IA Superhero IA help

[hegeasm]

Hey, so i'm thinking about doing my IA on some stuff related to superheroes, I was thinking maybe how much spiderweb is needed to carry a human, how long batmans cape have to be to have the needed wingspan to carry his weight, maybe to some math about angle and length when jumping from one building to another. I was also thinking about some ratio stuff like is the hulk 3 times stronger than normal humans and flash 3 timer faster so this means all superhumans have 3 times the normal humans ability. I was also thinking maybe to look at the math related to boomerangs (because batman uses his batarangs) but my teacher said this probably would be too difficult..

Just want your ideas, help or comments thanks:)

[flinquinnster]

Well, as a pre-2014 Maths HL student I don't know very much about Maths Studies IAs, so this is just a disclaimer. Moving on, I think that your IA topic could be interesting in that it has the personal connection. I think that your best bet would be to consider something about angles and jumping, as well as maybe some ratio/dimensional stuff. However, in some of your ideas - such as the wingspan and particularly the boomerang idea - it moves more from a mathematical investigation to a physics investigation. Thus, that means that in the scope of a Maths Studies IA, you lose some of the mathematical focus whilst not actually getting to the level of sophistication of the real, physical world. Obviously there needs to be a balance to be struck, and I think that's possible - but not with all ideas.

I think your teacher is right with boomerangs. The aerodynamics of a boomerang are exceedingly complex and modelled by complex equations, and even then no mathematician/physicist can really deal with things like air turbulence. Definitely not Maths Studies IA appropriate!

Good luck - given that I only hear about people doing statistical projects, this should at least be something interesting. But the focus is not necessarily on interest, but on the mathematics.