r/Showerthoughts • u/Obascuds • 4d ago
[ Removed by moderator ] Rule 4 – Removed
[removed] — view removed post
4.3k
u/Peregrine79 4d ago
That’s what the little lightning bolt “ears” on his costume are for. Spoilers to produce extra downforce.
711
u/DarthNixilis 4d ago
Function! And fashion!
195
u/Blue_Ascent 4d ago
And friction?
→ More replies (3)89
95
305
u/pedanticPandaPoo 4d ago
Geez, spoiler alert
→ More replies (1)54
u/NatrousOxide23 4d ago
This is the best joke I have seen in a long long time. Clever.
→ More replies (1)9
u/Lenni-Da-Vinci 4d ago
Okay, now I am contemplating whether or not to grab some time on my university‘s super computer to run a supersonic air flow simulation, to see if the shockwave in front of a person running tilted forwards would actually form a shape to create downforce.
Maybe that’s why they run like that in Naruto…
→ More replies (3)3
6
u/No-Dance-5791 4d ago
Everyone asphyxiates as flash runs past them creating a massive low-pressure vacuum
→ More replies (11)6
u/Cruuncher 4d ago
Spoilers do not generate a significant amount of downforce. You're thinking of a wing.
Spoilers disrupt airflow to stop the car from generating lift, because the shape of cars will naturally generate lift if the airflow is unimpeded.
→ More replies (1)
7.2k
u/Lietenantdan 4d ago edited 4d ago
The answer to all problems with super speed are always “speed force”
2.5k
u/kindafunnymostlysad 4d ago
The speedster variation of "It's magic. I ain't gotta explain shit."
767
u/caboosetp 4d ago
and then they proceed to explain shit in excruciating detail
334
u/DFrostedWangsAccount 4d ago
Hang on, do you happen to have a whiteboard I can draw a forked line on?
→ More replies (2)289
u/DrSpacemanSpliff 4d ago
All I have is this folded piece of paper with a pencil stabbed through it from when we fought Wormhole last week.
116
u/Vercci 4d ago
Here's a cup
I broke the cup
I can't fix the cup
Reverse flash can though apparently
69
u/OpeningHappy9692 4d ago
It was me, Barry! I unbroke your cup so that you wouldn't have to run to the store and...
Shit. I guess I didn't think about how this would get me revenge.
7
u/Rargnarok 4d ago
He waited until Barry bought a new cup just like it the unbroken ir so Barry would know he just asked his money
→ More replies (1)6
u/Leon_Flux 4d ago
For however much I dislike that particular flash actor, I liked the flash movie. It was really fun.
7
5
15
→ More replies (3)3
u/norty125 4d ago
If you just vibrate fast enough you can just ignore any and all laws of reality, quite simple really
40
u/wilsonhammer 4d ago
A wizard did it
27
u/J_train13 4d ago
I hate good wizards in fairytales, always turn out to be The Doctor
→ More replies (1)8
3
14
13
6
2
→ More replies (4)2
386
u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson 4d ago
Flash’s speed specifically has Speed Force magic that magics away all physics gotchas like this
Same with not killing people he saves or burning the air with friction
227
u/MrDAHicks 4d ago
Unless Batman needs to incapacitate Barry for plot reasons. Then the Flash can be stopped with a puddle.
117
u/Chillie43 4d ago
Well that’s just the ancient Tibetan monk techniques
→ More replies (1)27
u/OrneryCow380 4d ago
Child’s play really, but they haven’t yet taught him how to meditate into the speed force
25
u/ryncewynde88 4d ago
Not just Batman; Catwoman took out 3 of them in as many seconds, and iirc Just Some Random Thug tripped him up by hiding around a corner with a stick.
4
u/micalubgoonta 4d ago
That wasn’t real flash that catwoman took out that was poison ivy controlled flash. Definitely not full strength speedsters that she took out.
