The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Foreword
PREFACE
Introduction
SECTION 1 - MECHANICS
Chapter 1 - UP, UP, AND AWAY—FORCES AND MOTION
Chapter 2 - DECONSTRUCTING KRYPTON—NEWTON’S LAW OF GRAVITY
Chapter 3 - THE DAY GWEN STACY DIED—IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
Chapter 4 - FLASH FACTS—FRICTION, DRAG, AND SOUND
Chapter 5 - IF THIS BE MY DENSITY—PROPERTIES OF MATTER
Chapter 6 - SO HE TALKS TO FISHES. WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF IT?—FLUID MECHANICS
Chapter 7 - CAN HE SWING FROM A THREAD?—CENTRIPETAL ACCELERATION
Chapter 8 - CAN ANT MAN PUNCH HIS WAY OUT OF A PAPER BAG?—TORQUE AND ROTATION
Chapter 9 - THE HUMAN TOP GOES OUT FOR A SPIN—ANGULAR MOMENTUM
Chapter 10 - IS ANT MAN DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND?—SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION
Chapter 11 - LIKE A FLASH OF LIGHTNING—SPECIAL RELATIVITY
SECTION 2 - ENERGY-HEAT AND LIGHT
Chapter 12 - THE CENTRAL CITY DIET PLAN—CONSERVATION OF ENERGY
Chapter 13 - THE CASE OF THE MISSING WORK—THE THREE LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
Chapter 14 - MUTANT METEOROLOGY— CONDUCTION AND CONVECTION
Chapter 15 - HOW THE MONSTROUS MENACE OF THE MYSTERIOUS MELTER MAKES DINNER ...
Chapter 16 - ELECTRO’S CLINGING WAYS—ELECTROSTATICS
Chapter 17 - SUPERMAN SCHOOLS SPIDER-MAN—ELECTRICAL CURRENTS
Chapter 18 - HOW ELECTRO BECOMES MAGNETO WHEN HE RUNS—AMPERE’S LAW
Chapter 19 - HOW MAGNETO BECOMES ELECTRO WHEN HE RUNS—MAGNETISM AND FARADAY’S LAW
Chapter 20 - ELECTRO AND MAGNETO DO THE WAVE—ELECTROMAGNETISM AND LIGHT
SECTION 3 - MODERN PHYSICS
Chapter 21 - JOURNEY INTO THE MICROVERSE—ATOMIC PHYSICS
Chapter 22 - NOT A DREAM! NOT A HOAX! NOT AN IMAGINARY TALE!—QUANTUM MECHANICS
Chapter 23 - THROUGH A WALL LIGHTLY—TUNNELING PHENOMENA
Chapter 24 - SOCK IT TO SHELLHEAD—SOLID-STATE PHYSICS
Chapter 25 - THE COSTUMES ARE SUPER, TOO—MATERIALS SCIENCE
SECTION 4 - WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
Chapter 26 - ME AM BIZARRO!—SUPERHERO BLOOPERS
AFTERWORD-
RECOMMENDED READING
KEY EQUATIONS
NOTES
Acknowledgements
INDEX
Praise for The Physics of Superheroes:
“[Kakalios] uses Superman, Spider-Man and less well-known characters such as Ant Man—yes, there was a superhero called Ant Man—to explain physics principles from gravity and the laws of motion to quantum mechanics.”
—Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)
“The physics, even when Kakalios points out where the comics got it wrong, is drawn out sympathetically and with good humor.”
—Nature
“Delightful.”
—Richmond Times Dispatch
“A droll but sincere look at what Superman and Spider-Man can teach about physics. . . . Entertaining. . . . His explanations are lucid and smooth.”
—Science
“With passion, general affability, and a penchant for bad (truly bad) jokes, Kakalios ably relates the most baffling of theorems.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A fascinating seminar on just how the superpowers of various heroes would and wouldn’t work, scientifically.”
—Starlog
“Entertaining, and often quite funny.”
—The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)
“What could superheroes and physics possibly have in common? More than you’d think. [Kakalios] takes a number of famed comic-book heroes and analyzes their abilities and actions in terms of how plausible they are from a physics standpoint.”
