When Thor hits Captain America’s shield, where does all the energy go? That was the question inMatt’s excellent post with an answer from material scientist Suveen Mathaudhu. Suveen suggested that the energy of these collisions must go somewhere – maybe in the atomic bonds of the material the shield is made from. The shield would be sort of like a capacitor.
Homework. Obviously, this brings up many more questions. Here is your homework assignment.
* What happens to the momentum? Think of some creative way to explain how Captain America can use the shield to take a huge hit and not violate conservation of momentum.
* Is the shield made of vibranium? If not, then what? Oh, you think the shield is made of adamantium instead of vibranium? Well, I can hear your complaints. For me, the answer is simple. Stephen Colbert said it was vibranium. I guess this isn’t a homework question then since I answered it.
see: I told you Colbert was a geek...
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