Speedsters and Applied Physics
As any people following my journal may have noticed, I've recently been sucked into the Young Justice fandom, and through it, DCAU in general. Given my demonstrated tendency to be thoroughly focused on fandom, the following musings shouldn't surprise me.
One of the oft mentioned abilities of speedsters, such as the Flash, is to vibrate their molecules to various effects. According to episode three of YJ, the Flash (Barry Allen) can vibrate his molecules fast enough to go through walls, but when Kid Flash (Wally West) tries it, he gets a bloody nose. Given that he's fifteen, it's probably a matter of time and practice.
Let's apply some physics here, shall we?
When I was much younger, my dad explained to me how microwaves work. (I believe it was in context of "This is why putting aluminum foil in the microwave was a bad idea.")
Basically, the radiation from microwaves causes the the molecules of the food to rotate or vibrate. This vibration causes heat, thereby cooking the food.
So... rapid vibration of molecules causes the object to be cooked from the inside out. Why, brain? Why must you do this to me? I don't want to think about this happening to characters I like!
Personally, my instinct is that going through walls is less about reaching high speeds and more about precision, and vibrating at the exact speed as the molecules of what you're trying to go through, much like the precise frequency of sound required to shatter a glass. (Keep in mind, I'm by no means a physicist or chemist. I'm guessing a bit, here.)
Now that we've mixed fiction and physics, let's add a teaspoon of salt and some psychology:
Kid Flash is fifteen. Fifteen year-old boys are known for a lot of things, but patience and precision are not among them. Is he likely to know more about science than I've described here? Yes. Is he still likely to see it as a matter of "I'm not going fast enough," regardless? Also yes.
I've considered writing something with this, but I'm not entirely sure what to do with a character after he's cooked himself from the inside out.
Thoughts, anyone?
One of the oft mentioned abilities of speedsters, such as the Flash, is to vibrate their molecules to various effects. According to episode three of YJ, the Flash (Barry Allen) can vibrate his molecules fast enough to go through walls, but when Kid Flash (Wally West) tries it, he gets a bloody nose. Given that he's fifteen, it's probably a matter of time and practice.
Let's apply some physics here, shall we?
When I was much younger, my dad explained to me how microwaves work. (I believe it was in context of "This is why putting aluminum foil in the microwave was a bad idea.")
Basically, the radiation from microwaves causes the the molecules of the food to rotate or vibrate. This vibration causes heat, thereby cooking the food.
So... rapid vibration of molecules causes the object to be cooked from the inside out. Why, brain? Why must you do this to me? I don't want to think about this happening to characters I like!
Personally, my instinct is that going through walls is less about reaching high speeds and more about precision, and vibrating at the exact speed as the molecules of what you're trying to go through, much like the precise frequency of sound required to shatter a glass. (Keep in mind, I'm by no means a physicist or chemist. I'm guessing a bit, here.)
Now that we've mixed fiction and physics, let's add a teaspoon of salt and some psychology:
Kid Flash is fifteen. Fifteen year-old boys are known for a lot of things, but patience and precision are not among them. Is he likely to know more about science than I've described here? Yes. Is he still likely to see it as a matter of "I'm not going fast enough," regardless? Also yes.
I've considered writing something with this, but I'm not entirely sure what to do with a character after he's cooked himself from the inside out.
Thoughts, anyone?