Batman’s winged cape is essential to his capturing villains. It allows him to scout out Gotham city from skyscrapers and glide to lower distances at a high speed. Everyone whose played Batman Arkham City has definitely enjoyed the sensation of flying with Batman before. Unfortunately, Batman fans will have to face a reality today that his cape is actually a death trap rather than a flying aid. According to physicists at the University of Leicester, the impact of Batman hitting the ground after using his cape would be equivalent to being hit by a car at 50 mph.
This disappointing information was discovered in the college’s Journal of Special Physics Topics, in which four final-year masters students concluded the following: “Clearly gliding using a batcape is not a safe way to travel, unless a method to rapidly slow down is used, such as a parachute.” A parachute would definitely take away from some of Batman’s cool factor and the students mentioned that a jetpack could help do the trick, but it just wouldn’t be the same Batman.
Here is the physics behind the conclusion explained. His cape has a wingspan of approximately 15.4 feet, half of that of a normal hang glider, and when launched off a 492-foot-high Gotham City skyscraper and gliding for around 1,150 feet, his velocity would peak at 68 mph and would cool down to 50 mph before hitting the ground.
Looks as though Batman will either have to extend the length of his cape or change the material to something other than the memory cloth which was used in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight. If you guys have any solutions for this problem, let us know in the comments section below.
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