Superman Science: The Real-World Science Behind Superman's Powers
Section 1 Flight Lessons One second Clark Kent peels off his shirt and tie The next Superman soars over Metropolis Flight is child’s play for Superman but it challenged scientists and engineers for centuries Now their discoveries in flight science allow us to touch the clouds The Physics of Flight Flight takes many forms Birds flap their wings and airplanes use jet engines But both must deal with gravity Gravity is the force that pulls all objects toward Earth Everything dropped launched or flown falls to Earth unless it overcomes gravity To do that fliers must employ thrust to move them forward through the air Aircraft get thrust from their powerful engines Birds experience thrust when they flap their wings
But forward thrust alone won’t keep fliers airborne They must also create lift or an upward force to overcome gravity Birds and planes have shaped wings to help create lift but they only work when moving An airplane doesn’t create lift if its engines fail to push it forward And while birds can glide without flapping gravity pulls them down as their thrust decreases Commercial jets use powerful engines and shaped wings to achieve the thrust and lift necessary for liftoff Low Energy Lift Eagles and other birds of prey are experts at creating lift with little effort Their heavy bodies make flapping tiresome Instead these birds seek out thermal currents Without flapping they ride rising pockets of warm air upward for hundreds of feet
Aerodynamic Airfoil Does Superman’s cape hold the secret to his flight powers No But the way it cuts through the air might just give the Man of Steel a little extra lift In the real world the shape of an airplane’s wings is the key to staying airborne Otto Lilienthal with one of his gliders in 1895 The design of the modern airplane wing dates back more than 120 years In the 1890s bird wings inspired German engineer Otto Lilienthal to experiment with airfoils An airfoil is a gently curved blade shape that causes air to move quicker over its top than its bottom This movement creates lower air pressure above the wing to suck it upward Meanwhile the angle of the wing redirects air downward As air is pushed down the wing experiences lift as it is pushed up
FLAP Flaps increase an airfoil’s curve to improve lift during takeoffs Staying aloft is one thing but how does an airfoil help a heavy passenger jet take off At takeoff pilots lower flaps on the back of a jet’s wings These flaps make the airfoil’s curve larger to increase lift At 160 to 180 miles 258 to 290 kilometers per hour enough lift is created to raise the jet While flying the flaps are retracted to reduce air resistance or drag The reduced drag helps the plane cruise at 550 to 580 miles 885 to 933 km per hour Stopping Power Aircraft wings are shaped to reduce drag but they also have features to increase it Why Because stopping a loaded plane landing at 150 miles 240 km per hour is no small feat Jets need more than their brakes to stop They also use spoilers These wing flaps flip up to create more drag to help stop the plane SPOILER
