5 HN users recommended this explainer3 months2021–2023score 3
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Frequently linked whenever wind-powered vehicles come up, as the clearest visual explanation of how the craft works.
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.
“The visual that made it click for me was at 18:54 in the original video” (HN, 2021)
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]
Visual explanation of how the wind-powered vehicle gains energy from air
Original video triggering the bet for context: [this video] Video discussing the bet and going over criticism: [link] Veritasium is a great YouTube channel.
Original video that triggered the downwind-faster-than-wind bet
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]
Explains why zigzagging sailboats can beat the wind downwind
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]
Good explanation of why the vehicle works, like a sailboat
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.
Detailed explanation of why the physics of the vehicle works
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.
Veritasium episode on sailing faster than the wind
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]
Wind powered cars are possible and pretty cool. Turbines could use the apparent wind to generate just the same way it’s used by sailboats to go faster than the wind. [this video]
I doubt this is how sailboats are doing it (if they're doing it) but one way is (I think) to make the airfoil itself cut across the wind while the "boat" goes straight downwind. See these videos: [this video] [link]
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