Thread: Questions To Ponder!

I posted this question to the board 15 years ago and thought it's time for it to come back around

Originally Posted by Migflanker

The case of the plane and the conveyor belt.

1. A plane is standing on a moving ( some sort of a band conveyer) runway.
The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyor belt moves in the opposite direction. The conveyer belt has a control system that tracks the plane's speed and tunes the speed of the belt to the plane (so you have the plane and the belt at the same speed but moving in opposite directions)
Can the plane take off?

Discussion---

I'm thinking no, but not sure, anybody?

Keep'em flying

It took four pages, 30+ posts and an episode of "MythBusters, BUT we finally had a definitive answer.
Now for those of you with under 15 years on the board and those who just can't remember what they guessed way back when- please post your YES or NO vote before you....hit search.

Now for a new question

2. If you drop a feather and a bowling ball from a fixed point would they hit the ground

A. at the same time
B. bowling ball followed by feather
C. feather followed by bowling ball

Now remember your high school physics - Galileo, the Leaning Tower of Pisa

And one last thing, this feather/bowling ball experiment is taking place in a vacuum chamber, of if you prefer, on the moon (this might or might not be important information.