—Calgary Sun
“Knowledgeable. . . . Cleverly informative reading.”
—Comic Shop News
“A physics textbook that will be interesting. . . . Very entertaining.”
—About.com
“Kakalios draws on the Atom, Iron Man, X- Men, the Ant Man, and the Hulk, among others, to cover topics as diverse as electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, string theory, and thermodynamics. That all of this is accomplished with enough humor to make you laugh aloud is an added bonus.”
—Publishers Weekly
“[Kakalios] describes the powers of comic-book superheroes and uses those traits as an opportunity to launch into interesting physics.”
—Physics Today
“A treat for anyone interested in physical science and can be enjoyed readily by math phobes and those with little science education, since Kakalios explains it all with clear detail and a good measure of fun. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
“Clearly, Kakalios is a man who loves both physics and comics, and it really shines through.”
—SFX magazine
“Kakalios’s use of such stories to elucidate the finer points of impulse and momentum is extremely readable.”
—The Guardian
“After reading so many comic books, Kakalios is a bit of a comic himself, and he makes this a thoroughly entertaining read. Why can’t all physics professors be like this?”
—Science a GoGo
“[An] engaging and informative look at the surprising role of physics in comic books.”
—Science News
“The Physics of Superheroes is clear, rapid, funny, and endlessly informative—as if Stan Lee and George Gamow had teamed up to battle the nefarious forces of ignorance.”
—Gerard Jones, author of Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book
“Author James Kakalios is a scientific genius who could put Lex Luthor and Dr. Doom to shame. Superman should have him on retainer. I do—because The Physics of Superheroes is this comic-book writer’s newest favorite indispensable resource.”
—Mark Waid, writer of Spider-Man, Superman, and the Fantastic Four
James Kakalios is a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, where he has taught since 1988, and where his class “Everything I Needed to Know About Physics I Learned from Reading Comic Books” is a popular freshman seminar. He received his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Chicago, and has been reading comic books for much longer. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three children.
Author photo: Jonathan Chapman Photography
Figures in photo courtesy of Marvel Comics
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TO THERESE
FOREWORD
ALTHOUGH WILE E. COYOTE is by no stretch of the imagination a superhero, I have to admit that it was this hapless villain—who escaped death episode after episode while continuing to fruitlessly chase the Road Runner with almost Sisyphean intensity day in and day out—who first got me thinking about the physics of illustrated characters. Even as a relatively young boy hooked on television, I suspected there was something fishy whenever I saw Wile E. run off a cliff and hover indefinitely until the moment he realized there was no solid ground underneath. Somehow it seemed to me even then that gravity should continue to work, whether or not one was conscious of it.
I bring this example up, in spite of the fact that it involves no superheroes, and in fact involves a television cartoon rather than a comic-book figure, because it illustrates a point that has become central to the way I think about teaching physics: Few things are more memorable than confronting one’s own misconceptions. Indeed, some of us who study “physics education” for a living suggest that it is only by directly encouraging students to run up against their own misconceptions that you can help them internalize what you’re teaching them. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but I do know that if you want to reach out to understand popular misconceptions, then exploiting where we get our cultural perspectives from is a good place to start. And if that means borrowing from Superman, or Star Trek, I am all for it!
Now, I don’t want you to think that I bring up comic books and popular misconceptions in the same paragraph because I want to denigrate the former. Far from it! Indeed, the comics sometimes actually get it right, and as James Kakalios describes in his introduction to this far-reaching journey from the gravity of Krypton to the quantum mechanics of the X Men, students often seem to grumble about how the standard examples from his introductory physics class have nothing to do with the real world they will encounter upon graduation. But when they are instead introduced to the physics of superheroes, this complaint never arises!
One might initially wonder whether Superman might seem more real to students than pulleys, ropes, and inclined planes. But the real reason students don’t complain is undoubtedly that the comic-book examples are fun, while inclined planes aren’t. And that is perhaps one of the most useful reasons for thinking about the physics of superheroes. Not only can you imagine, and be introduced to, lots of interesting physics, from everyday phenomena to esoteric modern subjects, but it is actually fun to think about. Moreover, while subjects like quantum mechanics might seem intimidating, who could be intimidated by cute Kitty Pryde?
