marvel - Why doesn't Spider-Man's web stick to his hands?

Why does Spider-Man's web stick to objects, but not to Spider-Man's hands? When he shoots a strand out, it sticks to buildings. He grabs the strand and swings, and is able to let go. How is this possible?

Answer

He has several kinds of webbing; the stickiness has to do with how it's formed.

There's lots of info on how his shooters work on the Marvel Wiki, but to break it down:

Take a look at the Web-Shooters page on the aforementioned Wiki; it basically says what he has said a few times in the comics; they have settings that allow him to adjust what he shoots.

The effect of the very small turbine pump vanes is to compress (shear) the web fluid and then force it, under pressure, through the spinneret holes which cold-draws it (stretches it: the process wherein nylon gains a four-fold increase in tensile strength), then extrudes it through the air where it solidifies. As the web fluid exits the spinneret holes, it is attracted to itself electrostatically and thus can form complex shapes. The spinneret holes have three sets of adjustable, staggered openings around the turbine which permit a single web line, a more complex, spun web line, and a thick stream.

Web-Shooters

Web-Shooter close-up

So, what we have is:

Globs of sticky webbing --> a thick stream.

Lines of swinging webbing --> spun web line

Sticky lines of webbing. --> single web line

What he swings on is the 'Spun Web Line'; it's extruded in such a way as to yield a very strong, but not particularly sticky line; something to do with the 'Spinning' seems to dry it out quickly. (It should be mentioned, however, that the first fraction of a second of the shot is probably the 'glob' type, to allow it to stick to it's target. Referred to as the 'attachment disk' below.)

To quote that page again:

On contact with air, the long-chain polymer knits and forms an extremely tough, flexible fiber with extraordinary adhesive properties. The web fluid's adhesive quality diminishes rapidly with exposure to air. (Where it does not make contact with air, such as the attachment disk of the web-shooter, it remains very adhesive.)

Now, the physics of it are another issue.. but that's the 'canon' answer :)

Comments

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