“Ever wondered what Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit is made of? Or how Captain America’s shield is able to so readily deflect bullets, grenades and death rays? The American Chemical Society’s “Reactions” series has released a new video exploring the science of Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers.
In the clip, Reactions asserts that Iron Man’s suit is most likely made out of a nickel-titanium alloy called nitinol. Nitinol is light enough to not weigh Iron Man down as he’s flying around in the sky, and it can be re-formed after sustaining damaged.
And there’s probably a combination of carbon fiber and graphite in the suit, otherwise his feet would be singed. Oh, and his arc reactor is basically a mini nuclear power plant, fueled by a new element Stark created after he discovered in “Ironman 2” that palladium was slowly poisoning him.
To learn more about the science behind the Avengers, be sure to watch the video above. Then watch the science in action in the feature film “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which is now showing in the UK and Australia and will debut in the US on Friday.”
Source: CNET
