Poll: I was wondering....

[Jenny Creed]

Please see HERE [http://www.airplaneonatreadmill.com/] which explains the ambiguity that leads to the confusion.

Yes, it would, similar reason as to why winch launchers work for gliders (there is no force upwards), but the lift due to the wingshape is sufficient to lift the plane at high enough speeds.

You do realize that the plane would have 0 forward thrust over the ground, thus causing no lift under the wings, right?

See HERE [http://www.airplaneonatreadmill.com/].

This is not about physics, really. It's about the ambiguity in the description of the experiment.

Although Lukeje's explanation looks like he doesn't see the problem, the link he provides explains the whole thing. Basically there are two key facts:

1) An aeroplane cannot lift away from the ground without moving forwards relative to the air.

2) A treadmill cannot prevent an aeroplane from moving forwards (essentially because an increase in the conveyor speed simply makes the wheels spin faster and the friction in the bearings isn't enough to fight against the thrust from the plane's engines).

People who are saying "yes" are doing so because of 2). People who are saying "no" are doing so because of "1". In terms of the actual physics there's nothing very deep going on, the answer just comes down to what you think the question is asking.

This discussion came up on /b/ the other week. That thread lasted like five hours. If you don't know /b/, five hours is enough time for a bird sharpening its beak to grind a mountain of diamond into dust. I have no idea why it's discussed at all.

Listen to xkcd [http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-goddamn-airplane-on-the-goddamn-treadmill/], to Mythbusters and airplaneonathreadmill.com as has already been suggested. There is no argument.

Either we take a realistic interpretation, in which no conveyor belt in the world can keep an airplane from moving, or we take the hypothetis of the question which is basically "If an airplane can't move, then will it move?" Although I find that very silly even for a hypothetical question.

I just figured I'd repeat this as it seems a lot of people didn't read any of it.

(Why do I think they would read it this time? Call it hope.)

 

[Oisnafas]

Every time I find a question such as this, I wonder, why does it matter?

 

[iain62a]

Every time I find a question such as this, I wonder, why does it matter?

The voice of reason resounds over the battlefield.

 

[Nikajo]

I would've thought no because unless the plane is exerting a foward motion of its own...

The plane is exerting a forward motion of its own; that's what the engines are there for.

no entirely sure what you were hoping to gain by quoting this, bearing in mind the OP never said anything about the plane exerting foward motion and I'm not one to assume anything. And if you read the rest of my post I said what I thought would happen in both instances....so what's your point exactly?

Did u actually follow the video link? am i the only person that finds this hilarious? XD

 

[Lukeje]

I would've thought no because unless the plane is exerting a foward motion of its own...

The plane is exerting a forward motion of its own; that's what the engines are there for.

no entirely sure what you were hoping to gain by quoting this, bearing in mind the OP never said anything about the plane exerting foward motion and I'm not one to assume anything. And if you read the rest of my post I said what I thought would happen in both instances....so what's your point exactly?

Did u actually follow the video link? am i the only person that finds this hilarious? XD

What video link?
And sorry, I misread your post. Yes, if we read the OP literally, he does not mention whether the aeroplane's engines are on or not...

 

[RavingPenguin]

Wow, poll shows epic ignorance. The wheels do nothing for the plane, they are only there for ground transport. the propeller on the plane does all the work. Anyone ever stand behind a plane while its taking off? it feels like a hurricane.

 

[The Man With the Soap]

The Mythbusters did do this and the answer is a yes.

 

[The Blue Mongoose]

the wheels are not where the plane derives it's acceleration from... the engines push wind backwards, pushing the plane forward. the wheels spin freely.

you're just spinning the wheels... yay!

 

[Nikajo]

Thats cool, sorry I got a bit fired up there...anyway onto THE CRUNCH of this topic -

Please tell me you guys know what a rickroll is? look up the page there's a few posts leading to a page that contains a link which looks like - one last video and its supposed to be a video of the mythbusters proving this theory but I think you know what you're going to find instead

Ofcourse you could keep debating about it I suppose but I just can't take this seriously anymore lmao!

And yes the mythbusters did do it for real, I just love the fact that people got rickrolled aswell!

 

[Lukeje]

Thats cool, sorry I got a bit fired up there...anyway onto THE CRUNCH of this topic -

Please tell me you guys know what a rickroll is? look up the page there's a few posts leading to a page that contains a link which looks like - one last video and its supposed to be a video of the mythbusters proving this theory but I think you know what you're going to find instead

Ofcourse you could keep debating about it I suppose but I just can't take this seriously anymore lmao!

Rick Astley can stop an aeroplane taking off with just the power of song!

 

[Nikajo]

I beg to differ!