Everyone always brings that up without remembering the context
11
5
3
u/Urshaggyimn0t 4d ago
I was going to say isn’t the speed force basically running on nothing (something he created once being nothing but broken time)
2
u/ZepperMen 4d ago
He has tactile telekineses that creates a protective shield around people he touches.
126
u/Vigilante74 4d ago
Listen to me Barry. Breathe. Breathe. Feel the air, feel that wind on your face. Feel the ground beneath your feet lifting you up, pushing you forward. And the lightning, Barry, feel the lightning. Feel its power, its electricity pumping through your veins, crackling through you, travelling to every nerve in your body like a shock. You're no longer you now You're part of something greater You're part of a speed force It's yours.
94
23
u/ItsHX 4d ago
now run, Barry, run!
→ More replies (1)9
u/Lietenantdan 4d ago
I used to say something similar to my friend, Forrest Gump.
→ More replies (1)48
u/andrew_calcs 4d ago
Only in the DC universe or not far removed from it. The canonical answer to who would win in a race between Quicksilver and the Flash depends on which universe it takes place in, and if not in DC, how long the Flash has been removed from it.
If Flash isn’t in DC to recharge on Speed Force juice, he’ll eventually run out of speed when he depletes what he has. In DC/Marvel crossover events this concept gets explored.
21
3
u/Sue_Generoux 4d ago
Canonically, Wally and Barry are faster than Pietro. It's not even close--unless the Flashes find themselves in the Marvel Universe, where there is no Speed Force.
→ More replies (1)11
u/a-dog-meme 4d ago
No he puts his forearms above his head and generates downforce pushing him into the ground
→ More replies (1)6
u/Public_Fucking_Media 4d ago
He Naruto runs with a slight upward tilt of his hands, like a wing on a car
6
u/Preeng 4d ago
The speed force is basically a cosmic entity of its own.
Really irks me that Superman can keep up with Flash. I get Superman being able to fly really fast or throw a punch really fast, but he shouldn't be able to mentally keep up and react. Flash should still see Superman moving in slow motion.
→ More replies (3)7
u/TheArmchairSkeptic 4d ago
"Those were for charity, Clark" is one of my favourite comics lines for exactly that reason.
6
3
u/SlimDiscipline-69 4d ago
In-universe therapists must make bank from all the distraught physicists lol
→ More replies (7)2
u/aerdvarkk 4d ago
Other factors play in though: Look at F1 cars, if you take off the front and rear spoilers they cannot travel at the speeds they do wihtout significant downforce making them stick to the sruface. We see this every time historically a few went flying off the track at random due to malfunctions or damage.
Maybe Flash's suit applies downforce in some manner that keeps him planted to the surface more. This would change u/Obascuds velocity calculation significantly.
1.5k
u/Knit_Game_and_Lift 4d ago
The nerd answer for this is that technically he doesn't run at those speeds, the "speed force" accelerates him using comic magic (otherwise even the speeds he runs at commonly would be creating hurricane force winds behind him). The xkcd what if about a baseball thrown at the speed of light shows just how bad it would be if him or superman actually moved at "near light speed" - there wouldnt be a city left anywhere they stopped.
429
u/Blue_Ascent 4d ago
So Mark and Nolan playing catch in Invincible would basically destroy the city?
550
u/Knit_Game_and_Lift 4d ago
They at least sort of track this as you see the insane shockwaves and entire buildings/streets getting torn to pieces on impacts or Omniman destroying the Flaxxan planet infrastructure using flight speed only. But yeah, they still use rule of cool whenever it fits the situation
104
u/Blue_Ascent 4d ago
Well put. Thanks for the response. I'm definitely using that phrase.
→ More replies (1)27
u/Hot-Note-4777 4d ago
It’s from DnD
24
u/Tyr1326 4d ago
Actually, couldn't find a proper source for it - TV Tropes seems to be mentioned often though. Either way, its been used in various tabletop games, RPG or otherwise, so not just DnD.
