fizsics: how does superman fly?

[Flatfrog]

maybe because that was a series of Gilette ads/science promotions.

I enjoyed those! It reminded me of a 'short story' of sorts, I can't recall who by, in the form of a government report on the importance of getting Superman to make a new baby. They point out all the problems with Lois Lane carrying a super-powered child that will rip her apart with its first kick, and conclude that Supergirl is the only viable person to carry it to term. But I particularly remember the worry about what would happen when Superman ejaculates; his super-powered sperm would explode into the atmosphere and potentially impregnate every human woman on earth.

 

[Jenvas1306]

if the thing with a higher gravitation on krypton was the reason he can fly, his species should also be adapted to high grav and he would look more like this:

 

[Starik20X6]

I thought it was telekinesis. He has a telekinetic field that envelopes his body, and anything he chooses to extend it to (e.g. the falling plane he just caught). This also explains why when he catches said plane, he doesn't just tear through it like it was made of tissue paper, and why in the first Superman movie he can only be holding one of Lois Lane's hands without her plummeting to her doom.

 

[Hazy992]

Well after having a quick look on Wikipedia (so take this with a grain of salt):

Lex Luthor once theorized that Superman had to stem from a gigantic planet with enormous gravity, where his species had developed natural anti-gravity organs to be able to function; on Earth, this would allow him to control his own gravimetric field in order to fly.

Superman's ability to fly under his own power is explained with the concept of "self telekinesis", an invisible telekinetic field that allows him to lift himself off the ground. Any objects that Superman touches are also enveloped by the field and this allows him to move them with the force of his will.

So yeah, telekinetic gravity fields apparently.

 

[TitanAura]

The answer is "The American Way." As in, he isn't allowed to fly with toenail clippers or containers carrying more than 6 oz of liquid.

 

[K84]

I thought it was telekinesis. He has a telekinetic field that envelopes his body, and anything he chooses to extend it to (e.g. the falling plane he just caught). This also explains why when he catches said plane, he doesn't just tear through it like it was made of tissue paper, and why in the first Superman movie he can only be holding one of Lois Lane's hands without her plummeting to her doom.

Was'nt that also what kept his suit intact, most of the time?
(Pre-new 52 BS with the armor and stuff)

 

[Eleuthera]

The correct answer has already been given, it's telekinesis. This power is also used to lift things that would collapse under their own weight (like ships).

He shaves like shown in the picture posted up there. but he doesn't use a normal mirror since it would melt, but a piece of the Kryptonian spaceship he came to Earth with.

[/superman geek]

 

[Ragsnstitches]

if the thing with a higher gravitation on krypton was the reason he can fly, his species should also be adapted to high grav and he would look more like this:

Isn't that the same reason why the Volus in Mass Effect look like this:

If I recall, their home planet had higher pressure acting on them to which their bodies adapted to, but which required them to wear exo-suits at all times in inter-racial communal spaces like the citadel, where the pressure is much lighter. Otherwise they would explode.

OT: My theory is that Superman sustained himself with Effervescent tablets and coke. So Supermans Super flight is a by-product of super farts.

 

[Leemaster777]

He farts a lot.

Also the quick search prioritized "how does Superman shave" over "how does Superman fly". Fun stuff.

I would assume that he takes a mirror, shoots his eye lasers at it and the beams get reflected onto his face, burning all the facial hair.
That's my theory.

It would appear you are correct.

Spoiler

That also happens to be the way that he performs brain surgery on himself.

That's all well and good for how he shaves, but answer me this:

How does Superman cut his hair? Burning the hairs off his face with his own lasers makes perfect, rational sense, but how exactly does he physically CUT the hair on his head? Unless he as a VERY elaborate series of mirrors to precisely direct his heat vision to cut the hair both on top, and on the BACK of his head, I don't really see how it's possible.

Although that would explain why he just kinda gave up after awhile and started rocking that mullet:

 

[Angelous Wang]

You've got two possible explanations to choose form, because nether is official but both have come up in the comics at some point.

1.

Lex Luthor once theorized that Superman had to stem from a gigantic planet with enormous gravity, where his species had developed natural anti-gravity organs to be able to function; on Earth, this would allow him to control his own gravimetric field in order to fly.

2.

Kryptonians have natural but ver weak telekinetic abilities, which is why you often see Kryptonians can make Kryptonian technology come to them telekinetically. Once their body cells absorb enough solar radiation and they become super-kryptonians their telekinesis also becomes much stronger. This causes them to gain a very strong telekinetic bubble around their bodies. This bubble is both responsible for their indestructibly and ability to fly, this bubble can also be extended around other things with practice, which is how Superman keeps his suit from being damaged.

How does Superman cut his hair? Burning the hairs off his face with his own lasers makes perfect, rational sense, but how exactly does he physically CUT the hair on his head?

Superman is strong enough he can pull out is own hair and break the hair strands, so I would imagine he just holds the back of his head and rips off hair over a certain length.

 

[The Lugz]

question for all the physics geeks and hardcore comic fans out there: how exactly does superman fly?
i'm assuming it's not magic but with my massive (limited) understanding of the laws of physics the best conclusion i can come up with is superman is propelled forward by way of the force of his superhuman farts....

you want the comic lore BS answer?

LONG, LOOOOng story short.. he has psychic powers but doesn't know it, or simply can't tap them directly and they function as a product of his strength and 'kryptonian-ness' as many of the things he does is completely impossible according to newtonian physics it only makes sense if he isn't using newtonian physics.

this has been explained away in various ways, but it comes back to this main point:
he's a psi-powered god so he can basically do whatever he wants.

