A Physics Professor Bet Me $10,000 I'm Wrong

Veritasium · 26.3M views · 2021-06-30 · 17:56

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Overview

Veritasium recounts a $10,000 bet with a UCLA physics professor over whether a vehicle can travel downwind faster than the wind. He presents the professor's reasoning and demonstrations, including one without aerodynamics.

On Hacker News

Linked as clear demonstrations that make the counterintuitive faster-than-wind result click.

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

Topics

Fundamental physics Everyday physics & science demos

What people said

TimSchumann · 2022-07 · Recommendation
Derek from the YouTube channel Veritasium made two interesting videos about this vehicle. [LINK] [VIDEO] They go into some nice detail about why the physics works out the way it does.
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Tuna-Fish · 2021-08 · Recommendation
The small demonstration that made it click for me is from that video: [VIDEO] This is exactly what the blackbird does, only with a propeller pushing air in place of the big wheel, and it's a much clearer and simpler demonstration of the same idea, which you can trivially verify.
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kinjba11 · 2021-07 · Recommendation
Original video triggering the bet for context: [LINK] Video discussing the bet and going over criticism: [VIDEO] Veritasium is a great YouTube channel.
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Sources

Video by Veritasium, played through YouTube.

HN Library · Source license

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