b3ta.com board
You are not logged in. Login or Signup
Home » Messageboard » Message 6711815 (Thread)

# It's not going the wrong way, it's illustrating a well known conundrum.
Have a read of www.straightdope.com/columns/060203.html for a concise explanation.
(, Mon 8 Jan 2007, 16:35, archived)
# Yes, the conundrum is cool. I see that the plane definitely takes off.
I also thought that if the wheels and treadmill are 'perfect' (which they don't need to be) then the wheels don't spin, but the treadmill does, and it spins the other way than shown in this picture.

...which I now think is wrong, because there's no reason for only one of them to spin. They'd both spin, and both in the direction you'd expect, and the plane would still take off.
[I changed my mind again. The treadmill goes the wrong way.]


Thanks to tapeworm for introducing me to this!
(, Mon 8 Jan 2007, 17:20, archived)