Ok so we've all seen some things go down in comics that seem to fly in the face of real world physics, so this is the place to ask questions and get details on some of the specifics involving them from some of the more academically inclined KMC members. Things like...
1. How hard would Captain America have had to throw his shield to hit that missile?
2. How much force does it really take to push a planet?
And consider theoretical questions fair game also. For instance...
Suppose some hero(who has superspeed) is capable of throwing a punch at 10 times the speed of sound. Now I know that a sonic boom is created by an object surpassing the sound of it's own movement(or at least something to that effect) so my question is what happens when the hero throws 3 punches at 10 times the speed of sound and they all land before the sound waves of the initial punch reach the target? Think about it, it seems like there should be one sonic boom for the initial punch, another when the heroes hand reverses it's direction and breaks the sound barrier again, and then TWO more as the second punch passes it's own sound waves and the sound waves of the first punch, one more for the reverse in direction again, and then THREE more as the third punch passes all three sets of sound waves. So there should be 8 sonic booms going off at pretty much the same instant as a result of the three punches. Now am I right, or is my line of thinking off?
I know the perils involved due to the nature of comics themselves, but EVERYONE thinks of these things at one point in time or another, so I figured it'd be cool to give some of our physics majors a chance to show off their talents by answering some of the more common questions.
Yeah now that I think about it, there should probably also be additional booms because the heroes fist will be passing the "booms" themselves.
So due to the smaller size of the fist you'd probably only get one good crack.
And when moving at that velocity is actully rather like moving faster than the air or air pressure can get out of the way, so the air acts sort of like a liquid. Thunder is also a naturally occuring form of sonic boom as it is generally the recollision of the displaced air that causes the boom in the first place, by moving at supersonic speeds in a limited area such as the path of a fist and moving back into the dispalaced air, you'd probably get at most one or two "cracks".
Jason says:
what am I supposed to do?
Jon says:
clean your apt before she moves in? buy some pink bed sheets? scented candles?
Jason says:
wait, u have pink bed sheets?
Jon says:
ive said too much
Btw, I downloaded some Iron Fist issues and his appearances, so let me know if you need any scans for the respect thread.
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Jason says:
what am I supposed to do?
Jon says:
clean your apt before she moves in? buy some pink bed sheets? scented candles?
Jason says:
wait, u have pink bed sheets?
Jon says:
ive said too much
KMC Community Forums
Oct 8th, 2007 11:06 PM
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