Is it in the Physics?

Is it in the Physics?

We know Cap was created with a chemically enhance serum. But what part would physics play in others. I found this in hall way in the Durham Science Center @ UNO. Actually its been up here for a while. So I thought you would find this interesting. Stay tuned to part 2 of this physics series.

Feature Opinion
By Spock - Feb 17, 2010 02:02 PM EST
Filed Under: Other
Source: Durham Science Center

Spider-Man
Professor Kakalios of the University of Minnesota said that Spiderman’s webbing could easily support his weight as he swings around Manhattan. Spider silk is one of the strongest materials in nature having a tensile strength of more than 5 times that of steel wire. (Tensile Strength is the ability of a solid substance to withstand tension.) Kaklios estimates that a strand of spider silk with a diameter of .6 cm could support his weight.



Cyclops
The X-Men’s Cyclops Shoots “force beams” from his eyes. Because Newton’s third law requires that for every force there is an equal & opposite reaction force, there is a force exerted on Cyclops, located in the area of his eyes, that is equal to the force resulting from the beam. The force from these beams would put such strain on his next that he would need enormous neck muscles to withstand the kickback, says Kaklios.


Dr. Henry Pym
Dr. Henry Pym created a serum that shrank him to the size of an ant & beam Ant Man. Later, he found another serum that turned him into Giant Man (later called Goliath), an 18m superhero with enormous strength. However, bigger doesn’t always mean stronger, according to Kaklios. The bigger an organism gets the more stress that it puts on it’s bones. Every time a doubles in size its area is increased by four times and its volume by eight. Volume is directly proportional to weight, while the area determines the strength of bone. So while Dr. Pym’s bones would have increased in strength 4 times for every time his size doubled, his weight would have increased 8 times. Eventually this would have caused his weight to overwhelm his bone strength, and he would risk breaking bones with every step.


Superman
Superman was a being born on the planet Krypton, a planet with ten times the gravity of Earth. When Superman came to Earth the affect would be similar to one of going to the moon, according to Kakalios. This explains Superman’s superior strength and his ability to leap tall building in a single bound. However, a planet that would have 10 times the gravity of earth would be difficult to come by, since the only planets massive enough to have this kind of gravity are generally gas giants. The only way that Kaklios kind explain this gravity in a rocky planet, is that the planet has a small amount of extremely dense material, such as a piece of a neutron star at its center. Of course a planet having a piece of a neutron star at its center would be extremely unstable, explaining the explosion of the planet Krypton.


The Flash
The Flash from DC comics has the ability to mover extremely fast. In one comic he ran around that planet in 80 seconds. Since energy has to be conserved, i.e., the work input is equal to the work output, the Flash has to eat enough to provide himself with energy to run that quickly. Kristin Barbieri calculated that there was no way that the Flash could possibly eat enough to power his bursts of speed.


Hawkgirl
According to Kakalios winged superheroes would need ridiculously large chest muscles to get themselves off the ground. These characters would also need to have very specific combination of wing size/shape to create the lift necessary to allow these humans to glide effectively.


The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk received his powers after having received a does of Gamma radiation. Gamma radiation is a form of electromagnetic radio nation that is more intense than X-rays. One blast of this would surely kill a character before it could give him super powers. However, the superhero industry has begun to consider this, and has begun to use alternative explanations to explain that way the many superheroes, like Spider-Man and the Hulk. Instead of radiation, or in the case of the Hulk radiation alone, genetic engineering is now responsible at least in part for these superheroes amazing powers.
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Betty
Betty - 2/17/2010, 3:00 PM
I think this is why mutants came about. That way you don't have to worry much about the science of their origin.
Betty
Betty - 2/17/2010, 3:03 PM
I got this from this link, http://enterthestory.com/superscience.html

copy paste it if you want to read it all.

Superhero Science:
The Official Truth
by Chris Tolworthy

How I made this discovery

This all started when I was reading a comic about Giant Man. Or maybe it was Ant Man. or both. If you've read those stories, you will know that they require a Ph.D. in comicology. Ant Man? Ant Man 2? Yellow Jacket? Goliath? If you can follow all those changes, then atomic physics is easy. Anyway, three questions bugged me:

1. Where does Giant Man's extra mass come from?

2. Where does Ant Man's mass go to?

3. And why doesn't Giant Man collapse under his own weight?

Think about it. Strength depends on the cross-section area of your muscles and bones. It doesn't matter how long they are, it's the thickness that counts. So if you are twice as big, you will be four times as strong (muscles are twice as wide and twice as deep) but eight times as heavy (height times width times depth). Four times as strong, but eight times as heavy? So you will feel only half as strong as before! The bigger you get, the weaker you feel. And it works the other way too. That is why fleas can jump huge distances, but elephants can't jump at all.

Well it seemed obvious to me that there must be some way to change mass. But that also that mass changing had to be very smart. Though the size changed, the mass did not always change as much. Probably the distance between the atoms just increased, but the forces holding the atoms also increased so the strength changed as needed.

That was it! That was the breakthrough!

Suddenly I realized that this did not just explain growing and shrinking. it also explained super strength! And heroes like the Vision who change their mass radically! And a little thought showed that it also explained every other kind of super power! Yes, all of them! And it solved the problem of superheroes doing stuff that seemed just too crazy for their regular powers. It explained everything!

