Amazing facts you're pretty sure are true

[FreydNot]

Originally Posted by fluxquanta

If the wheel bearings have "very little" or no friction, like you're suggesting, then yeah, the force due to the treadmill on the plane would be minimal, assuming everything's already in motion. What's the point of having the treadmill at all in this case?

There will be friction, though, and it wouldn't necessarily be small. I mean, you can push a car that's in neutral, but it does require some effort.

The point of having the treadmill in this case is to give people a mental hurdle to negotiate in this thought experiment. In truth the treadmill has very little impact on the flight of the plane. A similar question would be "if you paint the plane purple, will it still take off?".

Pushing a car is a bad example because there is a lot more in play than the bearings. If you lift a non-driven wheel up with a jack and release all breaks you will find that you can manually spin the wheel with ease.

Think about it; if wheel bearings had a significant amount of drag (friction), the hundreds of millions of cars and trucks on the road every day would burst into flames due to heat build up.

[lalalemon]

1 in every 4 Americans has appeared on television.

A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

[Lord of the Cock Rings]

"3 out of 4 dentists recommend sugarless gum for their patients that chew gum"

the other 25% want to keep making a good living.

[fluxquanta]

Originally Posted by FreydNot

The point of having the treadmill...

Didn't even read the rest. Pretty sure I said I was done.

[FreydNot]

Originally Posted by fluxquanta

Didn't even read the rest. Pretty sure I said I was done.

[KeithMalley]
You don't get to decide when we are done.
[/KeithMalley]

[fluxquanta]

Originally Posted by FreydNot

[KeithMalley]
You don't get to decide when we are done.
[/KeithMalley]

Well you can talk to yourself all day, then. Just don't quote me when you do it.

[Cretaceous Bob]

You're not done if you don't leave, dude.

[Space Indaver]

Maths isn't the basis of everything, it's the retrospective quantifying of everything.

[Sparrow]

Math is a language. It gives us the ability to articulate natural goings on. beautiful, really.

[fluxquanta]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Math is a language. It gives us the ability to articulate natural goings on. beautiful, really.

Agreed. Although some shit like number theory is a little ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob

You're not done if you don't leave, dude.

The quotes, man. If I'm quoted I feel like I'm targeted. I'm not about to play the quiet victim here.