of the comic, where some red Kryotonite makes his hair, nails and beard grow.
He then needed both Supergirl and Superdog to use their heatsight to cut it off.
8 * 7 = 42
Not really, the name was SPELLED YHWH, since they didn't need to write the vowels (they were understood). That is definitely not how it was PRONOUNCED.
Some have said the vowels came from the Greek "Adonai" to give you, roughly, Yahowah. That is convenient but not 100% accurate. Other names like Joshua (Yehoshua) and many others contain the divine name have and preserved the proper vowels through common use. The pronunciation was almost certainly Yehowah in Hebrew -- and in English it *is* "Jehovah" (no need to mix languages in a sentence).
How's THAT for offtopic? I never expected to discuss Hebrew phonetics in an article about comic book physics!
SYS 64738 NO CARRIER
I believe you are talking about Tory Allen. A saw her climbing at Climb-Time/Indianapolis, and oh boy, is that impressive!
The story about the chimp is true, check the bio, in the above link.
ASTM Grade 1 Titanium:
E = 103 GPa
%EL ~ 25 (Ductility)
Ti is not considered a brittle material (5%EL). It is about the same as a common steel alloy (1020). However, it is 2.5x as strong. It might not shatter, as Lead is much more ductile than either steel or titanium (~30-60%EL).
Ford