At last count this item by David Pogue had drawn 387 comments.
OK, this one’s driving me crazy. This brain-teaser is ripping around the Internet, plus I actually overheard it THREE TIMES in airport conversations on a recent trip to Canada.
Here’s how I found it presented at http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=34 8452:
“Imagine a plane is sitting on a massive conveyor belt, as wide and as long as a runway. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?
“I say no, because the plane will not move relative [to] the ground and air, and thus, very little air will flow over the wings. However, other people are convinced that since the wheels of a plane are free spinning, and not powered by the engines, and the engines provide thrust against the air, that somehow that makes a difference and air will flow over the wing.”
The guy behind me at the airport told his buddy that, in fact, the plane WOULD take off, and his buddy seemed to agree. Do we have any physicists in the audience?
Joshua, my son and official nephew of NewMexiKen, studied nuclear physics in the navy for several years. He has also had a bit of flying experience. So I asked him about this. He says that the plane would still take off, regardless of what is happening with the wheels. When I debated, “Yeah, but if the plane is stationary relative to the ground….” he maintained his position. I’m certainly in no position to argue the point, since I don’t understand physics at all. I guess I’ll just have to take his word for it.