How Strong is Spider-Man’s Web?
WouterIf you’re a fan of Spider-Man, you may have wondered how strong his web actually is. After all, he can carry his weight with it and use it to trap supervillains. But does a spider’s web really hold up to your average Joe?
In a recent Op-Ed for The Abstract, science writer Matt Shipman offers his opinion on the matter. In his words, the spider-man’s webbing has many great qualities. It’s strong, flexible, and ductile. Its webbing may be made of carbon nanotubes, which add strength, and also help the material bend.
The aforementioned webbing may be a fictional invention, but there are plenty of real-world examples of web-like materials. For instance, the silk of the spider is a robust and stretchy polymer. The threads, which range in size from 3 micrometers to tens of millimeters, are remarkably tough and have been known to hold up to 900 pounds.
The spider’s webbing also reportedly has a tensile strength of about 109 Newtons per square metre. But, as with most comic book concepts, the science is a bit fuzzy.
Scientists at the University of Leicester have investigated how to make a spider-like web. Specifically, they calculated how a single spider-like web would block a four-car New York City subway train. They also found that a strand of spaghetti-thin carbon nanotubes is capable of supporting more than 900 pounds.
The webbing might not be the strongest thing in the world, but the comic book version is. And the Marvel movie franchise has gone all out with the webbing.
