What Would Happen If Superman Punched You In The Face?
In 2013, with the giant success of Man of Steel, it was safe to say that Superman was back in the pop culture limelight in a big way. The climax of the film features an epic showdown between our hero and the film’s villain, General Zod. The two Kryptonians do considerable damage to each other; they also destroy a huge portion of Metropolis. It kind of makes you wonder: what would happen if Superman punched you in the face? Well, now we might have the answer.
YouTuber VSauce3 breaks down the science behind absorbing a punch from Superman. Check out this video and think about the power of a dude who can lift 200 quintillion tons with one hand and punch dimensions apart.
First of all, Superman would never punch you in the face. He would never use his superpowers to willfully harm an innocent. But let’s say for argument’s sake that he did. VSauce3 hypothesized the effects of a super-fist to the face. And let us tell you: this wouldn’t be so chill.
As VSauce breaks down in very mathematical and physical terms it’s going to be really something. Superman’s fist would reach 80 trillion Kelvin, or hotter than the Sun. The Superman punch is traveling at the speed of light, so you wouldn’t see it coming.
As VSauce says, time is basically frozen at this moment. The Superman punch basically creates nuclear fusion. It would be like a literal nuclear bomb heading towards your face. It would knock the atoms out of you. You would be liquified at the atomic level.
If Superman punched you in the face, it would liquefy your entire body on a molecular level. Superman moves at 99% of the speed of light and his powerful fists would pack a mighty wallop at that rate of speed and mass.
VSauce3 also compares it to 2,800 times the power of force than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. The heat from Superman’s punch is estimated to be around five million times hotter than our Sun, which would also be enough to turn you to jelly (and not the good kind).
Obviously, you could argue with how VSauce3 came up with these estimations, but it’s probably easier just to focus on not upsetting Superman. And do we really want to split hairs around the ultimate power? Even if this video is off by a lot, the Superman punch is still wrecking you and everything around you pretty bad.
Again, Superman is an agent of good, so we probably don’t have much to worry about. But as we saw in Justice League, even moments where he’s a bit confused can go sideways real quick.
