Risking My Life To Settle A Physics Debate
Why Hacker News recommends it
Frequently linked whenever wind-powered vehicles come up, as the clearest visual explanation of how the craft works.
What it is
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.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2021 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Recommends karmakaze · 2021-07 · on “A Physics Prof Bet Me $10k I'm Wrong”
The visual that made it click for me was at 18:54 in the original video[0]. It shows the air hitting the propeller losing kinetic energy which becomes the energy ultimately making the vehicle go. I also don't know how you can watch the treadmill video and doubt it after seeing it go up the treadmill unless you believed it was a complete hoax. [0] [this video]
Recommends kinjba11 · 2021-07 · on “Science YouTuber Wins $10k Bet with Physicist”
Original video triggering the bet for context: [this video] Video discussing the bet and going over criticism: [LINK] Veritasium is a great YouTube channel.
Recommends tzs · 2021-08 · on “A wind-powered vehicle that can travel twice as fast as the wind itself”
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] [this video]
Recommends theli0nheart · 2021-08 · on “A wind-powered vehicle that can travel twice as fast as the wind itself”
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. :) [this video]
Recommends TimSchumann · 2022-07 · on “DDWFTTW Vehicle Analysis (2013)”
Derek from the YouTube channel Veritasium made two interesting videos about this vehicle. [this video] [LINK] They go into some nice detail about why the physics works out the way it does.
Cites worldsayshi · 2021-06 · on “Towing a Tesla at 70 MPH replenishes battery at fast charger rates”
You can sail faster than the wind when you push against a medium though. Veritasium has a very relevant interesting episode on this: [this video] Although I agree it would be challenging to get any significant speed from it.
Cites wongarsu · 2021-08 · on “A wind-powered vehicle that can travel twice as fast as the wind itself”
In the veratasium video [1] you can see it starting just from the wind (first attempt is around 5:20). It works just fine because as you scale up the vehicle you scale up the propeller, so there's plenty of surface for the wind to push against. 1: [this video]
Cites shagie · 2021-08 · on “A wind-powered vehicle that can travel twice as fast as the wind itself”
The original Veritasium video [this video] The video of the bet and the further explanations - [LINK] -- at 13:28 is an example without aerodynamics.