It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! In 1938, Action Comics #1, released the first Superman comic to the public. Superman, also known as Kal El, has shown many different powers since his first debut in 1938. This paper will discuss various topics about four of his major powers and explain why they are all impossible for anyone to achieve in real life. Superman’s four major powers that will be discussed in this paper are X-ray vision, being able to fly, super strength, and invulnerability.
The X-ray was first discovered in 1895 by a German physicist named W.C. Roentgen (“The Discovery”). W.C. Roentgen was working in his lab one day in 1895 and decided to send a high electrical current through a cathode ray filled with special gas. He realized that a dim green colored light was being produced, and decided to hold the cathode ray just above his wife’s hand. When he did this he observed that the light was able to penetrate human skin, but would leave all the bones visible. There is a picture below of the X-ray of W.C. Roentgen’s wife’s hand (“The Discovery”). He named it the X-ray because he did not know the identity of what kind of ray it was. He just named it X, because of its use in solving unknowns in algebraic equations (“The Discovery”).
However, there are some limitations on this Superman power in both the laws of physics and in the laws of the human body. The first restriction is that in an X-ray, tiny rays will pass through any atoms that don’t have enough mass to stop the rays (Inglis-Arkell). This is because when an atom absorbs a photon (ray), one of the atom’s electrons has to jump from a space near the atom to a space that is further away using a precise amount of energy (Inglis-Arkell). However, an electron do...
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... Orlando, Fla.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. 35. Print.
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We are currently living in the Golden Age of Superheroes. They dominate our cultural life, and have become seemingly permanent fixtures in modern media. Since X-Men burst onto the screen fifteen years ago, we have witnessed the release of over forty superhero movies. By 2020 we will have seen the release of more than twenty-five more. Today, the much anticipated film Superman vs. Batman has come to theaters. Though a plethora of superhero movies have been released, it is to the dissatisfaction of many, having long been exhausted by the stories of the Hulk, Batman, and Spider-man. Although I must agree that it is quite easy to get bored with the constant action, and flashing colors of these films, if one looks deep enough into the story they will discover universal themes and metaphors. Though they may be fighting off alien invasions, these heroes are also battling with their personal challenges, challenges which we can
Alexie, Sherman. "Superman and Me." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 19 Apr. 1998. Web. 14 May 2014. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/apr/19/books/bk-42979
On one end of the spectrum lays Superman, an alien who from birth is comparable to god, and on the opposite side lays Lex Luthor, a genius human who comes from nothing and created a financial empire. Superman
Marvel heroes and villains have a variety of powers and abilities. Among things like super strength,
"This Month in Physics History." This Month in Physics History. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2014.
... an impact on people all throughout America. From having 130,000 people visit the Superman panel at comic-con to having an original Action Comic Book being sold at more than $2,000,000. Superman is known for wearing his blue suit with a red and yellow ‘S’ but many artists have their own color tones and facial and body features.
Superman’s first appearance in an Action Comics was in 1938. He could leap over forty-story building with ease, lift cars overhead and couldn’t be hurt by bullets smaller than artillery shells. Scientists explained Superman’s abilities essentially as the strengths obtained from being born on Krypton. A planet 1,000 times larger than Earth, Krypton also had fifteen times the gravity. Generating energy directly from the sun, Superman, used his plant like ability to photosynthesize energy. Perhaps his heart pumps green chlorophyll rather than red blood, which would allow him to perform on Earth like an Earth astronaut can perform on our moon. He had extraordinary abilities, and although he was super, he was not omnipotent. Gaining energy from
Garcia, Kimberly. Wilhelm Roentgen and the Discovery of X Rays. Bear: Mitchell Lane, 2003. Print.
Alan Moore successfully breaks down the effectiveness of superheroes portrayed in your average comic book with his use of Dr.Manhattan:Super-powers and the superpowers inside his graphic novel Watchmen. Dr.Manhattan is made out to be less than divine. The American’s “placing our superhuman benefactor in the position of a walking nuclear deterrent”(Dr.Manhattan:Super-powers and the superpowers.II), depicting him as the Vitruvian Man and having a God present among mere mortals all lead to Moore being able to break down the common conceptions about superheroes.
Once the study was published X-rays were being advertised for a wide range of uses. Within one month of Roentgens published study, Dr. Gil...
X-rays have benefited the medical field for over a hundred years (Radiology). Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, a German Physics Professor, discovered the x-ray (Career as a Radiologic Technician, Radiography, Ultrasound X-ray Technician). Dartmouth College in New Hampshire performed the first procedure on February 3, 1896 (Radiology). Radiologic
f) Markel, H. (2012). ‘I have seen my death’: How the world discovered the X-ray. [PBS.org Article]. URL http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/i-have-seen-my-death-how-the-world-discovered-the-x-ray/
But In November 8, 1895 a moment that revolutionized the world of Science, Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen had discovered what he called X-rays. He was working in his laboratory operating one of Crooke’s tube which is the main source of cathode rays. The room was dark and when he exposed the rays he noticed that a paper made of barium platinocyanide was glowing. Rontgen try the experiment several times until he concluded that it was a new kind of ray rather than just light or electricity emitting from Crooke’s tube. He also concluded with his experiments that different kind of materials had a different degree of penetration depending on the density of the material. As he continued with his experiments he placed his wife’s hand on a image receptor and exposed the hand with the x-ray. The image was developed and was another proof of the discovery of x-rays when her hand showed the bones along with a ring she was wearing. During this time, Rontgen and his fellow colleagues didn't know about the fatal consequences of radiation. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen died in Munich, Germany in February 10, 1923. The reason of his death was carcinoma of the intestines. Coincidence, probably
Scientists from earlier times helped influence the discoveries that lead to the development of atomic energy. In the late 1800’s, Dalton created the Atomic Theory which explains atoms, elements and compounds (Henderson 1). This was important to the study of and understanding of atoms to future scientists. The Atomic Theory was a list of scientific laws regarding atoms and their potential abilities. Roentagen, used Dalton’s findings and discovered x-rays which could pass through solid objects (Henderson 1). Although he did not discover radiation from the x-rays, he did help lay the foundations for electromagnetic waves. Shortly after Roentagen’s findings, J.J. Thompson discovered the electron which was responsible for defining the atom’s characteristics (Henderson 2). The electron helped scientists uncover why an atom responds to reactions the way it does and how it received its “personality”. Dalton’s, Roentagen’s and Thompson’s findings helped guide other scientists to discovering the uses of atomic energy and reactions. Such applications were discovered in the early 1900’s by using Einstein’s equation, which stated that if a chain reaction occurred, cheap, reliable energy could b...