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While it is never stated, that I can recall, Clark is said to move so fast that the street cameras can't see him and even a full stop at his relative speed is still appears that everything is frozen in time.

Can we estimate how fast his movement speed is using this?

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  • You can check this answer. It explains you that, according to Eistein's relativity law, an object seems frozen to you if you're moving at the speed of light.
    – Saphirel
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 12:39
  • Are we talking video camera or single image camera? It will depend on shutter speed or frames per second and the distance covered.
    – Paulie_D
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:24
  • Closed circuit cameras I think I would assume slighlty better than the standard street security camera in the mid-2000s. They're referenced, but a direct shot can be seen when Clark is caught on camera by Jimmy who is using a professional Camera in Season 8 ep 7 "Identity". That's probably the best to work with. Also as far as we are shown Clark seems to never Sonic Boom which implies he never reaches mach1, at least on camera. We are also given a semi-good distance of Big Ben to Metropolis in like a minute in a s10 ep, but DC Earth is usually considered bigger so not distance measure.
    – Durakken
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:34
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    I believe it’s slightly slower than Smallville Flash.
    – Paul D. Waite
    Commented Jan 24, 2017 at 18:13
  • this question has been viewed 4 thousand times yet has 0 upvotes
    – shanu
    Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 10:19

3 Answers 3

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It shouldn't be surprising that a teen show about Superman is inconsistent in its presentation of physics and the exact magnitude of the hero's power.

There are times when Clark does things that arguably require him to move faster than light, such as running through a fight and grabbing bullets without anyone seeing him or outrunning a camera, and other times where he moves at more mundane speeds.

This is further muddled by the lack of sonic booms or atomic explosions, which would contradict the speed he shows if you're worried about real physics.

So, somewhere between super fast and faster than light, depending on the story requirements.

Here's a mathematical breakdown of his speed moving across a bridge in a particular episode. They calculated his speed at at 296 mph, so consider that a lower bound.

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ok so he apparently holds back his speed as he said in season 8, but when he didn't he moved 7 times the distance a camera flash did and looked back and then ran off and the light caught him, this makes him 10 times faster than light and in season 10 he moved hundreds of meters to move a girl before she took a photo of lois, he moved her after she pressed the button and when he brought her atleast several buildings away the photo didn't take the pick of lois and instead took a photo of coffee meaning he took he her hundreds of meters after she took the photo and bought her a coffee

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Old topic, but I was curious, as I am rewatching the show. An article says 133 m/s, but it's definitely more than that. There are scenes where he puts himself in front of a bullet or catches it after the bullet has been shot, which implies that he's faster than the speed of sound. Plus, there are plenty of other scenes without bullets that suggest the same thing. Why he doesn't create a sonic boom, there could be plenty of fictional explanations. There's also no sonic boom when he races Bart Allen and Bart runs so fast leaving him so far behind that he simply disappears in front of him. Anyway, it's just a superhero show for teenagers, accuracy and logic are definitely not in the creators' interest.

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    Since you mentioned an article, it'd be good if you edited your answer to include a link to said article, so that anyone interested can view the one you're talking about for themselves. Including a quote of the relevant text from the article within your answer would be good too. That way, if the article ever becomes inaccessible for any reason, that text will be preserved within your answer.
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 6:19
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    Also, without seeing the article itself (or at least a quote of the relevant text), I can't tell whether the the "133 m/s" figure you mentioned was an abbreviation of 133 miles per second or 133 metres per second. If it's 133 miles per second, that would equate to well over 400,000 miles per hour, which is many times faster than the speed of sound (approx. 770 miles per hour), contrary to what you suggested in this answer.
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Jan 25, 2023 at 6:31
  • @LogicDictates He's referring to the article I linked in my answer, which calculates his speed as 133 m/s = 296 mph.
    – DCShannon
    Commented Feb 14 at 1:18
  • @DCShannon - You're probably right, but the relevant link and text should still ideally be present within the answer itself, so that it can be correctly understood without the need to read your answer or a web page on another site. It's tempting to edit those things into this answer myself, but I'm reluctant to modify someone else's answer to that extent based on the assumption that the article linked in your answer is the same one Clau was referring to (although, as I said, you're probably right about that).
    – LogicDictates
    Commented Feb 14 at 4:33

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