I call this theory the BEM, not the Bug Eyed Monster, but the Background Energy Mass theory. Put simply, background energy is used to either change the mass of atoms in the superhero's body, or change the values of their normal properties (mainly energy, separation and attraction). Either read the science bit, or take my word for it. Your call!
Remy83
Remy83 - 2/17/2010, 3:07 PM
Very interesting can't wait for part 2
1chris2
1chris2 - 2/17/2010, 3:23 PM
great article spock.
LastOfTheBlackLords001
LastOfTheBlackLords001 - 2/17/2010, 5:23 PM
Flash Uses the Speed Force. Nuff' Said!(maybe not)

The Speed Force balances out everything, the metabolizing, and the conversion of energy. While the flash does indeed eat a ridiculous amount to continue his speedy travels the speed force acts as a "grounder" for any acts deemed impossible by physics. Sorta like the chronicles of Amber series by Delany the Flash at all times has his feet for lack of a better phrase contantly dipped into another dimension with different laws of physics. Since physics in its broadest definition is simply the study of how things work in this universe it isn't beyond belief that when the flash taps into the Speed force these laws change. While working through the bubble of another dimension temporally opened by the flash he is able to impact things in this universe. Ala, Tardis style. Mini dimension(Tardis inside) affecting change in this world(Looks like a police box on the outside but is insanely bigger on the inside). The flash exists in two dimensions at one time allowing for his speed and answering teh question about the food.


*Had to write this in a hurry so please disregard any spelling or grammtical errors.
Spock
Spock - 2/17/2010, 5:30 PM
To all, I know what u mean, but the comics creater do have to keep up on some thing when it comes to science. Betty have never seen the site before, there is a lot of info there to cover.
CRITIC17
CRITIC17 - 2/17/2010, 9:41 PM
I knew Tea would say somethng about that!!!! ;)

This science stuff freaking rules!!!! Gotta love it!!!! THough to explain the Hulk and Spidey and others from Marvel, the Celestials years ago picked who would become superheroes, so even if gamma radiation would kill a human being; that event was what triggered what would make Banner hulk... Just like the spider bite triggered what made Peter Spidey...
Betty
Betty - 2/18/2010, 2:15 AM
LastOfTheBlackLords001-- Wow, I understood when you said Tardis! Great analogy.

Spock-- Yeah it's chewy, but it's a good read.)
foxfan
foxfan - 2/18/2010, 4:19 AM
this stuff is interesting and fun. i might just add my two cents, though, that i'm okay with the fact that everything in comics doesn't line up exactly with science.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 2/18/2010, 6:22 AM
Peter Parker's original webbing wasn't 'spider silk', it was a synthetic polymer that he concocted (remember all those times he had to replace those web catridges?). With his re-imaging and the webbing coming from a 'natural' source, it's more feasible that his body could produce similar proteins, though it's hard to believe that his organic spinneretes could produce enough material to shoot a line far enough / quickly enough to be effect.

Sorry - I'm a closet science geek...
Spock
Spock - 2/18/2010, 9:42 AM
@Loganeneil, I do know that, but I believe he was trying to point how strong spider silk actually is. ON the point of Spiderman I hope they make the new version with him having web shooters.
loganoneil
loganoneil - 2/18/2010, 10:18 AM
Spock - I imagine someone as knowledgeable as yourself would be aware of that, I was just expressing my inner-science geek. I agree, it would be more 'realistic' if they went back to the web shooter concept, not to mention more of an addition to plot development.

Oh crap, I dropped my pocket protector...
1chris2
1chris2 - 2/18/2010, 3:13 PM
well what if the flash doesnt run the whole time and kept eating he would store the energy woudnt he?
Spock
Spock - 2/18/2010, 6:09 PM
@ Ichris2, not really he has a high metabolism & that would be disburst as well just by standing after a while.
mok
mok - 2/18/2010, 9:44 PM
you really have to give credit to the comic book creators for knowing these stuff

although most of the superhero powers are, theoretically improbable, there will always be rational explanations along the way. (perhaps this is the reason why i always preferred non-super powered heroes, like Batman and Iron Man)

For The Flash origins though, it still bedazzles me. Electrochemical bath? hmmmm

Kudos to you Spock for a well-researched article.
georgia49th
georgia49th - 2/18/2010, 11:28 PM
well barry allen was in his lab and dowsed with chemicals after lightning struck the lab during a thunder storm .
As for the science is it possible? No that's why there comics, fantasy make believe and I still like the original origin of the Hulk Dr. Banner made a Gamma bomb and was exposed to the blast during a test blast thus the Grey Hulk was born trapped and shot into space in a missle but it fell back to Earth and thus the Green Hulk was born
mok
mok - 2/21/2010, 9:44 PM
like i said, you've gotta give credit to the writers.
take for example, the flash comics...the particle tachyon is mentioned (esp. in the crisis on infinite earths 8), and true enough, this particle is non-fiction. it does exist! a particle so fast it moves backward? wow!

the use of nomex and kevlar for armours and suits (Batman uses them, i think) encompasses polymer chemistry...

in fact, some of the science terms i only learn now, i have read them in the comic books

cheers!
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