Science behind Spiderman webshooters

Spider-Man's web-shooters were perhaps his most distinguishing trait, after his costume. Peter had reasoned that a spider (even a human one) needed a web. Since the radioactive spider-bite did not initially grant him the power to spin webs, he had instead found a way to produce them artificially. The wrist-mounted devices fire an adhesive "webbing" (see below) through a threaded adjustable nozzle. The trigger rests high in the palm and requires a double tap from the middle two fingers to activate, eliminating the chance of accidental discharge when forming a fist.[55] In order to fire the webbing, Spider-Man's fingers must hit the sensor precisely.[volume & issue needed]

Spider-Man must steadily replenish his webbing supply, reloading his web-shooters with small cartridges of web fluid, which is stored under high pressure. In early stories, he carries his extra supplies in a utility belt worn under his costume.[56] Later on, he equips the web-shooters with a bracelet-like carousel that automatically rotates a new cartridge into position as he empties them. When in use, a steel nipple in the carousel pierces the seal of the cartridge, and allows the fluid to travel through an air-tight channel toward the nozzle. Pressing down on the palm-trigger of the web-shooter causes the valve in the nozzle to open wider, expelling the fluid. Releasing the trigger causes the valves to close, cutting off the web-line or fluid. If Spider-Man creates any variation to his normal web formula that is too strong for the valves to sever, he might end up being tangled up or tied to the object he attached his web to, which has happened on more than one occasion. His web-shooters require constant maintenance and on more than one occasion suffer jams or malfunctions.[volume & issue needed]

In some issues, the web-shooters have required tremendous pressure to fire them, requiring ordinary humans to use hammers or similar objects to trigger them,[57] while in other stories, normal human strength is sufficient to activate them.[58]

Occasionally, the web-shooters are modified to expel other liquids.[volume & issue needed]

After he develops organic webbing, Spider-Man gives the web-shooters to his wife Mary Jane as a Valentine's Day present, after having them changed into bracelets, and weakening the pressure required, so that she can use the bracelets for self-defense.[59] This appears to have reversed at some point, as Spider-Man is once again dependent on his web-shooters since the start of the "Brand New Day" storyline, for unknown reasons.[volume & issue needed]

Ben Reilly, as the Scarlet Spider and later as Spider-Man, uses modified web-shooters that can fire fast-acting sedative "stinger" darts, and "impact webbing", balls of webbing that explode on impact and envelop the target. The impact webbing and stingers are activated by certain wrist movements, rather than using a double-tap on a palm trigger. They use larger web cartridges than Peter's web-shooters and worn on the outside of his costume. Spider-Girl, Peter's alternate future daughter, uses modified versions of Ben's web-shooters.[volume & issue needed]

In the 2012 film The Amazing Spider-Man, Parker uses artificial web-shooters mounted on the exterior of Spider-Man's gloves. The webbing is an Oscorp product called "biocable" which is made from the webbing of genetically engineered spiders. Peter buys boxes of biocable cartridges and incorporates them into old wrist watches with a palm-mounted sensor as a trigger. However, unlike the comics, where Peter must steadily replenish his webbing supply, in the movie, Peter never shown any problem with his web-shooters running out of ammo, except when his web-shooters are broken.

In the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 the web-shooters are redesigned. Unlike the previous web-shooters' improvised nature, the new web-shooters are streamlined cartridges that fit neatly onto Spider-Man's wrists that aren't shown with a palm trigger implying that they fire by Peter's wrist movements. They presumably still use Oscorp's biocable for webbing, the webbing conducts Electro's electrical power and causes the web-shooters to break. In the movie Peter attempts to modify the web-shooters to resist electricity, but with little success; by the film's climax Gwen Stacy suggests magnetizing the web-shooters to counter Electro, which ends up defeating him. The devices are said to be able to play music and probably listen in to police broadcasts.

The Web-Shooters are featured in The Spectacular Spider-Man and just like the comics, they were created by Peter Parker.

