Comments on: Airplane on a Conveyor Belt. ARGH!

By: felix

felix — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:27:56 +0000

It depends…do you consider the TCBY as part of the food court? Or an autonomous unit for mid-mall snacking? I’m pretty sure it could get to a big enough food court…

By: howie

howie — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:22:37 +0000

But if you put a plane on an escalator, could it still get to the TCBY on the second floor?

By: felix

felix — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:09:40 +0000

Oh, there’s a spirit of the myth alright. If the spirit of the myth was what they tested the myth would have been “If you put a plane on a conveyor belt, would it go forward?” Although, your rollerskate one’s a good way of putting it. I’m just saying… it’s a stupid myth to bust, what they did.

Maybe Poyla’s right - they’re running out of myths.

By: robb

robb — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:52:31 +0000

they did it as right as they could. i don’t think that ther is a spirit of the myth… the first time I heard this all I could think was that the conveyer wouldn’t move until the plane moved, but the problem said that the conveyor would keep the plane still. That can’t happen! So one the plane moved, the conbeyor would have to instantly snap to moving at an infinite speed (or however fast it would be before the bearings on the wheels burnt out.)

Kirk is right: this is either a question about a guy on rollerskates on a treadmill pulling on a rope OR a question about a plane tied to a rock. but it can’t be both. The conveyor belt is just someone who doesn’t understand how the physical world works.

By: Poyla

Poyla — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:39:02 +0000

After years of this show they are probably running out of testable ones.

By: felix

felix — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:01:08 +0000

That is more or less the notion I had for the test. It just underscores the stupidity of the myth. I mean it was just a lame test and if they couldn’t do it right they should have done something else. Know? Sigh.

By: Kirk Unit

Kirk Unit — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:26:21 +0000

I think the point is that the conveyor belt can’t create the presumed conditions of the test. The “spirit of the myth” is, in fact, not physically possible. It’s an engineering question that can’t escape some basic mechanics.

Let’s chain a plane to a big enough rock to defeat the thrust provided by the engine, and well, now we’re talking.