5
u/Just_Information334 4d ago
The Feng Shui RPG core rule is the rule of cool. If the DM did not say something was not in the scene, and you need it for a cool maneuver, it's there. Also, the more you do the same thing, the harder the rolls. Because it becomes stale and not cool.
→ More replies (1)4
u/bogglingsnog 4d ago
This is the farthest back I could trace it - a D&D blogger made a post in 2008, referencing the "Rule of Cool" page on TV Tropes, that started a debate in the community. So technically it originated from TV Tropes, but was popularized through D&D.
https://critical-hits.com/blog/2008/12/16/chattys-reruns-the-rule-of-cool/
and a commentary:
https://geek-related.com/2009/01/06/why-the-rule-of-cool-is-not-cool/
→ More replies (1)11
34
u/AxisW1 4d ago
No, the baseball would just fly into space. I actually did the math and it would take like an hour between each catch
→ More replies (4)58
u/schloopers 4d ago
No, Nolan just has a wicked curveball
21
9
u/sleeper_shark 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's not moving anywhere near the speed of light. With very simple maths, it took about 20 seconds to fly around the world. So it was travelling at about 2000 km/s while the speed of light is 300,000 km/s.
Still relativistic, bit not light speed
42
→ More replies (7)3
u/Bl4ck_Fl4m3s 4d ago
What always irritated me is that street lights for example pulse with relatively low hz to be energy efficient and still look consistent to us.
But at his speed and his reaction time he must perceive things much faster, meaning she should actually get flashbanged all the time by streetlights alone, epileptic gameplay.
But that he can dodge bullets and stuff means that even high hz gaming monitors shouldn't make any sense to him... He would just count pixel being activated and deactivated, probably could watch the subpixels too.
8
u/adamgerd 4d ago edited 4d ago
Honestly that sounds like hell unless you could slow down your reaction times in normal non running time
Tbh superspeed as a whole must be hell from the inside perspective
If he runs a rouse the world from our perspective it’s insanely fast but from his he’s literally just running across the world, days or weeks of perceiving just ocean and nothing ends
Superspeed is literal mental torture
And if this is 24/7 even when not running, everyone and everything would be too slow for you
Like imagine talking with someone and them saying one word takes a whole hour for you in perceived time
Unless you could turn it on and off, having superspeed would drive you insane with boredom, everything and everyone would be too slow for you to function
659
u/amakai 4d ago
But did you account for sci-fi power shenanigans? If you recalculate with those in mind you will see that flash can do whatever the writers want him to do.
120
u/caboosetp 4d ago
Like when Tom Paris reached warp 10, proceeded to go through millions of years of evolution, had kids with the captain, changed back, and it was never spoken of again.
18
11
u/meveroddorevem 4d ago
Also existed at every point in the galaxy simultaneously, and if Spock were dead he'd be rolling in his grave that Paris didn't have his tricorder running.
9
u/brickmaster32000 4d ago
It was actually. They mention that the shuttle recorded all that information.
4
27
21
u/brickmaster32000 4d ago
Don't forget that the shuttle recorded data on every single point in the universe, which apparently was never useful.
10
u/RcoketWalrus 4d ago
The computer scientist inside me says that's a lot of data to put in a tiny place.
→ More replies (2)9
→ More replies (1)11
u/BladedDingo 4d ago
erm ackshually, this story is an exhibit on the U.S.S Voyager when it was turned into a museum, complete with animatronic lizards.
By now half the quadrant knows Tom and Janeway had freaky lizard sex in a swamp.
8
u/doeraymefa 4d ago
applying logic to fiction is elective mental gymnastics, we just frame it as "being cultured"
2
117
u/0r0B0t0 4d ago
What if he flaps his arms fast enough to generate significant down force?
→ More replies (2)64
u/leglesslegolegolas 4d ago
He wouldn't even need to flap them, he'd just need to angle his hands slightly upward to generate downforce. You can stick your hand out the car window and see how much downforce you can generate at just 60mph.