WebbingShortly after getting his powers, Peter Parker (established early on as being extremely intelligent and creative) develops a special synthetic polymer adhesive that has spider web-like properties, as well as wrist-worn launching devices (see Web-Shooters). Upon release, the webbing dries into an extremely tough, flexible, adhesive fiber. One account described a single strand as stronger than piano wire and it is perhaps as strong as real spider silk or Kevlar (Spider-Man has used web-shields on several occasions to protect himself from small-caliber bullets). In Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide, one strand of webbing is described to be strong enough to bind the Hulk and hold him prisoner, but only if the Hulk were to hold still and let the webbing dry sufficiently. Also, according to recent volumes of The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the tensile strength of the webbing is equivalent to 120 lb (54 kg) per square millimeter in cross-section and is comparable to nylon with extraordinary adhesive properties.[volume & issue needed] Its exact composition is unknown, but after about an hour, the webbing breaks down, loses strength and eventually evaporates.[60] Uses of Spider-Man's webs: Firing a thin strand to a great height at a nearby tall building, then brachiating on this "webline". Doing this in rapid succession allows Spider-Man to quickly travel through well-developed urban areas. His travel speed has not been officially stated, though the Sins Past storyline depicts his crossing the borough of Manhattan in under 11 minutes (because he has been able to travel by web since the age of fifteen, Peter Parker does not have a driver's license).[61] During his web swinging travelling, Spider-Man can reach 120 mph (190 km/h). Firing a thicker "rope" of webbing, Spider-Man can bind captured criminals (even those with superhuman strength) to be later picked up by police officers.[volume & issue needed] Covering a small area with an extremely sticky blob. Spider-Man can cover an opponent's eyes, blindfolding them, or smother a handgun or a small bomb. On one occasion,[62] he told a criminal whose weapon and hand had been so covered: "I should warn you about the tensile strength of my webbing, but considering your likely IQ, let's just say that if you pull that trigger again, the backfire will probably take your hand off! Kapeesh?"[volume & issue needed] Casting a large web across a street or alley to snare rapidly moving persons or vehicles. The longer Spider-Man presses his two middle fingers in his palm to throw web, the thicker the web becomes as more and more layers are being added on.[volume & issue needed] Improvising small structures, such as parachutes, statues or dummies, baseball bats, full-size operational gliders, trampolines, gloves (for fighting the likes of Electro), nets, water-tight domes (for underwater breathing), bandages, slings, bulletproof shields, plugs, patches, and even hammocks.[volume & issue needed] In his early adventures, Spider-Man sometimes fired the fluid as a straight liquid to use its maximum adhesive strength.[volume & issue needed] To defeat the Blob, he once intentionally broke a web cartridge, exposing the fluid to air, rather than channeling it through his webshooter. By exposing it to air, the web fluid immediately expanded, covering the Blob in a large mass of webbing. Though expanded, it did not appear to lose any of its strength, as it was able to contain the Blob until the police arrested him.[volume & issue needed] Peter has also been seen using the impact webbing. Originally crafted from Ben Reilly, the impact webbing is a large ball of webbing that explodes on contact and covers the opponent in webbing from top to bottom.[volume & issue needed] In some cases, like in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 and some comics, Peter is able to let out a thick piece of web called for a short time, creating a small projectile weapon called "web balls". Spider-Man can modify his webbing when anticipating combat with a specific threat. These modifications include non-conductive webbing (typically for battling Electro), flame-retardant webbing (against the Human Torch or out-of-control fires), stronger (yet less stable) webbing for dealing with Stegron's dinosaur army, and acid webbing that can eat through the Rhino's tough hide.[63] He also has taser and electro webs. He has crossbow webs that explode on impact, and he has flash webs that blinds the enemy for a few seconds. His latest variation is magnetic webbing, which is used to interfere or cancel out radio or remote-control frequencies.[21] The webbing itself is also featured in The Spectacular Spider-Man. In it, the webbing is created by Peter Parker, just as it is in the comics. Organic webs In the "Disassembled" storyline,[37] Parker undergoes a transformation that results in the ability to produce organic web fluid from his wrists, and is able to fire his webbing in much the same manner as his artificial web-shooters. According to the new 2007 Spider-Man handbook, Parker has grown spinnerets in his forearms that terminate in small pores at the junction of his wrists. By pressing down with his middle fingers to his palm, he causes the pores to open and the spinnerets to eject the organic fluid with a force equal to or greater than that of his web-shooters. The effectiveness and amount of the new webbing is dependent upon his health and nutrition. The specific properties of this new organic webbing are unknown, but it can be safely assumed to be comparable to his artificially created web mixture. In some cases, it has shown to be of greater tensile strength and elasticity. Furthermore, according to the new handbook, the organic webbing takes a week to dissolve. After gaining this ability, he begins using the bio-webbing instead of his traditional mechanical web-shooters. The upper limit as to how much webbing he could produce at any one time has not been specified, though during Part 1 of the "One More Day" storyline, Peter actually produced enough webbing to immobilize and smother Iron Man's armor. In the subsequent "Brand New Day" storyline, Peter is shown to have his traditional web-shooters and appears to have lost the ability to create organic webbing, for reasons that have yet to be revealed. Instead of having mechanical webshooters in the 2002 live-action Spider-Man film, Spider-Man grows spinnerets in his forearms, along with his other powers, although the film's novelization states that Peter made bracelets similar to the comic web shooters to help him aim his shots. In the 2012 film reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter creates artificial webshooters, as in the comics. One biologist on the History Channel's Spider-Man Tech suggested that it would be more plausible for Spider-Man to shoot webbing from the Submandibular gland beneath the tongue instead of from his forearms.[1]