Quote:
Originally Posted by 100_Percent_Juice
IF there was a MAGICAL conveyor that could speed up to infinite MPH and match the wheel mph keeping the airplane in the same place, then the airplane would not take off. That is why the question online is flawed and could never be proven in a real life application because the airplane would match the conveyor speed and add the takeoff speed causing the conveyor to speed up eventually causing the airplane to look like JC's evo.
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Nope. It would still take off. The treadmill and wheels would be going infinity mph + takeoff speed.
Granted, the question as it was posed on NASIOC was poorly worded, but the intent was indeed to show the difference between thrust via air vs. thrust via wheel. But even if you want tackle the stupid messed up version, then you're still dealing with a treadmill/wheel combo that accelerates to infinity that cannot create a force that prevents the plane from taking off.
Because the wheels can't exert a force on the plane,
no matter what the treadmill does it can't stop the plane from taking off. You can take every semantic argument you want about how the plane "isn't allowed" to move by the wording, or "treadmills can't spin that fast", or "the wheel bearings would melt", etc and blow them out your ass because without a way for the wheels to impart a force opposite the engine thrust, the plane will accelerate down the treadmill and take off.