Comic Magneto: How does he fly and get that force field?

[Destil]

However, you have underscored my concern with "movie magneto's" powers - by that thought, anything, even plastics, could be affected, making his prison useless. However, they made great pains to be sure no metal got near him. So this begs the question: the blurb on the movie website notwithstanding, can the movie magneto affect all metals, or only ferromagnetic ones?

Or should we not push the comparison too closely?

I'm guessint that there are a few metals movie magneto simply can't affect. Note all the buttons on the various guards, for instance. Most of the prison might be build plastics, including computers using fiber-optic circuts (this is also how you'd want to get light into the room). Also note that during the escape the platform is labled "100 foot drop". Clearly, however, his powers extend beyond this range, how else could he fix the blackbird at several thousand feet altutude... also their metal scanner was right next to him, as far as the range of his powers goes. I'd think that would be a little late...

 

[drnuncheon]

Then he catches the bullet. Not fine. Bullets are cast from lead, which while a metal, is not affected by magnetic fields.

Might have been a steel-jacketed round.

J

 

[Agamon]

I hope we're not trying to explain four-color super-hero powers using real world physics. That is pointless. Someone bitten by a radioactive/genetically-mutated spider is will not gain inhuman dexterity and be able to stick to walls. Someone infected with radiation is not going to turn into a green giant.

Using any means to fly, other than a jet pack that some how doesn't burn the lower half of your body, can't work. The body of anyone growing to 40' tall would colapse in on itself due to the enormous weight.

As you can see in the above listing for Magneto from Marvel, it explains what he can do, but not why other than "it's his mutant power." That's why you find X-Men on the comic book rack and not in the non-fiction section. Suspension of disbelief I beleive someone has already mentioned.

 

[Squire James]

Since Magneto has been worked over by as many writers as did the X-men themselves, his power level (while always high) varies a bit from time to time. In some issues, he's capable of a Beyonder-esque standoff against basically everyone. In other issues, Colossus in metal form (normally one of Magneto's favorite bludgeoning weapons) actually gets close enough to him to land a punch!

It appears that surprise is becoming the biggest single factor in deciding super battles these days (sort of like high-level D&D).

 

[buzzard]

Some metals are non-magentic. Most are.

Depending on how you look at it this can be seen to be both true and false.

Most metals, in the sense of metallic elements from the periodic table, are not ferromagnetic. Thus, as a proportion of total metals, magnetism is not common.

However, iron is the most commonly encountered metal that people experience. It is, of course, ferro magnetic (hence the term). There are only three ferro-magnetic metals- iron, cobalt and nickel.

Other metals can get affected by a magnetic field, but only by inducing currents within them which cause a field that can be worked with. For example, in the continuous casting of aluminum, the liquid metal is contained using magnetic fields even though aluminum isn't magnetic.

As for bullets being made of something other than lead, well not commonly. The military is looking at steel alloys since it's ranges are starting to become a cleanup issue. Also shotgun shells for hunting have been switching to steel, bismuth, and steel/ tungsten alloys. Also some cheap imported ammo used to be made of mild steel, but a law that prohibits armor piercing ammo stop importation (in spite of the metal not having an effect on penetration in this case- it was rifle ammo, and at those velocities plastic will go through a vest).

buzzard