Outrunning Bullets: Superman and the Science of Speed
INTRODUCTION THE NEED FOR SPEED Superman didn’t become the World’s Greatest Super Hero by waiting for crime to come to him Wherever super-villains lurk the Man of Steel taps into his power of speed to track them down Whether outrunning bullets or flying around the globe Superman always manages to save the day just in the nick of time Superman’s speed may be out-of-this-world but Earth has its own examples of speed that might give the Man of Steel a run for his money For instance did you know a hummingbird is considered the world’s fastest animal Or that engineers have developed a rocket car that can break the speed of sound Want to know more Take a deep breath and hold on tight You’re about to explore the science behind a world with a need for speed 4
FACT Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics 1 in 1938 5
SECTION 1 WHAT IS SPEED For heroes like Superman speed is essential to staying one step ahead of criminals In the scientific world there’s more to speed than getting somewhere in a hurry But what exactly is speed and how does it affect us every day Speed Essentials To scientists speed is how fast an object is moving It is a measure of the distance traveled in a certain time Although speed is often associated with fastness any moving object has speed A tortoise inching along has speed just not as much as a rocket blasting into space While defining speed is simple perceiving it isn’t always straightforward Superman is famous for traveling faster than a speeding bullet which is about 1,700 miles 2,735 kilometers per hour But right now even standing still you are traveling faster 6
POLICE A person standing near Earth’s equator spins about 1,040 miles 1,670 km per hour around Earth’s axis At the same time Earth whips around the Sun at 67,000 miles 107,800 km per hour That’s not all Our solar system hurtles around the center of the Milky Way galaxy at about 490,000 miles 788,580 km per hour Now that’s fast Earth orbits the Sun at the breakneck speed of 67,000 miles 107,800 km per hour Stopping a Bullet A speeding bullet only packs a punch when it makes an impact To stop bullets in the real world soldiers and police officers use Kevlar This fabric’s strong tight weave stretches to rob bullets of their energy Kevlar is the life-saving material used in bulletproof vests 7