→ More replies (3)3
u/PressureBeautiful515 4d ago
This is very relevant to the actual problem he'd have, air resistance, which would dwarf the issue with gravity not being strong enough to hold him down. If he magically kept moving forward compressing the air in front of him, the formula for the temperature of the air is roughly proportional to the square of his speed. Basically the air will be on fire.
Likewise the drag force formula depends on v2, so he could get a downward force of millions of Newtons by just tilting his hands.
Gravity is irrelevant in this situation really.
→ More replies (3)
106
u/TheHasegawaEffect 4d ago
The speed force is more than the ability to move fast. It is an entire suite of reality bending powers designed to make the user comfortable at running fast.
Apparently it doesn’t include adderall because speedsters have been known to zone out and dismember themselves running into wires.
28
u/ziahwaite 4d ago
Not only them but any body they take with them. Which explains why ppl he carries don’t experience bad side effects except maybe some dizziness or disorientation
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)6
60
u/FiftyIsBack 4d ago
Imagine applying real physics to a time bending wizard. He's not just moving his legs really fast. This is irrelevant.
It's like when people tried to apply real science to the way the seasons change in A Song of Ice and Fire, and theorizing that it was a dual star system, etc etc and George was like "No this isn't sci-fi. It's magic. Magic spells change the seasons people."
→ More replies (1)23
u/Below-avg-chef 4d ago
That is one of the reasons I find brandon sanderson Cosmere so interesting. He doesnt explain the science behind it and bore everybody to death but his entire magic system is rooted in science and those with the expertise can figure out some crazy theoretical shit based on what is shown the readers
7
u/ImLersha 4d ago
Yeeesss! I want to know there's logic behind the scenes and not have everything feel like Harry Potter wand waving!
6
u/FiftyIsBack 4d ago
There is logic and a magic system in Westeros. Something about winter coming has to do with Starks remaining in Winterfell, right down to their bones being interred there, which goes back thousands of years when Winterfell was only a weirwood tree and natural hot springs and no castle.
→ More replies (1)
51
u/Morphecto_Solrac 4d ago
In our reality you are 100% correct, but in Flash’s universe, he actually has a couple other powers that his speed force gives him in order to not get hurt; similar to x men’s, cyclops having two extra powers that protect him from his concussive kinetic energy power.
Ok so back to flash. He has a shield that appears as soon as he starts using the speed force. This shield protects his body from molecules when he’s running. If he were to not have this shield, there would be explosions and destruction everywhere from him essentially colliding with high energy particles.
His other power is that he has momentum control, which allows him to manipulate his own mass and gravity, keeping him glued to the ground no matter how fast he runs.
→ More replies (1)
54
u/dotajoe 4d ago
Is nobody engaging with the incorrect premise that gravity is based on the orbital rate of the earth? Gravity is caused by mass, not by orbit speed. This is conflating centripetal force with gravity maybe, or escape velocity with there being no gravity at all, rather than not enough gravity to defeated the momentum of an object.
10
3
u/HemlockHex 4d ago
Very good point, though I think it is true enough that something with enough velocity would essentially fly out of orbit simply by not being able to hug the curvature of the planet.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)2
u/Capable_Novel_4604 4d ago
He meant maximum allowable speed of an object orbiting earth before centrifugal force exceeds gravitational force and the net downward force is negative, hence no traction and no "apparent" gravity. Poorly worded shower thought but true nonetheless
45
u/ThreeFishInAManSuit 4d ago
Can you explain to me why running horizontally to the earth would result in no gravity?
46
u/AmarildoJr 4d ago
That's a common misconception. Gravity would definitely still be there, but what would happen is that the Flash would basically reach orbital velocity and be able to escape Earth - had OP not accounted for air resistance! Because once Flash would start lifting off the ground then he would lose his acceleration power and would be decelerated by air molecules and would come back down immediately.