 

[Lieju]

Lex Luthor once theorized that Superman had to stem from a gigantic planet with enormous gravity, where his species had developed natural anti-gravity organs to be able to function; on Earth, this would allow him to control his own gravimetric field in order to fly. (Cited as from issue #5 of the Birthright comic series)

I'm not a biologist but I think that theory has a flaw - if Kryptonians did come from a high gracity planet, their bodies should have a different structure, I think. I.e., they won't look like humans.

It's pretty unlikely life on any other planet would evolve to look like humans anyway. (I mean, just look at OUR planet and how many times a hominid form has evolved, it's not a very common thing)
(But then again, DC universe does have gods, so I'm not all that certain they (or humans)might not have been created by gods/aliens/superbeings.)
Biology and evolution gets pretty weird when you know for a fact that there are gods and magic.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

The one thing I never got with Superman is the inconsistency of things when it comes to Kryptonite. In Smallville, Clark is stabbed by blue kryptonite and falls from a high building to tarmac dozens if not hundreds of feet below. In Superman Returns, the hero falls from the stratosphere with a chunk of green kryptonite lodged beneath his skin.

Now in both of these cases, I am led to believe that Superman is effectively rendered powerless. In both these cases he cannot fly, has no strength, speed, etc, etc. As such, in both cases of falling from such great heights all that should have been left of what is effectively a human body plummeting at terminal velocity is a red smudge.

So how is it that his body can withstand the impact despite being powerless?

 

[Angelous Wang]

The one thing I never got with Superman is the inconsistency of things when it comes to Kryptonite. In Smallville, Clark is stabbed by blue kryptonite and falls from a high building to tarmac dozens if not hundreds of feet below. In Superman Returns, the hero falls from the stratosphere with a chunk of green kryptonite lodged beneath his skin.

Now in both of these cases, I am led to believe that Superman is effectively rendered powerless. In both these cases he cannot fly, has no strength, speed, etc, etc. As such, in both cases of falling from such great heights all that should have been left of what is effectively a human body plummeting at terminal velocity is a red smudge.

So how is it that his body can withstand the impact despite being powerless?

First with Kryptonite it's not the rock itself that harms Kryptonians it's the radiation the rock emits, Kryptonite is just normal pieces of Krypton that have absorbed radiation types that are harmful to or effect Kryptonians. This is also why Kryptonians are effected by Kryptonite when they enter a certain range of it rather than by touch, because it's the range of the radiation. (though admittedly red/black Kryptonite seems to defy this, but maybe it just has a really short range).

Green the most common is Kryptonian doomsday radiation, meaning rock has absorbed the radiation from the doomsday weapon that Zod used to blow up Krypton, which it is the most deadly to Kryptonians.

The effect Green has on Kryptonians is that it stops Kryptonian body cells from absorbing any more solar radiation (so they loose their powers) and starts to very slowly damages Kryptonian body cells (which is what causes the pain).

What it does not do is remove any power the Kryptonian has already absorbed which is why Kryptonian's can keep there durability for a while or even use their other powers to get away from/destroy the Kryptonite if they are quick enough.

(You'll notice in Superman Returns he purposely flys up into the upper atmosphere to absorb a greater amount of solar radiation before he goes and deals with the Kryptonite land-mass).

Which is also why Kryptonians can also make themselves effectively immune to Green Kryptonite by living on the sun for a few years because they simply store up enough solar radiation to keep powered up even whilst in the presence of Green Kryptonite.

Once Kryptonians are removed from the presence of Green Kryptonite their body can start absorbing solar radiation again even when dead and heal themselves as necessary, which is how Superman can come back to life all the time. And why is practically impossible to kill a Kryptonian on earth or anywhere with the correct solar radiation.

Blue works the same as Green except is doesn't damage Kryptonian body cells it just stops absorption.
Gold works the same as Blue except it's supposedly permanent.

No clue how Red, Black or Silver work.

 

[Anezay]

[snip]
Superman is strong enough he can pull out is own hair and break the hair strands, so I would imagine he just holds the back of his head and rips off hair over a certain length.

I don't like this answer. Sounds painful. Can't Wonder Woman's sword cut him magically? Maybe she's his barber.

 

[RoBi3.0]

Super powered Kryptonian farts.

 

[The AmeriCanadian Gamer]

If I had to guess anything its because of his telekinetic capabilites (its what allows him to carry large items without them breaking under their own weight). I would assume he can simply use his telekinetics to fly.

 

[hermes]

Also the quick search prioritized "how does Superman shave" over "how does Superman fly". Fun stuff.

maybe because that was a series of Gilette ads/science promotions.

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Quite a good one too.

Also been covered in a lot of Superman material... accepted answer, he burn his beard out.

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OT: There is no scientific explanation possible. Even the low gravity used in most media don't explain how he can control it in midair, or how its more than a big jump. His body does not have limbs that could keep him in the air (like wings), and most of the time he is not even moving while flying.

 

[Gatx]

I think the telekinesis was just one possible explanation, but it's supposed to be more or less how SuperBOY's powers work. It only served to imitate super strength and flight though and he lacked other Kryptonian powers like heat vision until later on. I don't like this explanation though since most of Superman's abilities are "super" extensions of human capabilities (hence, SUPER-man). Super strength, and breath are obvious as to how they are expansions on normal human abilities, even heat vision I imagine is something like focusing the natural lenses in the eye to have a "sun through magnifying glass" like effect (I think the actual explanation is that he just shoots solar radiation through his eyes though, much less interesting IMO). It just fits better, thematically if flight is an extension of his ability to jump tall buildings. I mean it doesn't make any sense scientifically, but you know, it's fiction.