Superman Science: The Real-World Science Behind Superman's Powers
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
Microgravity Superman doesn’t just have the ability to zoom across the sky He can also stop in mid-air and hover effortlessly Even jetpacks don’t allow us to do this on Earth But the rules change in space An astronaut experiences microgravity In space microgravity rules Microgravity means very little gravity In orbit spacecraft are actually constantly falling toward Earth In this free-fall microgravity environment astronauts feel what it’s like to be Superman The lightest push off the wall or floor sends astronauts zooming
But microgravity comes with some drawbacks When getting used to microgravity astronauts may flail about and feel like they’re falling They must hook themselves to footholds to do simple tasks without floating away A stomach dropping roller coaster feeling lasts for days And even though their eyes tell them they are upside down or sideways their brains are confused by not feeling gravity’s pull This disorientation often causes vomiting and appetite loss Krypton Superman’s home planet Krypton has a stronger gravitational pull than Earth’s To Superman Earth must feel like a microgravity environment In some ways he experiences Earth similar to astronauts on the Moon The Moon’s gravity is only about 17 percent of Earth’s If you weigh 100 pounds 45 kilograms on Earth you’ll weigh only 17 pounds 8 kg on the Moon Because you are lighter you can jump six times higher with the same effort
