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Physics Students Release Their "Trajectory of a Falling Batman" Report
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 10, 2012
Modified Jul 10, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jul 10, 2012
Modified Jul 10, 2012
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A group of physics students from overseas have come out with shocking realities about Batman, just one week before the Dark Knight Rises hits the big screen. Thanks, nerds! The University of Leicester students say that Batman would die if he tried to fly using a cape—according to the BBC, "they used formulas to calculate how effective the 4.69m (15.4ft) wide cape used in Batman Begins would be."
They conclude their paper saying, "clearly gliding using a batcape is not a safe way to travel," but it seems a few adjustments would make things go smoother. They note that flying would be made easier with a larger cape, even though Batman would die upon landing: "He can get about twice as far as he does fall, but once he gets there he is travelling about 50mph and that's a bit too fast to land safely. He would likely end up getting a bit splattered."
Further research showed that, "If you increase the wingspan, once it gets towards the size of a glider it's going to start working. With a few adaptations it would be fine." So then a batcape would be safe? We're so confused! What does CD ≈ 0:4 stand for again? [via Blackbook, who await the paper that tells us if "Mr. Freeze couldn't actually survive within a cryogenic suit."]
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batcape
batman
physics
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trajectory of a falling batman
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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