I have a difference of opinion with a friend. I said that if there was a steel bar jutting 4 feet out of a building, 6 feet off the ground, the $6MIL man would not be able to bend it. My reasoning was that due to his lack of weight, the result of any force he exerts on the bar would have the result of he being lifted off the ground, in essence doing a chin-up. My friend disagrees, and his thought was that if he can exert enough force (F=MxV) he would be able to bend the bar, regardless of his weight. Any physics people here?
That's an interesting take on the problem. However, if we assume that the task would require superhuman strength due to the thickness of the bar, then it could not be done under any circumstances by the bionic man alone. As I recall, the Six Million Dollar Man was fitted with two bionic legs and a bionic arm. However, the bones leading from the legs to the arm (notably the spine) were not bionic. Therefore, those bones are the weak link that would not support the strength required to do the job. So even if we accept the premise of the old show, it was still flawed. A similar thing happened in an old James Bond movie from the 70s when the cheesy Roger Moore was in the lead role. The arch villain had a superhuman mechanical arm. In one scene, he took a gun out of someone else hand with his natural hand, and while holding it with that hand, he proceeded to bend the gun out of shape with the mechanical one. The problem is that the narural hand and arm would not have been able to provide the necessary resistance for the mechanical hand and arm to do such a thing. The nonsense we have to put up with, eh?
true - but that would apply to all of his superhuman feats (throwing stuff across the room, picking cars up, etc.) - all of which would presumably stress his non-mechanical joints, as well as overload his non-mechanical supporting muscles. so we have to neglect the weak-spine factor, or else most of what he does is implausible. given that, he could hang off the bar with the mechanical arm, then put his feet on the bar and pull down to bend it. if he was feeling inventive, he could pick up something heavy and throw it at the bar or hang it off the bar. if he was lazy, he could get a torch and heat it up, then bend it.
For purposes of the argument he has to pull it down. Your way he would have the leverage, hence no argument. The scenario I gave is to question whether his super strength would just cause his whole body to be lifted as opposed to the bar bending.
That was my point. And since I don't know the answer to the original physics question, I'm sticking to it.
well then assuming the force of his weight is less than the force necessary to bend the bar, then of course he would lift himself off the ground. but we don't know how much all that mechanical gadgetry weighed - remember we're talking the late 70's here, given that it was done by military contractors, and judging from the crap detroit put out in the late 70's it could weigh enough.