The Science of Spider-Man

[DACMAN]

This thread is dedicated to talking about the science of Spider-Man. How fast can he swing? How fast can he run? How high can he jump? Exactly how strong is he? Is his blood really radioactive? How strong is his webbing? How does he stick to walls? Does he really have a low level healing factor? Whatever else you guys can think of. And remember to always post your sources.

This is the only thing I found when it comes to how fast he can swing.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_c...1&waNoAnsSet=2

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by DACMAN

This thread is dedicated to talking about the science of Spider-Man. How fast can he swing? How fast can he run? How high can he jump? Exactly how strong is he? Is his blood really radioactive? How strong is his webbing? How does he stick to walls? Does he really have a low level healing factor? Whatever else you guys can think of. And remember to always post your sources.

This is the only thing I found when it comes to how fast he can swing.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_c...1&waNoAnsSet=2

Aloha,
Game and Movie facts don't make for comic book continuity.You may want to consult .
Spidey rules

[SuperFerret]

His blood is radioactive, moreso than anyone else's as he gave May a blood transfusion once and it made her sick.

[DACMAN]

Originally Posted by Donald Thomas

Aloha,
Game and Movie facts don't make for comic book continuity.You may want to consult .
Spidey rules

I own that. It doesn't say how fast he can swing.

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by DACMAN

I own that. It doesn't say how fast he can swing.

Aloha,
Good.But never use movie or game information as Comic book facts. We as fans now have three different continuities. Game facts, movie facts and comic book facts. When we discuss anything to do with the powers Spider-Man, it's comic book facts ONLY!I'm sure we have some physics majors on these boards who would debate the idea of a 175 lb man(Peter) swinging at 60-80 miles an hour. And 200 miles an hour is just unbelievable(I know it's a comic book)and I know Spidey is fast, but those figures just make him Cosmic Spider-Man compared to The Amazing Spider-Man.
Spidey rules

[DACMAN]

Some how I don't think he's swing speed would be all that different from comic to film and visa-versa. Found some more...


http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_high_c...ump_vertically

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_far_can_spider-man_jump

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_can_spider-man_run

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_strong...'s_webbing

[DACMAN]

Originally Posted by Donald Thomas

I'm sure we have some physics majors on these boards who would debate the idea of a 175 lb man(Peter) swinging at 60-80 miles an hour.

But that's goofy. He's a 165 lb man that has super human powers. He can lift 10 tons. His biology is far beyond that of a normal human. Him just pulling himself on a web-line is going to create much more force and speed than that of a normal human. So I can imagine that he can propel himself into faster speeds than the normal human as well.

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Originally Posted by DACMAN

Exactly how strong is he?

The only answer I could find to this was "Bub, he's got radioactive blood."

[Meehaul]

Well, it depends. Speed is the rate of change over a distance. Velocity is the rate of change of position. A swinging object will vary in speeds over the distance traveled: think about a swing set. When you're sitting in the swing, you have potential energy. When you start to pump your legs, you change the potential energy into kinetic energy, at the height of the swing arc (where you stop, just at the point you begin to fall back) your kinetic energy turns into potential energy and then as you begin to swing back, your potential energy is converted back to kinetic energy. The speed at which you swing will depend upon the amount of force generated in the kick and the length of the swing arc, not to mention conditions that create resistence (wind, rain, whatever).

How does this relate to Spidey's swinging? Well when you ask "how fast" he can swing, it will depend upon the distance he covers, the amount of force his legs generate to propel himself, the length of his web, and the conditions under which he is swinging. Sort of like when you ask how fast a car can go--it depends upon the distance. Usually, the "top speed" of an automobile is measured by the time it takes that car to travel a quarter mile. So the distance is fixed in order to compare the relative speeds of cars. This is a bit like the discussion concerning "what killed Gwen Stacy" (it was probably the webbing). We need to know a bit more to determine speed. I think we can safely say that he can swing pretty fast, though.

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by Meehaul

Well, it depends. Speed is the rate of change over a distance. Velocity is the rate of change of position. A swinging object will vary in speeds over the distance traveled: think about a swing set. When you're sitting in the swing, you have potential energy. When you start to pump your legs, you change the potential energy into kinetic energy, at the height of the swing arc (where you stop, just at the point you begin to fall back) your kinetic energy turns into potential energy and then as you begin to swing back, your potential energy is converted back to kinetic energy. The speed at which you swing will depend upon the amount of force generated in the kick and the length of the swing arc, not to mention conditions that create resistence (wind, rain, whatever).