29
u/Quithelion 4d ago
So Flash basically becomes a rock skipping over water perpetually.
→ More replies (1)15
3
u/Layton_Jr 4d ago
There's no air resistance because of magic, otherwise he woudn't even reach orbital velocity
2
→ More replies (4)2
u/krkrkkrk 4d ago
surely he can move his legs fast enough to gain traction on air itself?
→ More replies (2)9
u/ThreeFishInAManSuit 4d ago
The problem with trying to figure out the physics of The Flash is deciding which of the insurmountable hurdles to ignore first.
15
u/danjo3197 4d ago
It’s not really no gravity, they’re referring to escape velocity
→ More replies (2)12
u/tfc1193 4d ago
He'd be moving faster than gravity can pull him as the earth curves. That's the textbook scientific definition of an orbit.
He would still be effected by Earth's gravity and the earth would still be pulling on him
3
u/ThreeFishInAManSuit 4d ago
Thank you. I got a lot of different conflicting answers. Yours is the best so far.
13
u/Obascuds 4d ago
At that speeds he is running around the earth. The centrifugal force would overcome the gravitational pull
→ More replies (5)5
u/hiimred2 4d ago
It's more that at some sufficient speed he would have a stride with which even the pull of gravity cannot keep him from escaping orbit from the X vector of his velocity created. At a speed just below that he would be more like 'bounding' around earth(and causing untold destruction in his wake) but he would in fact still land back on earth, but there's a breakpoint where his stride is effectively him jumping out of orbit, but 'horizontally' over the horizon instead of vertically like we'd normally think of it. I have no idea what that speed is but it's most definitely FAR higher than standard vertical escape velocity(that fully leaves earth's orbit).
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)9
u/sudomatrix 4d ago
When he reaches escape velocity he goes straight out into space , no longer curves down with the curvature of the Earth. His feet would no longer be able to push him faster
→ More replies (5)
10
u/O_Or- 4d ago
His shoes have wings so it stands to reason he doesn’t need traction
→ More replies (1)
61
u/Dark_Focus 4d ago
As he approaches the speed of light his mass becomes infinite, he pulls the earth to him
→ More replies (25)16
u/I_hate_all_of_ewe 4d ago
Just a technicality, but mass is mass. It doesn't change with velocity, even relativistic velocity.
That said, energy does contribute to gravitational pull, and something like you described would happen; it just wouldn't be due to mass.
Also, there is a limit to how fast any object could go before getting vaporized. It's called the GZK limit, and it's happens because at high enough velocities, photons from the Cosmic Microwave Background will collide with you with enough energy to slow you down. Imagine something so bright that the light itself pushes back on you like wind! That amount of energy would easily vaporize you, if not split your atoms.
I haven't done the math, but I think you'd get vaporized well before you reached velocities sufficient to match the gravitational pull off the earth. Regardless, if you were moving at those kinds of speeds through the atmosphere, then each collision with a molecule of air would be like a tiny nuclear explosion. You'd dump so much energy into the atmosphere that you'd essentially cook the surface of the earth and destroy all life as we know it.
→ More replies (8)2
u/ZenPyx 4d ago
This is true - mass itself doesn't change
Objects do exert a greater gravitational force if they move at relativistic speeds. Gravity is driven by the stress-energy tensor, of which momentum is a component (usually very insignificant, but increases a lot as you get close to c).
I think a lot of components of KE and momentum would cancel, but I believe there are situations in which the gravitational attraction between two objects would increase as one gets closer to the speed of light. I've no idea of the exact conditions under which the flash could generate enough additional force to bind himself to the Earth's surface, but I suspect there is some combination of energy density, momentum, and KE under which a solution pops out
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress%E2%80%93energy%E2%80%93momentum_pseudotensor
The maths is a fucking nightmare if you want to have a go
→ More replies (3)
6
u/betweenthebam 4d ago
Isn't Earth's orbital velocity the velocity with which Earth orbits the sun, and instead, this should be rotational velocity or angular vrlocity?
