What Would Really Happen if a Vibranium Meteor Hit Earth? | Because Science w/ Kyle Hill

Black Panther showed us how a vibranium meteor impacted Wakanda in many ways, but would it play out the same way in real life? Kyle has the Earth shaking science on this week's Because Science!

Because Science every Thursday.

Artist: Andrew Bowser

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[blipadouzi]

The problem with assuming that a 10, 000 ton meteor would disintegrate before impact is that you're not considering that the 10, 000 tons of our Vibranium meteor is what is left of it after it travelled through the atmosphere. The original spacial meteor would have been significantly larger before the Wakandans encountered it.

[muski]

How could they even farm vibranium to made their weapons etc if it wouldnt break with pickaxes but absorb the kinetic energy? 🤔

[sagesheahan]

You just made me realize, science class in high school in the marvel universe would be very interesting.

[christianevrard]

They said it’s 1/3 the weight of steel so use that for density

[isaiasabades]

"it would hit him and drop off pathetically" best quote in all of youtube

[m.ibrahim_]

That must be why shuri said she had to deactivate the vibranium in order to transfer it safely to the surface. The vibranium still had the kinetic energy from its collision with earth stored up and wound probably cause a problem if not deactivated. Please notify if I've made any mistakes.

[kyzer]

What if you threw Mjolnir at Black Panther? (Assuming you were worthy)

[TheRealJahan]

If I hadn’t seen the movie the use of rhinos in the video would seem extremely random lol

[captaincomrade]

Didn't Howard Stark say vibranium is "stronger than steel and a third of the weight" in CA:TFA?

[qwertyjklz]

My question is how you could mine the vibraniam if it takes in genetic energy

[Elywen]

Didn't think about it's kinetic energy absorption but there is a problem in that explanation. We see in the movie the mine of Vibranium and it's HUGE, large enough to use multiple maglev trains. We also see a very large volume of the stuff, both in the different weapons and items created with it (assuming it's not used as alloy) but also as raw form in the trains and in stocking containers. So either the 10.000T is false information from Wakanda or Vibranium's density is much, much lower than Titanium is, which changes drastically the size of the meteor that would need to impact Earth to create such a mine.

We also would need to consider that Wakanda is using the stuff for many years and it is a finite resource so even if there is still 10.000T "today", it still was much more when it hit the ground, especially considering that like with everything else, Wakanda had to learn how to use it effectively, therefor wasting a lot of the material.

[craighadden]

I am doing A-level physics at the moment and these videos are great for putting formulas that i am learning into practice in a really nerdy way perfect for me to understand it better.
Thank you so much for making these videos, keep up the great work.

[whippetgood]

So with these revelations in mind, wtf would happen with a vibranium bullet? Could you accelerate a vibrium slug in the barrel or would the gun explode? Would it do more or less damage then a normal bullet? Should Stark be tipping all his anti tank rounds with it?

*Edit: Great convo in the comments y'all! I think we concluded that it would shoot, and you wouldn't want your body to be the earth in this meteor comparison!

[joshgreer]

Kyle these videos are marvelous! Get it.
Your mission to make science interesting, and entertaining is the same mission that Adam and Jamie had with mythbusers. I know you hosted the new mythbusters recruitment show but why didn’t you take the job yourself? I would have loved to see you on tv and think you definitely live up to the name.

[Seviciazankoku]

Hey Kyle, I bring you a Gambit vs Vibranium question (I just love Gambit, please?). Gambit has the power to take the potencial energy of a (not living) object, and turn it into Kinetic energy (or something like that), to the point where the object end ups blowing up. On Captain America vs Gambit we see Gambit charging Cap's shield. How is it possible for a material that absorbs Kinetic energy to be so charged up that ends up blowing up like that? Thanks!

[jesterlampoon-tj]

In the game "Portal, " you have two portals on the floor and ceiling, creating an infinite fall. If you dropped an object into it, it would reach terminal velocity and cease to accelerate due to air resistance. So what would happen if you dropped it in a vacuum? Would it continue to accelerate indefinitely due to gravity? If so, why would it not reach the speed of light?

[sushiwalrus]

oh look its the avenger with the best hair, Thor.

[TheZolack]

Kyle, Love the channel m, man. Two questions:

1. If Vibranium absorbs sound, how does anyone hear T'Challa speak when he's wearing the Black Panther outfit?

2. Could Black Bolt destroy the vibranium meteor in Wakanda?

[thomascullinan]

Just saw all your videos on Vibranium, and now I'm wondering how the hell it's possible to mine it with primitive tools. Wakanda's a technological marvel now, but when it first landed they'd still have to mine it and forge it by hitting it with tools. Wouldn't the Vibranium absorb those impacts and make it impossible for a primitive culture to use?

[AgeTemplar]

5:58 - Getting hit in the face by a rhino? There's a word for that: Rhinoblasty.