A harmless little riddle

Agreed wrote:

Saying the plane can take off is like saying a plane can generate lift in a vacuum, it cannot

The treadmill isn't stopping the plane from moving. It is moving at the same speed as the plane. The only effect this has is that it makes the wheels spin faster. The plane still moves forward at its normal speed and takes off.

You would be right if the question assumed that the treadmill moved at sufficient speed to prevent the plane from moving forward, but that isn't the assumption. The question assumes that the treadmill is moving backward the same speed that the plane is moving forward (i.e. if the plane is moving forward at 200mph, the treadmill is moving backward at 200mph...of course the plane can take off under these conditions, as it is moving forward at 200mph.

Is this the og thread?

Reviving this thread - riddle!

some guy's wife is getting her pilot's license. start building a treadmill!

Russia has announced that they want to be the first country to send a manned spacecraft to land on the Sun and return the cosmonauts safely back to Earth. How will they accomplish this? ?

Android Allen wrote:

Russia has announced that they want to be the first country to send a manned spacecraft to land on the Sun and return the cosmonauts safely back to Earth. How will they accomplish this? ?

With magnets

Android Allen wrote:

Russia has announced that they want to be the first country to send a manned spacecraft to land on the Sun and return the cosmonauts safely back to Earth. How will they accomplish this? ?

I read an article about this - a lot of money & resources are being utilized. To avoid burning up on the Sun...it will be a *night* mission.

The plane will move forward, off the treadmill and continue on.

The plane wheel speed and treadmill speed is negligible. The plane turbines act on the surrounding air, not the ground.

I was wondering about this as I was cooking some food and it just popped into my head for some reason.

What if the treadmill was on another treadmill? Feasibly, could the plane 'take off from the treadmill' in that scenario? I don't see how that violates the rules really as it's still taking off from a treadmill!

Reading this thread gave me a headache. I am actually concerned about so many of the people who thought the plane could not take off, can we get an update on their well being? Did they survive the last 17 years without tripping on something? Were they able to find food and care for themselves? Did they get married and have equally stupid children?

I could not read it all so I have no idea if anyone actually answered the question, but a plane's wheels have nothing to do with propulsion of the plane, they just spin, therefore, a treadmill spinning the wheels does zero to stop the engines from propelling it forward. The plane would take off with the wheels spinning backwards. It's the stupidest question ever.

If you're standing next to the plane it's not moving. It's ground speed will be 0 and air speed is zero. Only its wheels are spinning