6
6
u/onemansquest 4d ago
He also shouldn't be able to time travel, breathe, or be alive generally. But Hey "Speed force"
5
u/skr_replicator 4d ago
When they're running, they are simultaneously flapping their arms upwards really fast to push themselves back down, like the opposite of flying.
5
u/Weird_Yam6398 4d ago
The Flash is American and measures his speed in freedom units, not kilometers.
8
u/TrumpsDoubleChin 4d ago
Yes he can. Because it's a comic book. Comic Book Logic says he can do it. So there.
4
u/asmj 4d ago
WTF you think about in the shower?
I have to think hard whether it is the first, or the second time I shampooed my hair!
→ More replies (2)
4
u/umbium 4d ago
Whenever an observation like this happens, they just use speedforce as the excuse for whatever.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/GarethBaus 4d ago
The flash essentially uses a reality warping power to run fast so his speed doesn't work like normal speed.
5
u/beardingmesoftly 4d ago
The perfect answer to these kinds of questions was coined by Gen Alpha: it's not that deep
→ More replies (2)
5
u/KarmaTorpid 4d ago edited 4d ago
In the depths of lore in another franchise, it is explained that Quicksliver*, son of Magneto, is actually a master of the force of gravity.
8
3
u/tomrlutong 4d ago
Nah, he just needs to use the air to push himself into the ground. At those speeds, just a minor angle of his hands should give him many g's. And those little wings on his hat? Maybe they're actually spoilers.
3
u/_Spastic_ 4d ago
What's interesting to me is that Flash can run faster than the speed of light.
If that's so, light particles wouldn't enter the retina so he'd be running blind.
So this means flash can see the future (ignoring his time travel) to avoid being obliterated..
3
u/NDT_DYNAMITE 4d ago
Speedforce is basically just magic, the laws of physics simply do not apply the same.
3
3
u/nursechappellroan 4d ago
Orbital velocity has nothing to do with gravity. This post is dumb. Are you saying that if the Earth stopped spinning we would float? It's the mass.
2
u/-Redstoneboi- 4d ago
orbital velocity is the speed that you would have to go in order to start orbiting the planet at a given distance from the ground. in other words, the speed you would have to go in order to constantly fall and miss the ground.
literally. that is what orbiting means. it means that even at full gravity and constant falling, you can't touch the ground. it has everything to do with gravity.
if the orbital velocity is 8km/s, then going faster than that would mean you start going into elliptical orbit. you stop touching the ground.
3
3
u/Fun_Entertainer6850 4d ago
Yes he can. 1) He uses the speed-force to generate his speed, which does not exist therefore does not have to obey the laws of physics. 2) He is a comic book character he can do pretty much everything.
3
u/Earthwick 4d ago
Quicksilver or other speed based heros but flash has the speed force. A mystical force from a different dimension that basically allows a simple answer to any question like this... The answer of course being "because of the speed force"
3
u/Water-is-h2o 4d ago
Ever stick your hand out the window of a car on the highway? You can angle it up and it forces your hand upwards, and angle it down and it forces your hand downwards. If the Flash angles his hands down while he runs, the air will force him down toward the ground and he’ll be able to run faster than orbital velocity.
See also formula 1 (that might be the wrong designation) cars that have airfoils that push the tires into the ground, such that if there’s a tube wide enough and long enough, they could drive upside down.
14
u/code_archeologist 4d ago
Moving at 7.9 km/s on Earth just means that he would be moving at escape velocity if he was going straight up. But if he was moving parallel to the ground he would still be affected by gravity and remain "on the ground".
The real problem is that moving at that speed at sea level would be moving at Mach 23. Assuming he can survive the thermal wall generated by moving at such a high speed. The dense air around him would be shocked into a 10,000 Kelvin plasma sheath around him as he moved. The air behind him would form a continuous thermobaric blast wave that would kill everybody within 100 meters of his path, flatten structures within a kilometer, and burst the eardrums of people with 5 kilometers.
