How does Steelpushing work?

[Munazir]

I’m reading the final empire for the first Time and Kelsier is using steel coins and steel pushing but i just don’t understand what he’s doing. He’s throwing the coin up and then what

Edited September 28, 2022 by Munazir

[offer]

He is throwing the coin, waiting for it to fall below him and then pushes it away from him. Then when the coin hits the ground this force moves him away from the coin since the coin cant move away farther.

 

In physics terminology he exerts a force on the coin and by newtons 2nd law an opposite force is pushing him.

[Mr. Misting he/him]

2 hours ago, Munazir said:

 

I’m reading the final empire for the first Time and Kelsier is using steel coins and steel pushing but i just don’t understand what he’s doing. He’s throwing the coin up and then what

 

So the way steelpushing works is you target a piece of metal. You then burn steel which pushes on the metal object. If you are heavier then the object it gets pushed away, flying away from you in a straight line. If the object weighs more then you, you will fly away in a straight line. If you throw a coin and push on it, the coin will fly away until it hits the ground. At that point the coin can’t move anywhere, because it now “weighs” more, so you go flying instead.

Does that answer your question?

[Munazir]

1 hour ago, offer said:

 

10 minutes ago, Mr. Misting said:

So the way steelpushing works is you target a piece of metal. You then burn steel which pushes on the metal object. If you are heavier then the object it gets pushed away, flying away from you in a straight line. If the object weighs more then you, you will fly away in a straight line. If you throw a coin and push on it, the coin will fly away until it hits the ground. At that point the coin can’t move anywhere, because it now “weighs” more, so you go flying instead.

Does that answer your question?

Yes but is the coin steel or does it just have to be any metal and the steel is what you burn

[Mr. Misting he/him]

Yes the coin can be any metal, steel is just what you are burning.

[Quantus he/him]

And the inverse can be done by Lurchers with iron, but are forced to swing more Spiderman style under metal building fixtures (it's mentioned that it annoys residents by constantly damaging the window frames etc they use.  Having both options like a full mistborn can give you a whole lot more option than just either one, and somebody good enough can basically fly in circles if there's enough metal about.  

[AonDoor he/him]

Another thing that is important to note is that steelpushing is not like using the force. You cannot control direction. Objects move directly away from you, or you from them.

[Quantus he/him]

3 hours ago, AonDoor said:

Another thing that is important to note is that steelpushing is not like using the force. You cannot control direction. Objects move directly away from you, or you from them.

Steel and Iron have opposite directions.  And it is possible to push on individual parts of an object instead of it's center mass, it just takes more skill/effort.  I tend to assume you could also move the force point to different parts of your own body, which would open a lot of ripping possibilities for Lurchers.  

 

Quote

 

Podman36

So, in the scene where [Stuff Happens] and he's Pushing and Pulling on [parts of the metal that are] not center of mass, is that something more along the lines of savantism, or is it just Rule of Cool?

Brandon Sanderson

No no, that I was pushing toward... I wouldn't call [Him] a savant, but I would say that there were certainly steps toward that, and it's something I actually wanted people who were really skilled with the magic to be able to do.

Podman36

So it's not Rule of Cool.

Brandon Sanderson

I would not call that one Rule of Cool, I would say that I want that to actually be part of the magic, that I wanted there to be some level, particularly in Pushing and Pulling, of skill that lets you deviate from the normal. And I've tried to show in other places that people who are really skilled can do some different things like that, particularly with Pushing and Pulling, both on emotions and on metals. So no, not Rule of Cool there, I do occasionally do Rule of Cool stuff, but I wouldn't call that one.

Legion Release Party (Sept. 19, 2018)

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Quantus

[Munazir]

35 minutes ago, AonDoor said:

Another thing that is important to note is that steelpushing is not like using the force. You cannot control direction. Objects move directly away from you, or you from them.

So steelpushing gives you vertical height and you have to use iron pulling for horizontal.

[HSuperLee]

38 minutes ago, Munazir said:

So steelpushing gives you vertical height and you have to use iron pulling for horizontal.

No. Steel is repulsion, iron is attraction. Steel pushes, iron pulls. When Kel does his big super jumps, he's just pushing with the coin not perfectly below him so that rather than being pushed at a straight up, 90 degree angle, he's being pushed at a somewhat acute angle, probably somewhere between 60-80 degrees, though the specific angle is not certain or super relevant.

Edited September 28, 2022 by HSuperLee

[Munazir]

19 minutes ago, HSuperLee said:

No. Steel is repulsion, iron is attraction. Steel pushes, iron pulls. When Kel does his big super jumps, he's just pushing with the coin not perfectly below him so that rather than being pushed at a straight up, 90 degree angle, he's being pushed at a somewhat acute angle, probably somewhere between 60-80 degrees, though the specific angle is not certain or super relevant.

“He jumped up, Ironpulling against the safe, and landed with his feet against the wall, one foot on either side of the open panel. He continued to Pull, holding himself in place, and flared his pewter. Strength flooded his legs, and he flared his steel as well, Pulling against the safe.”

If Steel is repulsive how does this work 

[HSuperLee]

1 minute ago, Munazir said:

“He jumped up, Ironpulling against the safe, and landed with his feet against the wall, one foot on either side of the open panel. He continued to Pull, holding himself in place, and flared his pewter. Strength flooded his legs, and he flared his steel as well, Pulling against the safe.”

If Steel is repulsive how does this work 

The line about flaring steel is a mistake in the text. I don't know what edition book you have, but I believe I have a 13th edition book and it says he flared his iron, which would be the accurate one for this situation. You might have an older edition where that mistake wasn't corrected.

[AonDoor he/him]

2 hours ago, Quantus said:

Steel and Iron have opposite directions.  And it is possible to push on individual parts of an object instead of it's center mass, it just takes more skill/effort.  I tend to assume you could also move the force point to different parts of your own body, which would open a lot of ripping possibilities for Lurchers. 

You should probably put that in spoilers; Munazir is still on TFE. Generally, you can only push directly away from you.

[Quantus he/him]

4 minutes ago, AonDoor said:

You should probably put that in spoilers; Munazir is still on TFE. Generally, you can only push directly away from you.

Fair enough, I'll pull the identifying bits form the WOB. 

My other point remains that Pulling Toward you is entirely common, just with a whole different (and often ignored) metal/misting, but in a Mistborn they synergize together for a whole lot of more flexible maneuverability.  

[AonDoor he/him]

2 hours ago, Quantus said:

Fair enough, I'll pull the identifying bits form the WOB. 

My other point remains that Pulling Toward you is entirely common, just with a whole different (and often ignored) metal/misting, but in a Mistborn they synergize together for a whole lot of more flexible maneuverability.  

The thread is about steelpushing. I was talking about coinshot mistings.

[Quantus he/him]

1 minute ago, AonDoor said:

The thread is about steelpushing. I was talking about coinshot mistings.

Fair enough.  The OP asked about Kelsier specifically so I didnt want to imply that what he's seen doing is only Steelpushing and some combination of that and Lurching.