Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Challenge Lead-lined robe

You know the scene I'm referring to.

Well, how about a fic which takes place at any point after that scene (next day, next year, next decade) which involves Lois actually getting one?

Maybe it's a gift. Maybe the story is about the difficulties of getting one. Maybe it's a message for a certain someone. Maybe that message isn't what you'd think. Or maybe it is. Maybe it's not about x-rays. Maybe she's hiding a surprise.

Plenty of possibilities. Where does it lead you?

My immediate thought on this is how heavy it would be! I just took a look at a site that sells aprons etc. for radiologists and the weight of one that covers the torso down to mid-thigh is about 10-16lb depending on the thickness of the lead. They mention on several of them that they include harnesses etc. to transfer the weight off the shoulders, so presumably they're pretty uncomfortable to wear for extended periods.

Not even extended periods... When DS was in the hospital and had all kinds of tests done. One of the aprons I wore came to my knees and the straps thar went over the shoulders crossed in back then wrapped around the front and velcroed. It was horribly heavy and uncomfortable for the 10m I had it on. *shudder*
Carol

The discomfort of it makes it all the more interesting as a plot point!

Yeah, I used to have to wear one for dental x-rays and such when I was a kid. I could barely walk with the apron on. Luckily, I didn't have to go far with it.

But, as you say, it depends on the thickness of the lead foil you're using. And how much you're covering.

Up to the writer, of course.

Then again, she doesn't even have to wear it. Perhaps hanging it in the window would be enough.

Or perhaps not.

I was thinking about the episode of Mythbusters where they made a lead balloon out of foil. They said that lead tears easily and is difficult to get in the US, but is very lightweight.

Elisabeth

They were talking about lead foil. Very thin sheets of lead. (Like aluminum foil, but with lead.)

Lead, on the whole, is very soft.

Obviously, the thicker the sheet, the stronger it'll be. But heavier, too. (Same goes for aluminum foil. Generic foil is thinner than the brand name stuff, and will tear much more easily. The "heavy duty" brand name foil is even thicker, and thus more tear resistant. But it's also bulkier, heavier, etc. You get less of it in the same size box, and it can be harder to bend and shape.)

Lead foil isn't exactly light. They mentioned on the show that it was something like ten times the weight of the aluminum foil they were using. And they had to work to find a balance in the foil they were using... thick enough so that it wouldn't fall apart or tear too easily (which it was still doing), but thin enough so that it wouldn't be too heavy to lift. (And even then, they had to make the balloon pretty big before it would actually take off. Consider how small the aluminum one was, and how well it went up and stayed up.)

But... yeah. It's possible to get lead foil in a variety of thicknesses. And if you're sewing it into a fabric as a lining, you don't have to worry quite so much about tears. It'd be heavy for a robe, but, depending on the thickness of the foil (and how much of the robe you wanted to cover), it could still be quite wearable.

It's exactly the same principle as making a boat out of steel - lumps of steel sink, a large enough hollow steel container floats because the total density of the container and air inside it is less than that of water.

Similarly, you make a large enough container out of lead and fill it with a gas less dense than air (e.g. helium, hydrogen, or possibly hot air) and it will rise into the air. But it has to be thin lead and a very big balloon to work. Just had a look at the Youtube video of this, they said the lead weighed 11kg, so the air it displaced had to have a volume of at least 14 or so cubic metres. In fact it was much more since they didn't use pure helium. Someone has done some detailed calculation here , and in order to make this work they've used lead about 0.016mm thick - that's about a third the thickness of cheap clingfilm, if you want a comparison. It probably wouldn't stop any radiation, except possibly "soft" alpha particles. Certainly not x-rays and presumably not x-ray vision.

Mythbusters made a lead balloon - big enough and with enough helium - it really did take off. The downside? Lead foil is incredibly delicate, even more so than gold foil. Adam spent an awful lot of time with tape patching it up.

So a lead-lined robe (or cape as I have used) would have to be a multi-ply fabric - with the lead foil glued to a liner to keep it from falling apart. Now, being so thin, it wouldn't really be radiation resistant, but it might still be enough to block kryptonite radiation and Kryptonian x-ray vision.

Dandello - I saw that ep and have been waiting either for someone to bring it up or have reason to mention it myself. All the lead foil bags that CK has to put K in from time to time sprang to mind as I was watching it...
Carol

Well, I'm not at all sure what episode you guys are talking about.

But let me put my 2 cents worth in. When I used to work Intensive Care and assisted when temporary pacemakers were inserted (which require fluroscopy, a type of xray), I had to wear those darn aprons. I once had one on for 2 hours. And I can tell you they are HEAVY! But that has nothing to do with a lighter weight coat or apron. But if it wasn't as heavy as one of those aprons, I'm not thinking it would keep another Kryptonian from xraying Clark.

I think the effectiveness of the lead-lined robe would depend on what theory of X-ray vision you're using - Is he emitting a beam of something that bounces back (like radar) so he can see what's inside, or is he simply able to pick up the item's natural radiation emissions? Or is it something else?

If he's emitting a radar-like beam, then anything high density or really thick will block it - (DnD rules for magic that can be blocked - three feet of stone, a couple inches of metal, several feet of dirt or wood.) Unless it's something specific to lead itself, like its subatomic makeup, that makes it an especially good blocker.

Then we also have the fictions (I think even in the comics) where lead paint causes Superman problems. The amount of lead in old paint is far less than in lead foil.

There is a similar issue with how much lead is needed to block kryptonite radiation - is kryptonite radioactive in a manner similar to radium or uranium or is it much less radioactive? (if you postulate it's radioactive like radium, then humans are at risk too.) Or does kryptonite obey other, unknown, laws of subatomic physics which allow it to behave as it does? (Not only is it lethally dangerous to Superman, but it's also a long-lived, easy to tap, ostensibly clean, power source and makes a pretty good night-light.)