Posted on 02/27/2016 3:05:46 AM PST by Jonty30
I'd like to know how fast could a physical being luke Flash really run before running through the air before the air resistance becomes something like running through neck deep water or even impossible because the air resistance is like running through solid concrete?
At that point, safe to say that Flash becomes more like energy to avoid that problem, but when does that likely occur?
He becomes flash paper.
Think about re-entry vehicle heat shielding. That is the limitation and not necessarily the “viscosity” of air at extreme speeds. Think about the surface of the SR71 and how hot that got. Think about the temperature at which proteins denature. I am sure you can come up with a formula for terminal speed with those parameters.
And if he doesn’t watch where he’s going, he becomes a flash in the pan.
The question came to my mind when a physics teacher was able to.show that Superman could never punch anybody into space because the amount of air resistance, combined with Earth’s gravity, would quickly pull somebody back down. The highest they might go is somewhere around 5 miles high.
Probably some quantum mechanical trickery, i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave–particle_duality
Oh and it would have to be a formula. Flash would not be able to run as fast in Death Valley as he could on the Altiplano in the Andes because of the relative difference of the density and thus surface heating effect of the air. Also, there would be a time factor in the formula. I can easily and harmlessly plunge my hand into my sous vide bath to retrieve steaks at temps that cook the steaks to medium rare.
Superman has nothing on Ralph Kramden.
one time I saw He-man kick the moon back into orbit so tell your physics teacher that.
The Speed Force. The Speed Force not only gives the Flash his abilities, but it voids normal physics (eg takes care of friction). Thus, the Speed Force is the deux ex machina that is used by the comic writers to explain how the Flash can run at such high speeds without burning up / causing tremendous sonic booms / creating maelstroms of wind behind him etc. It’s also what’s used in comics to explain how he can carry other people at light speed without instantly killing them. The Speed Force.
This is going to keep me up at night, oh, wait, it’s a comic ook.
Everyone knows nothing can go faster than 55 MPH!
Eliminating the effects of air resistance, a free fall skydiver would continue to accelerate indefinitely at the rate dictated by gravity (prior to hitting the earth or opening his parachute). When you factor in the air resistance on the human body, terminal velocity becomes about 120 mph for a person in the belly-to-earth position. Going head down, it’s about 180 mph, but some parachutists deliberately go for, “speed” skydiving and do everything they can to minimize air resistance and maximize their free-fall rate, and hit about 300 mph.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_skydiving#Terminal_Velocity
Obviously that is simply where wind resistance caps off acceleration on the human body due to gravity, and does not account for any type of thrust or other force propelling the body.
Would holding your hand out of your car window at highway speeds provide a useful test case?
Someone else mentioned the speed force business. When talking about the Flash, you have to divvy him up into three eras (at least):
Golden Age (Jay Garrick)
Silver/Bronze (Barry Allen)
‘80s and on (Barry Allen/Wally West/etc.)
I stopped reading during the Bronze Age, so I have only heard about the speed force business.
In the comics, all of them can run faster than the speed of light, so all physics goes out he door. However, there is a fun book called “The Physics of Superheroes” that looks at some of the Flash’s issues (how much would he have to eat for the energy he expends? LOTS. Can he run on water? Definititely, and at only 100MPH and up. Can he redirect or stop a bullet in mid air? Yes.).
The Silver/Bronze Age Flash was granted an invisible aura that keeps him from burning up. Besides that, he has control over every molecule in his body, and is able to vibrate his body to pass through most solid objects. He can also time travel by running faster than the speed of light (clockwise for the future, counter clockwise for the past, I don’t know if it is different in the southern hemisphere. He also made a treadmill to accommodate such travel.) Besides that, he has the ability to literally punch criminals into next week. I don’t know how he does that without killing them, or how he practiced that technique, but pretty cool, nonetheless.
Flash has an endless supplies of problems if you try to keep him in the realm of physics. Ultimately, almost all of these heroes turn from being 1938 Superman (very limited powers) into Fawcett’s Captain Marvel (it’s all magic).
The speed force also allows Flash to speed somebody’s speed. If a mugger is trying to run somebody down, Flash can touch them and have them move three times as fast and into a brick wall before they knew it.
Probably a little bit. But I’ve done sky diving once and my movements didn’t seem impeded by the to much.
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