Don't know if this has been asked already but I was just curious. Does anyone know?

I phase through water every time I take a shower.

lol no.

If they can phase through solid objects the they shouldn't have any problem with water.

Why wouldn't they?

How would you know? You've been watching him in the shower. =O

I act like I don't see him but I totally do.

this

Doesn't waters density shifts? Wouldn't that make it difficult to shift through it. Plus I've never seen Flash or Manhunter do it. Which is why I was curious.

@blkson said:

I don't think the density of a body of water changes to any significant degree more than a solid object would, except when depth, temperature or pressure change, as well. The particles themselves shift position and are free flowing, however, and that might make it more difficult. Flash might have to vibrate his molecules more rapidly to avoid collision, but I think that if it works on solids, and he doesn't have a particular vibratory limit, it should work on liquids. Does that make sense?

I just thought of something, though. Flash vibrates his molecules to lessen the probability of collision with whatever object he's trying to phase through, right? Lessening the probability means that some of his particles, however few, HAVE TO collide with the molecules of the object, meaning that every time he phases through something, he loses some of his mass in the process. I know it's easy to ignore that in comic book science, but I think that could probably make a good story, making him do it too many times or forcing himself to do it too strenuously. Kind of like Superman flying too close to the Sun in All-Star.

That's what I was trying to think of. I just didn't really know the science behind it. Manhunter's phasing has never been explained but Flash's has. And with the rapid movement of molecules in liquids and the density constantly shifting, I would imagine that it would prove difficult for Flash to phase through them.

Gah...I hate all of this science stuff....makes me feel stupid :p

yeah but so did superman's fortress and flash phased through that....that's just how intune with his body he really is

Hmmm..I never knew that.

But now that I think about it, Flash did phase through a glacier in the Justice League Doom movie...which made no sense at all. Because how was he running through the glacier if his entire body was phased inside of it? I mean, if he was intangible then what was he running on that allowed him to project forward???? Can't really say that his momentum prior to phasing through the glacier propel him through it because his legs were shown moving. He was literally running through the glacier.

Phasing through walls make sense because, Flash could just phase one body part at a time through the wall until his entire body was through it. However when he went through the glacier, not only was it sitting in water, but his entire body went through the glacier and he was able to still move at top speed....

Buuut then again this is The Flash. Maybe he really is that in-tuned with his abilities... but still.. things just do not add up.

@blkson: here this is what i was talking about

I've read parts of this one "science of superheros" book (written by a physicist) and it said that Flash wouldn't need to "vibrate his molecules" (which he said isn't really possible/doesn't make sense) but by hitting an object at the speed of light he would automatically pass through it (being that if an object was going light speed, quantum mechanics would dictate the probability of all his sub-atomic particles being aligned (so as to pass through the empty space in another piece of mass) at 100%).

@lightsout said:

Hmm, that's interesting. Thanks for the info! Fortunately, they came up with the Speed Force, which is basically a plot device to do away with physics in relation to his speed haha.

Yea, Flash doesn't really obey a lot of the mechanics of running. Running is basically a jump up and forward (with both legs in the air at one point), composed of stride length & frequency. But it can't rely ONLY one, so we can't say Flash has hyper frequency & normal stride length. And if his stride-length was say 1,000ft (random number) he wouldn't be able to avoid things. (Among other logic issues that have popped up). It'd make more sense if Flash just had a mental control over the movement of his mass - any direction/speed (& could theoretically then fly), and that running is just an aesthetic choice to give the character something unique.

@kal_smahboi: If anything the science is simpler in this case, haha. Flash could just accelerate to light-speed (SF letting him not worry about hurting the environment) and go through anything.

@lightsout: That's true. But he doesn't always do that. Sometimes he's not even running when he phases. It would really suck to have to accelerate to light speed just to phase through a bullet.

@kal_smahboi: I don't know if there's straight-evidence, but when written at his "best", I was under the assumption he could accelerate to LS in a short time/distance (almost instantly). With bullets I'd imagine he wouldn't need to phase, just go into "SF mode" (ie: higher perception) & just side step them, or even touch them & steal all their "speed". (Although that first part gets to me....because the fact that multiple Flashes have done that (had high perception as if they were moving fast**, while staying in 1 spot)....that's got to be another part of his power).

**Because if he were running fast that'd make sense (the faster you go, the slower time appears to go. ie: slow-motion matrix world), but when he's just standing around & it happens, that's pretty much just what Zoom does then (time slowing)...but I digress, feel like I'm monopolizing this topic already, haha

There was an issue of JLA where Flash was trapped inside Flow (a living bubble of water, basically). And Flow said that he couldn't vibrate out or he'd 'superheat' the water, frying himself. It took Aquaman to save him.

I can't quite recall if those were the exact details, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Hmm, ya'd think the same SF that protects him from the heat/force of friction would protect him from that heat....... oh comics!

@blkson: quick question: why would they ever need to?

@oldnightcrawler: I don't know... I was just curious, honestly.

@blkson: haha! that's cool.