How does this relate to Spidey's swinging? Well when you ask "how fast" he can swing, it will depend upon the distance he covers, the amount of force his legs generate to propel himself, the length of his web, and the conditions under which he is swinging. Sort of like when you ask how fast a car can go--it depends upon the distance. Usually, the "top speed" of an automobile is measured by the time it takes that car to travel a quarter mile. So the distance is fixed in order to compare the relative speeds of cars. This is a bit like the discussion concerning "what killed Gwen Stacy" (it was probably the webbing). We need to know a bit more to determine speed. I think we can safely say that he can swing pretty fast, though.

Aloha,
I agree with all that you've said, my point to DACMAN is that neither Sony(movies) nor Activision/Blizzard(video games) dictates what is Amazing Spider-Man facts.Regarding any powers of Spider-Man, if it's not from an official Marvel source, it's not continuity within the comic book universe.
So if we apply the concept of proportionate strength of a spider to Peter Parker, we get a man that should be able knock out all "normal" human beings with ONE PUNCH! I've never bought the Pulling my punches portrayal.
Back on subject-The most complete analysis of Spider-Man's powers was done by Tony Stark while they were members of the New Avengers and wearing the Iron Spider costume.Tony's kind of tied up at the moment. But seriously, while I have no doubt that based upon the powers of Spider-Man he can swing himself at a much greater rate of speed than any animal that swings , but you'd have to research a Spider-Man comic book that stated that he was chasing a car doing a certain speed (60-80,200 mph??) to say you had a comic book continuity answer to this question.
Spidey rules with research

[DACMAN]

Originally Posted by Donald Thomas

Aloha,
I agree with all that you've said, my point to DACMAN is that neither Sony(movies) nor Activision/Blizzard(video games) dictates what is Amazing Spider-Man facts.Regarding any powers of Spider-Man, if it's not from an official Marvel source, it's not continuity within the comic book universe.
So if we apply the concept of proportionate strength of a spider to Peter Parker, we get a man that should be able knock out all "normal" human beings with ONE PUNCH! I've never bought the Pulling my punches portrayal.
Back on subject-The most complete analysis of Spider-Man's powers was done by Tony Stark while they were members of the New Avengers and wearing the Iron Spider costume.Tony's kind of tied up at the moment. But seriously, while I have no doubt that based upon the powers of Spider-Man he can swing himself at a much greater rate of speed than any animal that swings , but you'd have to research a Spider-Man comic book that stated that he was chasing a car doing a certain speed (60-80,200 mph??) to say you had a comic book continuity answer to this question.
Spidey rules with research

-In "The Amazing Spider-Man" issue 510 it takes Spider-Man 9 minutes and 50 seconds to cross the entire island of Manhattan which from end to end is 13.4 miles. If he continued that speed for another 50 minutes he would have traveled 80.4 miles in an hour. Meaning, he can travel 80+ miles per hour.


Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_fast_c...#ixzz1rJXGLVQP

Boom!

[runawayboulder]

Throughout the years I've seen times when he rode the top of a train to get him to Queens from Manhattan because it was faster than web swinging. I would guess he should be able to swing the length of a few city blocks in a minute or two.

There was another Spidey comic I read years ago where eyewitnesses described him as being able to leap clear across 5th Ave in one shot.

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by runawayboulder

Throughout the years I've seen times when he rode the top of a train to get him to Queens from Manhattan because it was faster than web swinging. I would guess he should be able to swing the length of a few city blocks in a minute or two.

There was another Spidey comic I read years ago where eyewitnesses described him as being able to leap clear across 5th Ave in one shot.

Aloha,
Okay, 200 miles an hour when in FREE FALL for a short burst maybe.He's supposed to be able to jump 30 ft straight up or the length of a city block.
Spidey rules

[ben_reilly_s_s]

Originally Posted by Donald Thomas

Aloha,
Good.But never use movie or game information as Comic book facts. We as fans now have three different continuities. Game facts, movie facts and comic book facts. When we discuss anything to do with the powers Spider-Man, it's comic book facts ONLY!I'm sure we have some physics majors on these boards who would debate the idea of a 175 lb man(Peter) swinging at 60-80 miles an hour. And 200 miles an hour is just unbelievable(I know it's a comic book)and I know Spidey is fast, but those figures just make him Cosmic Spider-Man compared to The Amazing Spider-Man.
Spidey rules

175 is too heavy.
I'd say 145-155 TOPS!

