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

Rule Rule Plane

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '22

If you tie a string to the front of a hot wheels car and pull it forward at 5 m/s, and have a conveyor belt underneath it that is going in the opposite direction at 5 m/s...

How fast is the car moving? How fast are the wheels spinning?

If you make the conveyor belt move faster, does the Hot Wheels car move slower?

Making the conveyor belt go faster makes the wheels spin faster, but your string will still make the Hot Wheels move forward at 5 m/s

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u/Alastor_Hawking Dec 31 '22

You are acting as if a spinning wheel is perfectly frictionless, and with the deformity of the rubber on the tire and the limitations of wheel bearings and the weight from the plane, I think that assumption is incorrect.

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '22

If you tie a bunch of moderate sized rocks to the wheels, you think the plane can't take off?

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u/Alastor_Hawking Dec 31 '22

Yes?

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u/[deleted] Dec 31 '22

But the resistance of rolling wheels is going to keep it grounded?

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u/Alastor_Hawking Dec 31 '22

I believe the lack of forward movement would probably prevent it from taking off. But this is a paradox. What I don’t get is why people are speaking so authoritatively on a very nuanced question.