Is it just me or are people fucking thick?

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:32 pm 0

It was fun until people started wading in on page 8 with points that were adequately answered on page 1

zip accident · Post by **zip accident** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 4:42 pm 0

Mir Nyet wrote:

"In brief, an aeroplane is put on a magical conveyor belt that automatically matches the plane's speed and keeps it stationary. The question is, can the aeroplane take off?"

Yeah, Jedburgh said that, but before he wrote that, in the same post, he also posted this link:

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/12/ ... conundrum/

Which led me to this link.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/sho ... p?t=348452

So, early on I was taking these to be canonical, then Tufty came up with:

The FuckingArticleâ„¢ wrote :

Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?

Which may be identical. Either way, I see Jedburgh's remarks as an approximation of the original, whatever that may be.

Jizzbeard the Pie-rat · Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:27 pm 0

Looks like I'm late to the party, but in answer to the original conundrum, the answer is no - the tyres would melt a d the bearings in the wheels would either break or otherwise become ineffective and limit the speed due to being under far more stress than they were designed for. Given 'perfect' bearings and wheels, though, then I see no reason why it wouldn't take off.

Zen-Chan · Post by **Zen-Chan** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:34 pm 0

So, if you were in a hypothetical super-car that was traveling through space at the speed of light, and you turned on the headlights, what would happen?

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:36 pm 0

You'd be nothing without your hypothetical super-car.

Kamineko · Post by **Kamineko** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:36 pm 0

Total protonic reversal.

Mir Nyet · Post by **Mir Nyet** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:36 pm 0

Zen-Chan wrote:So, if you were in a hypothetical super-car that was traveling through space at the speed of light, and you turned on the headlights, what would happen?

Nothing because time would have stopped, and all motion requires a timeframe from which to occur in

Space Cowboy · Post by **Space Cowboy** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:45 pm 0

Jizzbeard the Pie-rat wrote:Looks like I'm late to the party, but in answer to the original conundrum, the answer is no - the tyres would melt a d the bearings in the wheels would either break or otherwise become ineffective and limit the speed due to being under far more stress than they were designed for. Given 'perfect' bearings and wheels, though, then I see no reason why it wouldn't take off.

Sigh, back to square one.

Mir Nyet · Post by **Mir Nyet** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:53 pm 0

Space Cowboy wrote:
Jizzbeard the Pie-rat wrote:Looks like I'm late to the party, but in answer to the original conundrum, the answer is no - the tyres would melt a d the bearings in the wheels would either break or otherwise become ineffective and limit the speed due to being under far more stress than they were designed for. Given 'perfect' bearings and wheels, though, then I see no reason why it wouldn't take off.
Sigh, back to square one.

Looks like the plane has more chance of taking off than this thread has of getting people to agree

mamemeister · Post by **mamemeister** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:57 pm 0

Ely wrote:But the Plane is sat still (relative to the earth) on the Treadmill and thus no air flowing over the wings to produce lift, so I'm going with no it won't take off.

Exactly.

Munky · Post by **Munky** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 5:57 pm 0

Looking at the photographic evidence provided in the link, it wouldn't be able to take off.

The wings would catch on the handles of the treadmill.

/morten · Post by **/morten** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:05 pm 0

Munky wrote:Looking at the photographic evidence provided in the link, it wouldn't be able to take off.

The wings would catch on the handles of the treadmill.

piku · Post by **piku** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:09 pm 0

This is a great example of people not attempting to answer the question, but instead trying to debate the minute little specifics of what the question literally means

Go on, someone take into account the friction caused by the tyre tread and the rubber on the treadmill, or the fact the treadmill would require motors so large there isn't enough electricity in the world to power them... or something.

I bet Einstein had this kind of problem all the time.

Jizzbeard the Pie-rat · Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:11 pm 0

Space Cowboy wrote:
Jizzbeard the Pie-rat wrote:Looks like I'm late to the party, but in answer to the original conundrum, the answer is no - the tyres would melt a d the bearings in the wheels would either break or otherwise become ineffective and limit the speed due to being under far more stress than they were designed for. Given 'perfect' bearings and wheels, though, then I see no reason why it wouldn't take off.
Sigh, back to square one.

I try

.

kalmar · Post by **kalmar** » Tue Dec 12, 2006 6:13 pm 0

piku wrote:This is a great example of people not attempting to answer the question, but instead trying to debate the minute little specifics of what the question literally means

Go on, someone take into account the friction caused by the tyre tread and the rubber on the treadmill, or the fact the treadmill would require motors so large there isn't enough electricity in the world to power them... or something.

No but it's magic. Isn't that enough explanation for anyone?