Professor to describe 'uncanny physics of comic book superheroes'

University of Minnesota ^ | 15-Feb-2004 | Press release

[AdmSmith]

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL--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."

[PatrickHenry]

Don't forget Johnny Quick and his magic forumula: 3x²(9yz)4a

[GeekDejure]

Shouldn't that be "Physics are fun"? (minus five for agreement error)

Fiz Icks Am Fun (plus 10 for the helluvit)

Signed,

An American Geek General ;-))

.

[Fedora]

> I think the comic book publishers had to get fact checkers about the same time that they had to start giving out "No Prizes". IIRC, the first instance was when somebody wrote a letter crying foul about Tony Stark's "transistor-powered" armor. Of course, transistors don't actually "power" anything.

Yeah, I remember periodically seeing readers in the letter's column attempting to snag No Prizes with physics :) Another case I remember was from an issue of "Avengers" where someone complained that Graviton was described as being able to increase his target's mass, which the letter-writer complained was in violation of conservation law. I don't seem to have that issue anymore, but right now I'm looking in #165 and in the letters column there's someone trying to get a biology-based No Prize :) The complaint there is that the artist drew some ants with eight legs rather than six. The editor responded, "Wouldja believe that they were all mutant ants?" before conceding the No Prize :)

[Fedora]

> letter's column

S/b "letters column" or possibly "letters' column". Gotta be on guard against typos with these English majors about. :)

[Jonah Hex]

Yep, that would do it.

:-)

[brianl703]

I've noticed that British English considers company/organization names as plural: Ford are releasing a new model....

[Political Junkie Too]

Tomorrow's lesson: fish vs. fishes.

-PJ

[Fedora]

I know that issue was before Mike Baron's time, but somehow that still seems like something he'd come up with--his "Badger" series used to crack me up :)

While we're having a laugh at Flash's expense, this reminds me of a commercial I recently saw on Cartoon Network crossing "Superfriends" with "Powerpuff Girls". The Powerpuff Girls have to rescue Wonder Woman and Aquaman because they've been captured and tied up. Aquaman, unable to free himself, says to Wonder Woman, "It's no use! My ability to talk to fish is of no help!" Wonder Woman rolls her eyes.

[r9etb]

A classic. My favorite line from that: "... ripping [Lois Lane] from crotch to sternum, gutting her like a trout."

[Fedora]

> Hmmm. Maybe. "Physics" sounds like it is an invented word - could be a form of contraction for "physical sciences" in which case it is plural. I don't have time this afternoon to look it up in my OED, but I will try to get to it.

"Physics" is from the Latin "physica", which is from the Greek "physika", which is in turn from "physikos", meaning "of nature" (I believe that'd be genitive plural), derived from a noun meaning "growth" or "nature". So at one point I guess it was in the plural form. I don't know how it went from the Latin form to the modern English form. Incidentally in OE, wouldn't "physics" have a "ck"?

[weegee]

Tomorrow's lesson: fish vs. fishes.

VS.

[Political Junkie Too]

LOL!

-PJ

[RadioAstronomer]

Thanks for the ping.

Indeed it is. :-)

[VadeRetro]

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.

That "able to leap tall buildings with a single bound" business was just in the very early episodes of Superman Comics back in the 30s. It very soon mutated into an ability to fly.

That's a real puzzler. What allows him to do that? Kryptonians on Krypton apparently couldn't. Something about a red sun versus a yellow one on Earth. Here, anyway, he can grab any gigantic thing that won't come apart (and some gigantic things that probably should) and fly away effortlessly. Is he emitting some kind of rocket exhaust? Is he emanating some kind of force? How does he do that?

Then there's this business of how nothing, nothing, nothing hurts him. (OK, some stuff called Kryptonite can, but that's it.) He can't be crushed even if a missile nose cone re-enters on top of him. He can't be vaporized even by an atomic bomb. One episode back in the 60s where he fought Bizarro had him surviving at ground zero of such a blast. How? Even if he were made of titanium, he should be crushable, vaporizeable, whatever. What can he be made of?

[Aarchaeus]

Some SF writer, Norman Spinrad maybe, wrote an article about the effects of Superman's ejaculations. Quite spectacular, as I recall.</>

"Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", by Larry Niven. An essay on why Superman can't have sex with Lois Lane without killing her.

[MikeD]

It depends on the version of Superman. The original Golden Age Superman got all his powers from the high gravity of Krypton. The solar angle was added for the silver age Superman. Post-crisis added the force field bit.

Thanks to all for the links -- I love the Larry Niven essay.

MD

[VadeRetro]

Every atom within his body irradiates a force field at a certain distance allowing him to resist external forces upon his body, such as bullets, missiles, etc.

Kewl! (Sort of.) What, what, o what is he made of? If it's not the usual carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., how does he eat? That is, where does he find a substance made of similar atoms from which to replenish himself as the rest of us do?

If he is made of the same elements as the rest of us, why is it that the atoms in his body radiate that anti-injury force field and those of mine don't?

Also, the atoms of his costume seem to have the same attributes his body does. My clothes wear out without taking anything like the beating that suit of his does. When he flies into a fire or whatever he never emerges naked or even with a singe on that garish outfit.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

Maybe he will explain how Superman resists the pull of gravity by exerting a high enough negative internal pressure, as described by Einstein's General Relativity, to float in midair and fly.

[oyez]

Balistics are fun.

This guy looks like a FRper, too.

[Kirkwood]

I can't answer your questions as to what he is made of. Maybe someone with more knowledge of Superman can answer that. I can say that the force field extends outward from his body and this protects the clothing he wears. I bet lots of people have wondered about that. Too bad we don't have a real Superman to kick some butt.