[ben_reilly_s_s]

Originally Posted by Donald Thomas

Aloha,
Okay, 200 miles an hour when in FREE FALL for a short burst maybe.He's supposed to be able to jump 30 ft straight up or the length of a city block.
Spidey rules

Staight up from a Standing Position.
It'll be MUCH different from a running Jump!

[DACMAN]

Originally Posted by ben_reilly_s_s

175 is too heavy.
I'd say 145-155 TOPS!

Ummm... you do know that Spider-Man is 167 pounds according to Marvel?

Real Name: Peter Parker
Occupation: Crime fighter, teacher
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: New York City
Height: 5'10
Weight: 167 lbs.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown

http://marvel.com/universe/Spider-Man_(Peter_Parker)

[Themanofbat]

He tops off at 172 the day after Thanksgiving...

[Donald Thomas]

Aloha,
Here's someone who has taken these questions very seriously.

Tension in Spider-Man's Webs

The Physics Factbook™
Edited by Glenn Elert -- Written by his students
An educational, Fair Use website

topic index | author index | special index

Spider-Man (2002)

The feature film Spider-Man is about a young man who obtains extraordinary powers by being bitten by a genetically altered spider. He begins to experiment and develop his powers and realizes that he can shoot web out of his forearms. Soon after that, he realizes that he can shoot his web onto objects, such as tall buildings. He furthers this power by using his web as a rope, and swinging from place to place.

In Chapter 8, entitled "Scaling the heights", Spider-Man is first learning how to use his web to swing from place to place. He attempts to swing from one roof on to another by shooting his web onto a crane over a far building, and swinging himself onto a lower building's rooftop. Since he's new at this, his plan doesn't work out well. He's able to swing to the far building, but he is unable to stop himself. He reaches his lowest point, and then swings back up a bit, crashing into a billboard.

screen capture

The height of the building Spider-Man starts off on is 6 stories, or 18 meters high (assuming one story is 3 meters). The height of the building he wants to swing to is 1 story, or 3 meters high. The crane which he shoots his web onto is 7 stories, or 21 meters high. In order to calculate Spider-Man's initial potential energy, we must use the formula U = mgh, where U represents potential energy, m represents mass, g represents the acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m/s2), and h represents height. In this specific case, m is 68 kg, and h is 15 meters (not 18, because he's swinging to the roof of a building that's 3 meters off the ground).

U = mgh = (68 kg)(9.8 m/s2)(15 m) = 9996 joules

Since Spider-Man starts off not moving, he has only potential energy. At the bottom of his swing, he has only kinetic energy, given by K = ½mv2, where v is velocity, and once again, m is mass. We don't know Spider-Man's velocity at the bottom of his swing. In order to calculate it, we apply the law of conservation of energy, where the sum of energy initially equals the sum of the energy finally. Therefore, kinetic energy at the bottom of the swing is equal to Spider-Man's initial potential energy, or

½mv2 = mgh

Using the magic of algebra, we can solve for v, and find that

v = sqrt(2gh) = sqrt(2(9.8 m/s2)(15 m)) = 17.15 m/s

The velocity at the bottom of his swing is found to be 17.15 m/s (38.36 mph, or 61.74 km/h).

In order to calculate the tension in Spider-Man's web, we must use centripetal force, the net force acting on Spider-Man. The centripetal force is the force directed toward the center of the circle, that keeps an object moving in a circle, and is given by the formula

Fc = mv2/r

Where m is the mass of the object, v is the velocity of Spider-Man's swing, and r is the radius of the circle formed while Spider-Man swings. In this situation, centripetal force is equal to the tension in the rope subtracted from the weight of Spider-Man. Tension is a force found in objects such as wires, strings, ropes, or webs, in this case. Weight is the force found by multiplying an object's mass by the acceleration due to gravity (mg). Therefore, mv2/r = T–mg, and using the magic of algebra once again, we solve for T, and find that

T = mv2/r + mg = (68 kg)(17.15 m/s)2/(18 m) + (68 kg)(9.8 m/s2) = 1777 newtons

In more conventional units, 1777 newtons is equal to 399 pounds-force, or 181 kilograms-force.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)

