Note: If you are new to this blog-series of mine called "Superheroes Through a Microscope", click these links to view my preceding posts.
Its been nearly a month since I started this blog series of mine and it took me awhile to decide on which superhero to tackle next. Week after week I’ve been delivering my promise on giving scientific insights about superheroes. So, to mark the fourth week since my launch, I wanted to choose an extra special superhero. One that can be easily recognized by any age group or gender. A symbol of strength that is definitely one of the pillars of the Superhero Universe. Know who it is now? Take a guess. Is it a bird? Is it a plane, no. Its...
Out of all the superheroes that have been gracing our screens and comic books, one of the most iconic of them all is Clark Kent A.K.A Superman. For years, countless stories have rotated around this classical defender. All throughout those years, most remakes/retellings of his story has added an additional feature to this dashing character which transformed him to the Superman we now see in the Big screen. With that said, for this week's episode, I will be posting a two-part special of him as befits the Man of Steel. For the first part, it will be about the science used to explain Superman when he first debuted in the comics and the 2nd part will be about the Superman we now see flying with the Justice League.
According to the comics, Clark Kent was born in a massive planet called Krypton. Named Kal-El in his home galaxy, Superman was sent to earth by his parents when his father discovered the impending doom of their planet. It was stated in the comics and numerous other retelling of Superman’s origins that the core of Krypton has become highly unstable. After such discovery, Jor-el mobilized a plan to send his son to a planet should the planet indeed perish-- and so it did.
Upon his arrival on earth, Clark Kent immediately showed abilities that exceeded a normal human being. However, in Superman’s early days back in the 1900, he wasn't as invincible as he is today. He only had super strength and was susceptible to toxic gases and electricity. He was also unable to fly at that time but could leap at high buildings. He was clearly the strongest man on earth back then but not that invincible....YET
The young kryptonian’s powers were rather limited and its origins were relatively straightforward and can be explained in a single word--GRAVITY.
But how does gravity influence one’s speed and strength? And why is gravity in Krypton greater than earth?
Well, to brush up on our science class before. Everything that has mass has gravity or simply put, everything that has mass attracts another that has mass. The greater an object's mass, the more gravitational force it exerts. But why so? Well this is where Isaac Newton comes in.
According to him the amount of gravity that something possesses is proportional to its mass and distance between them. His law of universal gravitation says that the force (F) of gravitational attraction between two objects with Mass1 and Mass2 at distance D
Now for the Math geeks out there, his law can be translated into an equation:
F = G(mass1mass2)/D squared.*
(G is the gravitational constant that has the same value throughout o ur universe.)
So, to begin answering your question, Krypton has a greater gravitational pull than the earth simply because Krypton is more massive. The effect of gravity in terms of its mass and distance can be visualized in a way in the picture above. Einstein stated that space is something that can be warped or bent by something with mass. The greater the mass the greater it distorts space-time. But that isn't the end. As seen in the warping image above, An object's gravitational pull affects an object that's close to it more than an object that's farther away. There are so many more concepts that lies within Einstein's Relativity theory but I will not dive that deep....
Now that we have established why Krypton has greater gravity than earth. It's time to answer the other question. How does it make superman strong? How does it allow him to jump at great lengths. He never even lived on Krypton that long. It may have been because of the genetic structure of his species that evolved in time to accommodate the gravity in their planet. To imagine Superman’s abilities, with a body built for greater gravity, we need not Krypton nor any fictional planets but our own. The key is to look closely to our solar system-The Moon.
Just after Neil Armstrong and his team’s trip to the moon, videos of their journey where released to the public where we could see them easily jumping to heights that are exhausting to do here on earth. With one word, Superman’s abilities were easily explained back then. But still, the difference in gravity presents another scientific dilemma for our red caped man. As seen in the GIF above, astronauts were bouncing about the moon recklessly as if they were in slo-mo. Then it would make sense that Superman should have moved like them.
However, as he assumes his normal identity as Clark Kent, he seems to be in complete control of his actions as depicted in the comics. His day to day life clearly defies the laws of gravity. Furthermore, just like astronauts on zero gravity, Clark Kent's muscles should have deteriorated over time. So how does he remain powerful? Well the only reason I can think of is ADAPTATION. He was sent here to planet earth when he was still a baby. So even if his body was built for Krypton, he easily adapted to planet earth because he simply lived here his whole life where he learned to flex his muscles over time. Also he lived in a farm where a lot of physical chores were needed thus, continuously exercising his muscles unlike the astronauts who literally had no weight in space.
As invincible as anyone goes, Superman definitely is on the A-list. Though not as invincible as our Superman today, the Superman in the 1900's was definitely a Game-changer in his universe. Even if he was unable to fly back then he has soared within every child dreams back then. Our Superman today, however, is another story. So please keep posted on the second part of my Superman special where we will now look into the familiar Superman who could fly about.
Again, the scientific principles mention here are factual the use of it to explain Superman is just for entertainment. And remember when debating about fictional characters, the truth will most likely be what you have said.
GIF and Image Sources:
Sources:
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/subjects/sciences/why-does-the-earth-have-more-gravitational-force-than-the-moon-or-some-other-planet
http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-mass-and-distance-affects-gravity.html
https://www.theglocal.com/articles/540/2016/02/10/10-things-you-need-to-know-before-watching-batman-v-superman
