Why does kryptonite

Here's the hilarious thing about kryptonite. The whole idea is that they come from Krypton, right? That's just logical enough, though, right? Later comic book stories and films have come up with ways to explain why Superman would learn his origins earlier in his life, but generally speaking, if you just land on earth as a baby in a rocketship, how in the world do you know where you cam from?

Not only that, but Superman's early years were very forward-thinking. There was not a whole lot of time spent on Superman's past. It's too noble for that. The team later discovered other noble gases, and Ramsay won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

When Superman was created in , the authors Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster named the hero's home planet after the previously discovered gas. While an oxyanion of krypton could give scientists a reason to actually call something "kryptonite," the gas is simply non-reactive with most other elements. It's radiation that makes Superman weak. The prevailing theory in geekdom is that kryptonite can kill Superman because it disrupts his solar panel-like energy absorption.

Without energy from the Sun, he weakens and eventually dies. Though kryptonite is a fictional mineral, the way it interferes makes sense. Radioactive materials emit radiation in the form of particles and energy.

This can be anything from whole helium nuclei to gamma rays. If gamma rays were emitted by kryptonite, they would ionize Superman's cells. By knocking electrons and atoms around in his body, this process of ionization would wreak havoc and disrupt normal cell sun-gathering. Radiation sickness can be lethal, and it's a form of it that reduces Superman to a defeated hero.

It's also the reason why water bears should have saved the Enterprise instead of Captain Kirk. Superman didn't destroy the Russian meteor earlier this year because it would have destroyed the city. Quoting from an earlier piece that you can read right here on Scientific American : Superman, who seemed to know a fair bit about reporting, used the International Space Station ISS to convince reporters during the conference that smashing the meteor with a super punch would be a terrible idea.

Superman continued, "thankfully, the atmosphere absorbed most of the meteor's energy, with only the aftermath of the fireball doing damage to Chelyabinsk. Superman probably shaves with an angle grinder. Everything about Superman is super, even his beard. Bill Nye has a theory on how Superman takes care of his tough-as-steel five o'clock shadow. It's product placement but it's also good science. The Mythbusters have an answer too. Superman once gave Lex Luthor cognitive dissonance. In the issue Superman 2 from , Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-nemesis, dumped resources into building a supercomputer able to deduce the hero's identity.

This version of Red K was created at a military research base where scientists were working to neutralize Kryptonite's effect on Superboy while still retaining its radioactive properties so it could be used as a power source. Their experiments turned the Kryptonite red, making it useless as a power source and altering its effect on Superboy. This Red Kryptonite turned Superboy evil, much like Red K would later do in the "Smallville" TV Series, except only a single exposure to it was required, rather than constant exposure.

After Superboy wreaked havoc with Metallo, Lana tricked Superboy into being exposed to another chunk of Red Kryptonite which reversed the effects of the first. This is Red Kryptonite's only appearance in the series, so it is unknown if the substance would have had other effects on Superboy if it had appeared again.

The "Superboy" series also introduced a form of White Kryptonite, however this was not the white kryptonite that kills plant life as seen in the Pre-Crisis comic books. This White K was created by Professor Peterson's duplicating ray in an attempt to create a form of Kryptonite that would kill the molecularly unstable Bizarro.

This Kryptonite did not kill Bizarro, however. It instead had an opposite effect on him and actually stabilized and cured him, preventing him from eventually exploding as previous Bizarro duplicates had. It is referred to again in "The Bride of Bizarro" but it is not seen.

The s and s Super Friends animated series featured kryptonite in various episodes, usually green. In the episode "Rest in Peace", Sinestro refers to a form of kryptonite called "Krypton Steel" as "a harmless form of kryptonite that only Superman can penetrate". In another episode, "Darkseid's Golden Trap", gold kryptonite appears, which is stated to have an effective range of 20 ft 6.

Blue kryptonite also makes an appearance in one episode; Superman, aging rapidly from exposure to Red Kryptonite, acquires a sample of Blue Kryptonite which had been discovered floating in space and uses it to cure himself Blue Kryptonite has negative effects on Bizzaro, so it should have positive effects on Superman. In the s series, Superman: The Animated Series , one explanation offered for the science of kryptonite is that Superman feels the detrimental effects of kryptonite radiation quicker that normal humans because his body absorbs it more readily, as a result of sharing a common point of origin with the element.

The effect is so potent that even a tiny shard is enough to painfully affect Superman at a short distance. This makes it impossible for Superman to even touch the substance, as it would be the equivalent of a normal man touching radioactive rods from a nuclear reactor with his bare skin. Only the element of lead is able to block the radiation, and is therefore Superman's only protection. Fortunately, Professor Hamilton supplies Superman with a distinctive and durable lead protection suit for such situations.