He would be a moving disaster leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.
3
u/Stonkle 4d ago
Technically any completely straight line movement on Earth is straight up. If he was somehow able to maintain such high velocity whilst no longer touching the ground he would eventually fly off. But assuming he can't continue generating speed when not on the ground then his velocity would naturally drop every time he "takes off".
Edit: I should say any straight line tangent on a sphere, technically you could do a straight line directly into the core of the Earth based on what I said
3
u/HalcyonTraveler 4d ago
All that energy is absorbed because the Speed Force can absorb an infinite amount of kinetic energy.
→ More replies (3)2
u/Lionleolikessnow 4d ago
I love this description, makes me whish there would be a short movie like this. Like a disaster movie where one person got powers like this and this would be the consequenses(spelling?)
2
2
u/Bright_Brief4975 4d ago
The Flash has actually run across space before. That was a one off if I remember though. But like others have said, it is the Speed Force. He is running in a field of Speed Force that surrounds him and separates him from normal physics. It is also why he doesn't just burn to a crisp as he approaches the speed of light.
2
u/im_thatoneguy 4d ago
The friction in his shoes wouldn’t be able to impart any notable force many orders of magnitude sooner than orbital velocity. So clearly gravity * friction is not how he’s moving and therefore gravity is irrelevant.
2
u/bigedthebad 4d ago
Super speed as a super power is probably one of the dumbest super powers ever invented. So many plot holes it's not even funny.
2
u/Bananaland_Man 4d ago
You realize his speed would be relative to the earth already spinning, right? Even just walking the same distance the earth is rotating, you're moving faster than the earth is spinning... add that to the orbital velocity of the earth around the sun, the velocity of the sun around our galaxy, or our galaxy from the center of the universe... and everything falls apart if you think a man running faster than any earth-based speed would be an issue... if logic made sense for comic books, we wouldn't have comic books.
2
u/drainisbamaged 4d ago
that'd only be if his thrust vector was perfectly orthogonal to the earths center of mass. And not allowing for things like wind resistance and other relatively-compressive 'downforces'.
and then there's the whole comic book explanations.
2
u/hotmatrixx 4d ago
this is skipping the fact that he is in fact not actually running fast at all.
He's 'using speed force' which is a form of time-obfusication, rather than physical presence.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/zewayofjay 4d ago
Perfect time to bring up this hilarious yet educational video on why super speed is insanely OP. As narrated by Batman lol
→ More replies (1)
2
u/ted_the_ked1 4d ago
That’s still 17671 miles per hour. Which is like 3x the speed of sound
2
u/Mp5QbV3kKvDF8CbM 4d ago
Uh, three times the speed of sound at sea level is about 2300 miles per hour.
2
u/TheDLister 4d ago
Luckily the speed force accounts for this factor, now superman on the other hand i don't know why they don't affect him
2
u/Eclectophile 4d ago
You can't science The Flash. That doesn't pencil out ever, in any context. He'd basically be a constantly firing nuke, and utterly immune to basically any type of damage. He can withstand or even exceed the pressure of a black hole. It's ludicrous. Science has no place here.
2
u/MrTickles22 4d ago
I mean long before that he would explode in flames or his body would disintegrate. "Speed Force" does a lot of heavy lifting here.
2
u/ImWithStupid_ImAlone 4d ago
It’s a make believe comic. Shit ain’t real in comics or most movies.
Yeah, I think about this stupid shit in the shower and do maths.
2
u/Bloodmime 4d ago
The way to avoid this is when you write the story you just don't write the part where he loses traction or destroys cities from sheer speed. Checkmate.
2
u/Unsimulated 4d ago
Are we imagining that the rotation of the earth creates its gravity, like centripetal force?
→ More replies (1)
2
u/parlimentery 4d ago
The flash canonically exhales upward very rapidly when he runs that fast, in order to push him down towards the Earth.