In Chapter 43 of Spider-Man 2, entitled "A Train to Catch", Dr. Octopus seizes the controls of a train full of passengers, and puts the train at maximum speed. He then breaks the controls, leaving the train on course to drive straight off the elevated track. Spiderman is the only person that can save the train and its passengers from the deadly crash. He initially attempts to stop the train with his own strength, but fails miserably and doesn't slow the train down. He then attempts to fire his webs onto the surrounding buildings, creating a makeshift sling of himself and his webs. He is unsuccessful once again, but realizes that he's onto something. Finally, he fires numerous webs onto the surrounding buildings, and again makes a sling of himself. Finally, the train begins to slow down, and Spiderman stops the train right before it would have crashed.

screen capture

When Dr. Octopus breaks the controls of the train, it's moving at an initial speed of 35.76 m/s (80 mph). Each car of the train is a 2200 series, as according to http://www.chicago-l.org/multimedia/Spiderman2/. The mass of one car of the train is 21,500 kg (47,399 lbs), as according to http://www.chicago-l.org/trains/roster/2200.html, and since the train has 6 cars total, its total mass is 129,000 kg (284,396 lbs). Assuming there's 20 passengers in each car of the train, and assuming they all have a mass of 67.5 kg (149 lbs), the total mass of the train is 137,100 kg (302,254 lbs). Finally, the time the train was stopped was found to be 46 seconds. Since we know that the train ends up completely stopped, we can calculate the acceleration of the train over the time that it is stopped, using the formula a = (v–vo)/t: a represents the acceleration, v is the final velocity, vo is the initial velocity, and t is the time over which the object is accelerated.

a = (v–vo)/t = (0–35.76 m/s)/46 s = -0.78 m/s2

In this case, the acceleration is negative, since the train is being slowed down rather than sped up.

Using the acceleration and the total mass of the train and its passengers, we can calculate the force Spiderman exerts to stop the train (tension in his web). We can calculate this by applying Newton's Second Law of Motion, where ΣF = ma. ΣF is the net force (in this case, tension), m is the mass, and a is the acceleration.

ΣF = ma = (137100kg)(-0.78 m/s2) = -106,938 newtons

In more conventional units, 106,938 newtons is equal to 24,041 pounds-force, or 10,905 kilograms-force.

As a bonus, we decided to calculate the total distance the train traveled from the time Dr. Octopus destroyed the controls to the time Spider-Man stopped it. We can do this using the formula s = vot + ½at2: s is distance, a represents the acceleration, vo is the initial velocity, and t is the time over which the distance is traveled.

s = vot + ½at2 = (35.76 m/s)(46 s) + ½(-0.78 m/s2)(46 s)2 = 819.72 meters
Bonus Analysis: Spider-Man's Free Fall

In the movie Spider-Man 2, a young student (Peter Parker) is struggling with his discovered abilities and trying to keep it a secret. He also has to juggle a separate life outside his spider-like abilities and keep people from finding out who he really is. He encounters numerous challenges throughout the movie both as being a real man and Spider-Man.

screen capture

In chapter 13, titled "Web Failure" we see Spider-Man swinging above many buildings. He unexpectedly loses his power to shoot his web and falls. Spider-Man experiences free-fall for 4 seconds before he hits the roof of a building. During the free-fall, Spider-Man experiences an acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2. By having the time and the acceleration due to gravity, we can use a simple kinematic equation to find the distance Spider-Man falls before hitting the roof of the building.

y = ½at2

y = ½(9.8 m/s2)(4 s)

y = 78.4 m

If we ignore the force of drag acting upward on Spider-Man as he falls, we can also determine Spider-Man's vertical speed at the instant before he hits the roof of the building. We use the formula:

v2 = vo2 + 2as

v2 = (2)(9.8 m/s2)(78.4 m)

v = 39.2 m/s

Daniel Saronson, Michael Robbins, Gafei Szeto, David Rozenberg -- 2005

Spidey rules with True Geeks for fans

[Themanofbat]

[Spidey220987]

I've got a book called "The Science of Superheroes" , it's a good read.
I have to find where I put it, I brought it about 6 years ago.
Pretty sure it had a chapter about Spider-Man in it.
I've also got one about the science of the X-Men too

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by DACMAN

Ummm... you do know that Spider-Man is 167 pounds according to Marvel?