Kryptonite, in the animated series, still has effects on normal humans as well. Two moments are evidence of this. This does bring up the question of Batman's habit of also carrying a piece of kryptonite in his own belt; however, since Batman has seen what the kryptonite did to Luthor, the famed methodicality of Batman may mean that he likely has the pouch lined with lead. In Batman Beyond , it was revealed in the two part episode "The Call" that Bruce Wayne kept the kryptonite for the rest of his life, and kept the needle of kryptonite locked up very securely in the Bat Cave.

The Justice League series also reveals how Batman obtained the kryptonite. Green kryptonite remains the only variety of the substance ever seen in the DCAU. As mentioned above, the Krypto the Superdog episode "Streaky's Cat Tail" features "purple-spotted kryptonite", which causes Superdog to compulsively chase his tail. However, this was almost certainly a product of Streaky's imagination. Red Kryptonite has appeared and is stated as having weird effects on Kryptonians for a day; it has swapped the minds of Kevin and Krypto, and removed Krypto's powers.

Kryptonite also appears in an episode of the Legion of Super Heroes cartoon, where it is revealed Brainiac 5 has a piece of it, and that the villain Drax , who, despite being an analogue to Superman, is immune to it. In the s television series Smallville , the show expands on the concept of the substance being harmful to humans, as well as making extensive use of the substance. On the show, not only is green kryptonite referred to in the first two seasons of the series as "meteor rock" harmful to Clark Kent , but it can produce bizarre changes in humans, animals, and plants, typically turning them into powerful mutant menaces, commonly known by the denizens of Smallville as "Meteor Freaks," that Clark must oppose.

These changes seem to be linked to the circumstances under which the subject was exposed to kryptonite and the subject's emotional state similar to how gamma radiation affects people in the Marvel Comics universe. Groups of people have been shown to acquire the same powers from kryptonite by exposing themselves to it in the same manner. It is interesting to note that exposure to kryptonite among Caucasians causes them to gain superpowers while prolonged exposure to kryptonite among African-Americans causes them to have involuntary spasms and seizures as evidenced in the episodes "Jitters" and "Duplicity" , though this is never explicitly stated, and thus is probably coincidental.

The harm inflicted on Clark by kryptonite on Smallville is varied. He cannot be near green kryptonite without doubling over in nausea and pain, and if he were to hold a fragment of it in his hand, it would burn to the touch and the veins in his hand would become exposed and green.

However, on other separate occasions Clark has held and even ingested kryptonite albeit in dilluted form and been merely weakened.

When a vial of Clark's blood was held up to kryptonite to verify its authenticity, the blood began to boil. Red kryptonite has also been shown in Smallville. Its effect on Clark Kent is to rid him of all inhibitions, making him rebellious and potentially dangerous if exposed to it for too long. Also created for the series was black kryptonite first appearing in the episode "Crusade" , which is capable of separating certain entities within individual organisms, e.

Black kryptonite was formed by heating up green kryptonite. In the series, after Clark's "reprogramming" by Jor-El in the caves, Martha Kent used black kryptonite to reveal the two psyches of Clark, the militant Kal-El not to be confused with the rebellious " Kal " alias caused by red kryptonite , and normal Clark.

In a later episode, Lex Luthor was experimenting with a process to heat up green kryptonite and irradiate seeds, in order to separate the "weak" genes from the "strong" genes in the seeds.

The result was hardy but rotten-tasting fruit, implying a yin and yang balance within fruit, as well as within humans.

An accident with this process caused Lex to split into a good Lex and a bad Lex who referred to himself as "Alexander". Silver kryptonite made an appearance in the fifth season episode entitled "Splinter".

Like the previous comics incarnation, this silver form was not a true form of the stone. In the episode, Clark pricked his finger on a rock that was black and had silver-metallic clusters, and subsequently became increasingly paranoid, hallucinating that others were conspiring against him.

In the episode's final scenes, it was revealed that a splinter of the element entered Clark's bloodstream. It was also shown that silver kryptonite was created artificially from the liquid metal which forms Brainiac 's body. Superman Wiki Explore. Superman as a father LL Superman's beard Superman's deaths more lists.

Editing Help Coverage Guidelines Community. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit this page. History Talk 0. Some different types of Kryptonite. Categories Kryptonite Krypton Minerals. Universal Conquest Wiki.

The most common form of Kryptonite. In superpowered Kryptonians, causes immediate physical pain and debilitation, reduces their powers, and kills within hours. Except Superman's body according to Smallville can reject it before death as seen in the episode Void when Clark is injected by Kryptonite. Celebrating 80 Years of Superman.

Why Krypto Matters. The Weird and Wonderful History of Kryptonite. Revisiting Superman: Earth One. Superman Can Always Save You. Road to Captive of the Red Sun. Road to Who is Luthor? Read More. Tags Superman , superman 80 , superman 80th anniversary , action comics , kryptonite , history of kryptonite , where did kryptonite first appear?