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- Have you seen Captain America, The Winter Soldier yet?
Because, man, the Captain does some awesome stuff
with his shield in that movie.
Like he takes out a jet plane
by just throwing his shield at it?
What? So how does that shield work, anyway?
Well, to answer that question,
we have brought in Brain Stuff's co-writer
and in-house expert on Captain America, Christian Sager.
- Hello, Benjamin.
Thank you for having me.
- Uh, yep. So, thanks for coming.
So Christian, is it true, this is a real story,
that you wrote a 250 page thesis about Captain America
when you were in grad school?
- Well, yeah,
but Captain America was more of a text that I analyzed
to define the meaning of the world evil.
- Mm-hm, totally. Great, whatever.
So let's start with what we know about the shield.
It's a metal disc that's approximately two and a half feet.
- Yeah, that's .76 meters, Ben.
- Okay, thank you.
It's .76 meters in diameter,
and it weighs 12 pounds.
- That's what the Official Marvel Database says, yes,
but physics professor Rhett Allain actually did the math
in a recent blog post at Wired,
and figured out that the shield would more likely weigh
43.9 pounds.
- Well, yeah, but the shield is made of a unique alloy
combining vibranium, uh, right?
Iron, right? - Yep.
- And a third unknown component.
- This is true. - Well, in the comics, anyway.
- So it's not as if Allain actually knows the density
of what the shield's made of.
- Actually, yeah, he does.
He figured it out.
It's between 8,767 and 4,383 kilograms per cubic meter.
That's somewhere between the density of iron and titanium.
Also, vibranium's a fictional metal, Ben.
You know that, right?
It's not real.
- Okay, simmer down.
I think what you mean is that it's unprecedented.
You see, Christian, during World War II,
Doctor Myron MacLain was attempting to replicate
the material that Hercules' golden mace is made from
by fusing vibranium with an experimental iron alloy.
You know this.
Some of the comics say it's a steel alloy,
but no one actually knows because MacLain fell asleep
when an unknown catalyst was introduced to the process.
- Well, you know, the Youtube channel Movie Clips Trailers
actually did the math on this,
and they figured out that the shield is worth
a little over $54 million.
- Whoa, okay. Yeah, yeah.
But let's admit they're using movie logic, Christian.
Trust me, this thing is priceless.
Instead of using movie logic,
or comic book logic,
let's try to figure out how this thing was forged anyway.
Metallurgy is a pretty complicated process.
You can't just fall asleep in the middle of it.
The forging temperature alone depends
on the material's carbon content, alloy composition,
maximum plasticity, and the amount of reduction required.
And did MacLain heat it by induction
or by continuous fuel-fired furnaces?
You'd think with a material as unique as this shield,
he'd have to carefully control the heating process.
- Okay, okay.
And since Cap's shield is indestructible,
it'd have to have a very narrow forging temperature.
Meaning it could only be forged
for a short time after heating, right?
- Right, right. That's exactly what I'm saying.
So how could MacLain have fallen asleep
during the process then, Ben?
There's so many metallurgical factors at play.
Crystal structure, chemical composition, grain size.
The only way he could diminish their influence
is by adding alloying elements, possibly compounds
that easily dissolve within the metal.
Now that would improve the forgeability
of the shield's mystery metal.
- Okay, so whatever that unknown factor was
that was introduced while MacLain was asleep
improved the metal's forgeability.
- Yeah, sure, I guess.
- Okay, so, all right, let's get to the meat of it.
What do you think it was?
Was it Uru, was it ruby qwartz, or like, what are they?
Terrigen crystals like the Inhumans use,
unstable molecules, adamantium?
- Uh, well, there are all types of alloys
we could consider, Ben, in reality.
But I think it's more likely that Captain America's shield
was forged like a superalloy.
- Okay.
That's an interesting theory,
but aren't superalloys still really difficult to forge
because of that narrow temperature range?
- Yes. - Okay.
- One last thing, they're crazy expensive, right?
Like 10 times the price of carbon steel.
- Yep, that sounds like Captain America's shield to me.
- Yeah, but, okay, yeah, but, all right, here's the thing,
that doesn't explain the shield's ability
to absorb kinetic energy,
which supposedly comes from the vibranium alloy, right?
And usually materials absorb kinetic energy
through other mechanisms like plastic,
or elastic deformation, or dynamic fluid flow,
but Captain America's shield doesn't seem to be
an elastomeric material at all.
And it's not organic like polyurethane.
- Well, Ben, if we're really going to get pedantic about it,
in the movies,
the shield seems to actually reflect vibration
rather than absorb it.
Remember that time Thor hit Cap's shield with his hammer
and was all like, "Boom!",
and there's this shockwave that just flattens
the entire forest, and they're fighting in it?
- Yes, that part was awesome!
Okay, so I see what you're saying.
Maybe the shield reached it's absorption limit
because the impact from the hammer was so powerful?
- Yeah, that's interesting.
I'll consider it for my research,
but how about how aerodynamic it is?
If it really weighed 43.9 pounds,
that would be really difficult to throw even for a guy
in peak physical condition like Captain America.
He just chucks that thing around
like he's playing ultimate Frisbee.
He throws it around,
bouncing it off of objects and people,
and it ricochets right back to him.
- Like we're saying, they're made for each other.
Cap's in perfect shape, and I'm secure in saying that,
so he has the strength and dexterity,
and then the shield is flawlessly balanced.
Plus the vibranium alloy's kinetic absorption
let's it rebound without using any velocity whatsoever!
- That sounds made up, Ben.
- I made up, I probably made up some of that.
But how 'bout we put it to the audience, okay?
What do you guys think?
Why is Captain America's shield so aerodynamic?
- Yeah. Come at us, nerds.
- You can let us know what you think in the comments below,
and don't forget to like this video
and subscribe to our channel
so you'll get more Brain Stuff goodness.
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