Real Name: Peter Parker
Occupation: Crime fighter, teacher
Group Affiliation: None
Base of Operations: New York City
Height: 5'10
Weight: 167 lbs.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Brown

http://marvel.com/universe/Spider-Man_(Peter_Parker)

Aloha,
So if Peter has the proportionate strength,speed, etc. of a spider, here's something to look at.

The jumping spiders, family Salticidae, comprise the largest of all spider groups, with over 5,000 species worldwide.

Classification:
Kingdom – Animalia
Phylum – Arthropoda
Class – Arachnida
Order – Araneae
Family – Salticidae
Special Adaptations and Defenses:

The size and shape of their eyes give jumping spiders excellent vision. Salticids use this to their advantage as hunters, employing their high resolution vision to locate potential prey. Insects and spiders with good vision often do elaborate courtship dances to attract mates, and the jumping spiders are no exception to this rule.

As the common name suggests, a jumping spider can jump quite well, achieving distances over 50 times its body length. Look at their legs, however, and you'll see they don't have strong, muscular legs. To leap, salticids quickly increase the blood pressure to their legs, which causes the legs to extend and propel their bodies through the air.

So 5 ft 10 inches times 50 is a little over 254 ft

This is why I have said for a long time that the powers of Spidey are much greater than have been portrayed based upon the concept of proportionate powers of a spider.
Spidey rules

[Donald Thomas]

Originally Posted by JJJ's Ulcer

The only answer I could find to this was "Bub, he's got radioactive blood."

Aloha,
Here's another issue to ponder.
Last year it was discovered how spiders are able, not only to walk across a ceiling, but to carry up to 170 times their own body weight. The study that accomplished this was performed by a German and Swiss scientific team at the University of Zurich, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine spider legs, and thus "clarify the fundamental basics of a biological attachment system and to supply potential input for the development of novel technical devices" (Kesel et al. 2004).

In other words, someone wants to make a Spiderman suit.

The spiders studied at Zurich are members of a family of jumping spiders that hunt down prey without building a web, so holding onto surfaces while carrying significant weight (i.e., food) is obviously crucial to their survival. On each of the spider's feet there are hair-like tufts, called scopulae, and using a scanning electron microscope it was discovered that a single scopula is itself composed of many, many, much smaller, single hairs. It is these minuscule hairs, or setules, that actually represent the direct contact points with a surface. The number of setules per foot is estimated to be 78,000 each, and since spiders have eight feet, they have upwards of 600,000 individual points of contact with any given surface. The ability of the spider to cling to overhead smooth surfaces is due to lots and lots of extremely miniaturized contact elements, or as the scientists explain: "Branched hairs and progressive structural miniaturization, broadened contact elements, as well as the absence of adhesive secretions, are characteristic features of ... the spider attachment system."

Underlying this system of course, are principles of physics. Though each of these points of contact is extremely small, together they combine into a powerful force. In this case they are known as van der Waals forces. Essentially, the spider's leg hairs and the surface it is sitting on are bonding with each other, at the molecular level. The ceiling is holding on to the spider and the spider is holding on to the ceiling. Extremely week individually, when all of these forces act in concert on these hundreds of thousands of hairs, the total adhesive force is extremely powerful, up to 170 times the weight of the spider, if all eight legs are in contact. Jumping spiders however, as their name would indicate, rarely have all eight legs on a surface at once, yet even one leg can exert approximately enough force to support 21 times the weight of the spider.


Making the 167 lbs Peter Parker capable of lifting a little over 12 tons which is in the range that he has been stated to lift.
Spidey rules

[Donald Thomas]

Aloha,
And still another thing to ponder
The spiders studied at Zurich are members of a family of jumping spiders that hunt down prey without building a web, so holding onto surfaces while carrying significant weight (i.e., food) is obviously crucial to their survival.

If we can accept that the spider most likely to have bitten Peter was a jumping spider, then the fact that this spider does not capture prey in it's web would serve as the logical reason why Peter did not get ORGANIC webbing.

The size and shape of their eyes give jumping spiders excellent vision. Salticids use this to their advantage as hunters, employing their high resolution vision to locate potential prey.

Not only should Peter have spider vision but since he couldn't or didn't get multiple eyes like a spider, the Spider Sense was his bodies way of adapting to that aspect of the spider's abilities.The Spider Sense gives him "eyes" all around his body

Spidey rules after 50 years and counting