Captain America's shield bouncing

[caljuice]

So I finished watching the movie and they talk about how Captain America' shield is made out of vibranium, a material that is very good at absorbing energy. The shield bounces off walls like rubber. Does the ability to absorb energy actually make things more effective at bouncing?

 

[Drakkith]

I think it would do the opposite, but I'm not sure.

 

[FourierFaux]

Does the ability to absorb energy actually make things more effective at bouncing?

--caljuice

Absorbs energy and does what with it? We have Piezo Electric materials that will actually generate a current if you squeeze them (quartz does this). If it absorbed the energy and just got hotter, the thing would just hit the wall, absorb the energy, get really hot, and drop. If it absorbed that energy to contract and expand in a very short time scale (like a rubber ball), it might be effective at bouncing. Also note that Hollywood and comic books alike ignore gravity when it's more convenient to do so.

 

[berkeman]

So I finished watching the movie and they talk about how Captain America' shield is made out of vibranium, a material that is very good at absorbing energy. The shield bounces off walls like rubber. Does the ability to absorb energy actually make things more effective at bouncing?

No. If you mean absorb energy as in absorb and dissipate, then the energy is not available for any new bouncing.

BTW, here is a locked thread about Captain America's Shield (comics/movie):

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=382610

It's locked because it strayed from mainstream science. Let's take care not to have the same thing happen in this thread...

 

[FourierFaux]

I'll say that the key to Captain America's powers is the same as the reason why bad guys can unload full clips at Rambo without hitting him. It's because the scriptwriters made it that way.

At this time, I'll exit stage left. ;)

 

[berkeman]

Thread closed temporarily...