Originally posted by Alfheim
Glads was pissed and he was punching against it he was hitting it as hard as he could.
Punching as hard as he can doesn't mean he was punching with the same force as busting the planet. Otherwise, what was behind the shield we he punched it would have been destroyed like the planet. Especially since the shield is both able to be batted (knocked) away and able to be forced through objects with only human force.
Read this past post of mine for my interpretation of the physics behind Cap's shield (which haven't really been fully explained) and why your intuitions behind what would happen, wouldn't happen at all for the reasons you think. It's forgivable since that's what would happen in real life, but not in comics as clearly illustrated in Cap's stories:
Originally posted by Metalmanx
Funny how Cap's shield contradicts itself. It can take any punishment and nullify the momentum, yet it seems to retain that momentum just fine and not absorb any impacts when its thrown at someone or something.Interesting... 🤨
Originally posted by OneDumbG0
Let me illustrate the issue more definitively, "If I dangled Cap's shield from the ceiling with a string and shoot a stream of water at it, will it not swing at all? What about Cyke's blast?"My explanation has to do with the convex/vibranium nature of his shield. Convex curvature of any object results in natural redistribution of force. Quick illustration, "Choose whether or not you want to punch a flat 1-inch thick wooden board, or a curved outward 1-inch thick wooden board." You get the idea. Its just natural physics. The punch's force goes into the board but gets splashed outwards more dramatically with a more convex curvature.
Now vibranium supposedly absorbs force. We're smart enough to know it doesn't just do away with force and casts it into nothingness. It probably works, if not in exact theory, then in analogy, like a car's shock absorbers. All the force is there bouncing the car up and down, but the spring coil's properties dampen the bouncing by redistributing the force throughout the coil. With vibranium its the same thing. The force may get absorbed/dampened because it goes straight to the strong molecular bonds, or because vibranium molecules act in tandem and bounce force back and forth at astonishing speeds to make it seem like the force disappeared, whatever. Its the same idea.
Take that convex nature and throw vibranium into the equation, and you get a drastically exagerrated effect that appears to be pure force absorption and nullification but is really in fact just redistribution. This works both ways too however. Think about the concave nature when you look from behind Cap's shield. If vibranium redistributes force so insanely, then Cap's strength, pushing from behind, would eventually get redistributed into the very center of the shield from behind since that is the focus. Therefore, you have inertia from the back since his strength can't get splashed outwards anywhere. It eventually meets in the focus.
So take the illustration above and apply these concepts: If nothing was behind the shield, then a stream of water would cause the shield to swing. And Cyke's blast would make it swing and fly away into the next county. Now with the water stream, a single finger applying constant pressure from behind is probably enough to stop the shield from moving. The ratio of outer force necessary to overpower inner force is probably exponential, considering vibranium's crazy redistribution characteristics. So in order to stop Cyke's blast, a blast that could puncture a mountain, all that's necessary is, say, the strength of a Super Soldier pushing from behind to keep the shield stationary.
So what about when Cap clonks someone in the head in mid-flight with his thrown shield? Wouldn't this exponential ratio of force mean that the force behind his thrown shield would result in the guy's head getting splattered, like a missile just hit it? Well, no. I'm not saying Cap's strength is multiplied. But the dampening effects caused by the convex curvature and vibranium's distribution properties allow Cap to withstand Thanos crushing down on him and other law defying feats like the picture posted below. That picture involved an entire skyscraper on top of Cap and an energy shield that specifically simulated a strong vibranium matrix as described by Sharon Carter, who gave it to him.
Originally posted by 753
he wont even dent it and CA would survive it. the shield apparently cant be overloaded and any kinetic energy that hits it directly will be absorbed and have its effects negated.