Risking My Life To Settle A Physics Debate

Veritasium · 12.4M views · 2021-05-29 · 21:38

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Overview

Veritasium investigates whether a wind-powered vehicle can travel directly downwind faster than the wind, driving the Blackbird craft himself. The video explains the physics behind a claim some physics professors dispute.

On Hacker News

Frequently linked whenever wind-powered vehicles come up, as the clearest visual explanation of how the craft works.

Recommended by 5 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2021–2023

Topics

Fundamental physics Everyday physics & science demos Renewables, batteries & storage

What people said

TimSchumann · 2022-07 · Recommendation
Derek from the YouTube channel Veritasium made two interesting videos about this vehicle. [VIDEO] [LINK] They go into some nice detail about why the physics works out the way it does.
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tzs · 2021-08 · Recommendation
If you believe that sailboats can beat a drifting balloon downwind by zigzagging, then there is a very good explanation in the original Veritasium video that shows that this is essentially the same thing. Here's a link to the section of the video with that explanation [1]. Watch about 2 or 3 minutes starting there and it becomes clear. [1] [VIDEO]
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theli0nheart · 2021-08 · Recommendation
I thought the video below provided a good explanation for why this works. The physics are similar to those of a single sailboat going faster than the wind. Imagine two sailboats on a cylindrical ocean on diagonal tacks, on opposite poles, and rotating around the core with rods connecting them to the core. Now you have a propeller. :) [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Veritasium, played through YouTube.

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