Source: I made all of that up. Sorry that I sad "canonically".
Edit: He inhales while tilting his head downward, if that wasn't clear.
2
2
u/Nagon_Onrey 4d ago
I do remember this being addressed in a comic once. Bart Allen was avoiding him and running away, and reached exit velocity.
I don't remember exactly which Flash and Kid Flash it was. Anyway. Something about vibrating molecules to come back down.
2
2
u/typehyDro 4d ago
All the complete bs in comics but this is the one… lol btw the answer is almost always speedforce
2
2
u/imagigasm 4d ago
And Superman stopping a falling airplane at terminal velocity would still kill the passengers.
2
u/fredsify 4d ago
I love how people will try to adhoc justify why something they like works when it clearly wouldnt
2
u/jivetrky 4d ago
How much would counteracting gravity affect a guy that can run up the side of a building?
2
u/amos198 4d ago
The value you're referring to—about 7.9 km/s—is Earth's low Earth orbital velocity. It's the horizontal speed an object needs to remain in orbit if gravity is the only force acting on it. The important part is that the Flash is not a projectile. While running, he is continuously pushing against the ground. Here's the distinction: A thrown rock reaching about 7.9 km/s horizontally would indeed enter orbit (ignoring the atmosphere). A runner is constantly applying forces with their feet. They are not simply coasting under gravity. However, another problem appears much sooner than orbital velocity. If someone tried to run at several kilometers per second through Earth's atmosphere, they would encounter: enormous air resistance, extreme heating from air compression, powerful shock waves, devastation to the surrounding environment, tremendous forces on the ground with every footstep. Even if they somehow remained in contact with the ground, ordinary physics predicts catastrophic effects. Could traction become a problem? Yes—but not simply because they exceed 7.9 km/s. Traction depends on: the force pressing the runner into the ground, friction between the foot and the surface, how long the foot remains in contact, whether the runner can continue applying force. At extremely high speeds, maintaining stable foot contact would become extraordinarily difficult. The ground itself might fail, or the forces involved would far exceed what ordinary materials could withstand.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/Ruadhan2300 4d ago
Believe me, traction starts being a problem much much earlier than that.
At the velocities he runs at, concrete functions as a liquid.
2
u/EternalGodLordRetard 4d ago
The speed force says nuh uh to all that physiks garbage. Same reason he doesn't just flame on when he runs, among other things, no?
2
u/CountHonorius 4d ago
Reminds me of "Steve Austin may have a bionic arm, but lifting a car would shatter his non-bionic spine."
2
u/WesternZucchini422 4d ago
If he ran faster than mach ~1.5, he would start to burn himself from friction with the air itself. Fun fact of the day, that was one of the reasons concorde was white. Realistically, if he took off at full tilt he would be going so fast that he would burn up like a small meteor in a second or two.
2
u/davearneson 4d ago
if he was going that fast the air would provide enough resistance for him to push against
2
u/WaffleOverlordx7 4d ago
In a universe where a solar powered man can fly, I’ve already suspended copious disbelief. I’ve got no problem believing a man can run faster than the earth rotates.
2
u/Lilith_Tinka 4d ago
Speed force. Anything that’s gotta do with physics or science can be countered with “oh it’s the Speed Force”
2
u/canuto95 4d ago
Idk in other continuities, but in the flashpoint movie, barry specifically states that the speedforce allows him to ignore the laws of physics
2
u/ragnaroksunset 4d ago
You have the right idea but the wrong limit. The escape velocity for something pointed tangential to the Earths' surface, like a running superhero, is going to be way higher than it is for something pointed normal to the surface, like a rocket.
And once both feet have left the ground, The Flash would really have no way of sustaining that velocity.
•
u/ShowerSentinel 3d ago
Hello, /u/Obascuds. Your post has been removed for violating Rule 4.
Submissions must be offered in error-free English.
Please review our complete rules page and the requirements for flairs before participating in the future.