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On Mythbusters right now. Will a plane take off on a conveyor belt. The definitive answer?
 
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Ye, it did, and the pilot (I wouldn't wanna fly with him) said that he was amazed. it took off at about the same speed and place as without the conveyor......
I must be nuts to be drawn into this debate :evil:
 
it`s not a debate now :rolleyes: it`s been proven on mythbusters :idea:
 
SO how did this work? Conveyor tried to match speed of planes ground speed?

Basically if so ground speed has nothing to do with lift which is all to do with airspeed. If a plane took off by using a powerplant which drove the wheels then this would be a different matter.

Personally I wouldn't want to be flown by a pilot who can't grasp such a simple concept :eek:
 
Not wanting to go off topic, but a good one for this forum and a subject myth busters once did (I have only read about not seen) is whether you will be electrocuted if someone throws a live toaster into a bath.

Personally I am not so sure and my theoretical knowledge is not good enough to work out how the electricity would behave in a large body of water (of course assuming plastic waste and isolated from earth!) but what I do know is that I have heard many examples of thermometers cracking in fish tanks with no ill effects toward fish or human just a lot of crackling and sizzling etc so maybe this would make a good discussion :D
 
If I stood on top of a train travelling 80mph.....and jumped 3 ft in the air....when I landed I would be several ft further back.
But........If I jumped the same height whilst inside the carriage....????????? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :LOL:
 
Bit obvious this one.
The reason why you are a few feet further back when you jump off the roof is because the air resistance against you slows you down relative to the train, (The train is using power to over come the air resistance, anongst other things).
Inside the carriage the air is travelling at the same speed as the train, hence no air resistance when you jump, ergo you land in the same spot as you jumped from, especially if you were hanging onto the back of the seats at the time.

Another one: how many wheels are driven in a 2 or 4WD vehicle?
or:
explain how an unpowered spacecraft can orbit the earth.
or:
how come people are weightless in a falling aircraft.
 
the spacecraft thing is easy..
it's ballistic curve and lack of resistance..

the ship wants to go in a straight line but gravity pulls it towards the earth making it a curve..
the lack or air means there is no wind resistance to slow it down so the only thing that diminishes the speed of it is the gravity.. which is fairly minimal ( and the reason that orbits decay and things eventually crash back to earth if not boosted occasionally.. )
 
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