Superpowers

 
“I’m Superman! There can’t be two Supermans! You can be Batman!”
“The world is at stake!”
“Let’s get the bad guys and save the day.”
I’ve heard these snippets of dialogue play over and over in the superhero game that my son and other kids engage in as they run around the playground. They scream around carrying sticks pretending to chase and catch the bad guys just like how it’s shown in the media. I thought I’d add more to the superhero narrative by weaving in science.
As a child, I was hooked on Looney Tunes. An illustrated character would run off a cliff and continues to hover until the character realizes there is no solid ground underneath. This got me thinking about physics. Does gravity work only if one is conscious of it? I am just curious about how scientifically realistic the comics are.
When the planet Krypton was destroyed, Superman’s mum and dad put baby Superman on a rocket ship and sent him to outer space to save his life. As a mother, I’ve fancied putting my kid on a rocket ship and sending him to outer space for a brief period. However, baby superman and his rocket ship crash-landed on our planet Earth. And he has been around since. He is a nonpareil superhero. Don’t tell Batman, though.
 Superman crouches down with force and launches himself into the air with amazing speed. It’s the most important of all his abilities. According to Newton’s law of motion, he flies because of the force(F=ma) he applies to the ground that pushes him back. To leap very high into the air in a second, the muscles in his limbs must exert several pounds of force. Is it his Kryptonian DNA? Does Krypton have a stronger gravitational field than Earth? After leaping into the air, Superman slows down at some point and lands up at a tall building. He can slow down due to the Earth’s gravitational pull. If there was no gravity, he would go right past the Earth. It’s something like how our moon balances the Earth’s gravitational pull.
Having claimed that Krypton’s gravitational pull is stronger than the Earth’s, we could pin our hopes on Newton’s theory to know how. Gravity on any planet is proportional to the mass of the planet. And most of the Earth’s mass is concentrated at the core constituting various layers of materials such as iron and nickel. It’s something like an avocado. Cut an avocado into half and you’ll have a fairly close proportion of Earth’s layers. The peel of the avocado is the Earth’s crust. The fleshy edible part is the mantel, and the pit amounts to the core. Krypton must have a very large mass to have strong gravity. But gravity tends to squeeze and compress the core making it small and very dense thereby generating more heat. So if Krypton‘s mass is large, then the strong gravitational pull would create an extremely dense core. This in turn would put a lot of strain on the surface of the planet resulting in massive volcanos and earthquakes. Such a planet would be unsteady and unsafe. Perhaps, that’s why Krypton blew up!
Bruce Wayne or Batman, with his cool gadgets and slick cape, looks a bit more realistic. He has no superpowers at his disposal, but he is notably athletic. He is very clever because he studied at Cambridge and the Sorbonne. He’s a billionaire. But do the rules of science apply to him? His batmobile fitted with a rocket engine ignites with dramatic-looking flames looks true to life. But it has poor mileage and is too complex for daily use. He can’t fly but can glide from the top of a building using his cape as a parachute. But according to physics, his velocity would increase as he approaches the ground and the fall would be severely damaging. Clearly, it doesn't look like one can fly using a cape. Anything's possible but not everything!
There are several superheroes like Dr. Strange and Wonder Woman whose abilities are oblivious to scientific principles entirely. I like Wonder Woman’s strength and reflexes. I burn with curiosity when she deflects bullets using her special bracelet. It’s all about momentum. The bullet comes in with momentum. Her bracelet deflects the bullet out with a second momentum. The bracelet must supply immense force for this to happen. She also must calculate the trajectory of the bullet and the velocity to avoid being hit. So, physics must’ve been her niche interest. Or we could allow the possibility of a miracle or magic. It’s basically a fantasy story.
The mighty Thor, flies using the momentum of a hammer. According to the comic books, Thor’s hammer can only be lifted by those who are deemed worthy enough to wield it. Perhaps it’s got a security code or a fingerprint scanner. And Odin, Thor’s dad has the admin rights I imagine. No one can nick Thor’s hammer which I think is very clever. That’s why he’s got a day named after him. Thursday is named after Thor, the hammer-wielding Norse god of thunder.
And what’s the idea behind Hulk’s pants? When he transforms into a massive being, how does his pants shift size while all other clothing is torn to pieces? It could be some sort of special stretchable fabric. It would be amazing if we had that in the real world. Would it reduce the decision fatigue created by the numerous fashion choices or would it be boring?
I kept my favourite for the last in the order of mention. He is called Tony. Most call him Ironman. Let me start with something that Tony does often. He lands on his knee with a fist to the ground with thousands of Newtons of force. So, according to Newton’s laws, Tony is dead. It’s like the famous quote, “It’s not the fall that kills you, it’s the sudden stop at the end.” He flies with jet packs all over his suit. Well, rockets are the worst thing to put on one’s suit because the immense force required to push the rocket up, could kill Tony instantly. Again, relying on Newton’s genius, Tony is dead. We could use jetpacks for a shorter distance and shorter duration. But how does Ironman fly so high and for so long? Ironman’s super strong exoskeleton is purely invented for fiction and so is his perfectly groomed facial hair. The idea of Ironman looks great but we are a long way from being able to create one.
It conceivably seems that superheroes tend to bend the rules of science but superhero-themed reading brings a lot of energy to both children and grownups. Besides, we all have the power to be a superhero to someone. Our societies are a result of billions of small acts which might seem trivial, but all of them together can bring a change. The ball’s in our court. It has always been!