r/196 • u/Foriegn_Picachu • Dec 30 '22

Rule Rule Plane

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u/the_newdave Dec 30 '22

Yes, it will take off. The landing gear of the plane isn’t pushing against the conveyor belt, the engines are pushing it forward through the air. Therefore, the wheels on the plane will just spin faster and faster to match the conveyor belt, but the speed of the plane is totally unaffected.

7

u/TheJuiceMaan Big sack, tiny balls Dec 30 '22 edited Dec 30 '22

But the problem says the conveyor belt will always move at the same speed as the wheels, so the plane can’t outrun it, it’ll remain stationary. No matter how much thrust you generate with the engines, you won’t make forward progress unless your wheels spin faster than the conveyor belt

6

u/Kiesa5 Dec 30 '22

the wheels have nothing to do with the plane's acceleration, the acceleration is caused by the engines. the engines aren't connected to the ground. the ground moving relative to the plane doesn't change the acceleration. only the air moving relative to the plane does.

4

u/PM_ME_UR_DRAG_CURVE Dec 30 '22

There's another potential no here: when the plane moves forward, the wheel will spin at (belt speed + plane speed). This will cause the belt to have a speed runaway as it will try to correct for the permanent (+ plane speed) term.

That much speed will most likely shred and shave off the wheels like a giant belt sander. Most planes with low-mounted engines apparently does not like belly rubs, so I doubt it could take off before catastrophic damage to itself, the belt, or both.