Some who remember the comic books that enthralled them as young people might also recall a sense of wistfulness in pondering whether our own world could ever capture the excitement and drama of the worlds of comic-book superheroes. In truth, however, it is far more interesting and exciting to open up our minds to the hidden wonders of nature that science has revealed to us over the past four hundred or so years. Truth is far stranger than fiction, even comic-book fiction. And finding out why is all part of the fun.
Lawrence M. Krauss
Cleveland, Ohio
PREFACE
I WAS A COMIC-BOOK FAN as a kid, but like many who have come before and after me, I abandoned the hobby in high school upon discovering girls. My mother, following the standard script, used this opportunity to throw my collection away. I renewed my comic-book reading habit years later, in graduate school, as a way to relieve the stress of working on my dissertation. Now, as an adult, I’ve rebuilt much of my comic-book collection (or, as my wife refers to it, “the fire hazard”), but as a precaution, my mother is not allowed near it.
Back in 1998, the University of Minnesota, where I am a physics professor, introduced a new type of class termed “freshman seminars.” These are small, seminar-type classes open to entering students, and while they are for credit, they are not tied to any particular curriculum. Professors are encouraged to develop classes on unconventional topics, and freshman seminars on Bio-Ethics and the Human Genome; The Color Red (a chemistry class); Trade and the Global Economy; and Complex Systems: From Sandpiles to Wall Street, are among the many offered. In 2001 I introduced a class originally entitled Everything I Know About Physics I Learned from Reading Comic Books. This is an actual physics class, covering most of the topics traditionally covered in an introductory course, but rather than employing illustrations of masses on springs, or blocks sliding down inclined planes, all of the examples came from the four-color adventures of costumed superheroes, and focused in particular on those situations where the comic books got their physics right.
The present book, while inspired by this class, is not a textbook per se. It is written for the nonspecialist who is interested in a relatively pain-free way to learn about the basic physics concepts underlying our modern technological lifestyle. Topics such as forces and motion, conservation of energy, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, solid-state physics and materials science are discussed, and real-world applications such as automobile airbags, transistors, and microwave ovens are explained. I hope you will be so busy enjoying this superhero ice-cream sundae that you won’t realize that I am sneakily getting you to eat your spinach at the same time.
This book is intended for both longtime comic-book fans and those who can’t tell Batman from Man Bat. In order to describe the physics connected with certain superheroes or story lines, I have had to summarize key plot points in various comic books. Therefore, for those who have not yet read these classics, the following two words apply to this entire book: “Spoiler Alert.”
Readers interested in consulting the source materials considered here will find citations of the comic books discussed in the text at the end of the book. I have listed the original comic-book information and, whenever possible, where the issue can be found in a reprint volume. The dates listed for a given comic book, printed on its cover, are not when the issue first appeared on the newsstands. To extend shelf life, the date listed indicated when the comic was to be returned to the publisher for credit, and not when it became available for purchase. In an effort to attract new readers who desire first issues as collectors’ items, comic books will occasionally restart their numbering scheme while keeping the name of the comic unchanged. If not otherwise noted, issue numbers refer to the first volume of a comic. I have listed, where known, the writer and artist for each comic listed in the endnotes. My omission of the inkers should not be construed as denigrating their co
ntribution to the finished comic (I most certainly do not believe that such a job is equivalent to “tracing”), but rather a reflection of the fact that the artist, along with the writer, typically have the primary responsibility for the physics in a given comic-book scene.
Any discussion of physics in comic books naturally invites the scrutiny of physicists as well as comic-book fans, both of whom are known for their, let us say, attention to detail. Each of the incidents I’ve selected illustrates a particular physics principle. Sometimes the very next issue would contain a scene contradicting the physically plausible manifestation of a superpower described here. When considering characters that have starred in multiple comic books for more than half a century, it is a sure bet that there will be counter-examples for any statement I make. Consequently, while examining the physics associated with a superhero’s powers will, in many cases, provide a better appreciation for their talents, my comrades in fandom are advised that this book is not intended to provide definitive accounts of any character’s power or adventures.