"The Magical Bulletproof Material That Made Iron..." Topic

…Man Give Up Iron.

"Graphene is a fascinating material, consisting of a layer of carbon only one atom thick. As such, it's not unusual for scientific journals to make it the subject of research articles. However, last month brought two vastly different publications that made an identical, dramatic point about the mechanical properties of graphene. Science featured an article by scientists and engineers at Rice University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst that described the results of targeting micro-bullets at graphene. And in Marvel Comics' Superior Ironman #2, someone shot Tony Stark in the face.

In the latest adventures of the armored Avenger, Tony Stark has undergone a serious personality change thanks to a magic spell cast by the Scarlet Witch and Dr. Doom (seriously, don't ask): he's reverted to the self-centered arrogance that he exhibited before he escaped terrorists by creating an iron suit of armor out of scraps (waaay back in 1963's Tales of Suspense #39, an origin story reprised in the 2008 movie Iron Man). Instead of the familiar red and gold suit of armor, he has taken to wearing gleaming all white armor that looks like something available at the Marvel Universe Apple store (iRon Man?). Significantly, this new Ironman suit has no faceplate, in order to make it easy for the public to see Tony Stark's handsome features. But vanity comes with risks—and sure enough, an assailant that Stark has driven to despair pulls a pistol and shoots the engineer-playboy in the face, point blank…"
Full article here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Okay, questions and points about the article:

1. Graphene is listed as being up to 8 to 12 times more resistant to penetration than steel OF THE EQUIVALENT MASS. Um, so does that mean that the 1-atom think layer (or 10 atom-think layer) of Ironman's transparent faceplate would stop a bullet? No, I don't think so, 'cause that would be a steel sheet of about (round numbers here) 100 atoms thick, which is not going to stop much, right?
2. Since when is Kevlar a "rigid" sheet? I thought the strength properties of Kevlar were there at least partially due to it's ability to absorb strikes by essentially "stretching." Or am I confusing that with spider silk?
3. Resistance to penetration is not the same as holding shape.

Weird article, but the base theory is neat.

Rob