Riddle me this...

smoke
By smoke

This question was asked to me by a friend a while back, there can be a logical answer and then there can be a common sense answer but which is right lets discuss.

Question: If a helicopter too off straight up from Point A, hovered in the air, in the exact same spot for 10 hours would it land in another Country or come back down to Point A?

By timebandit• 21 Jan 2011 13:53
timebandit

bryane you are going to get banned if you carry on posting this everywhere

By bryane• 21 Jan 2011 13:45
bryane

is it okey to work with regency group? coz i was hired by them. and its my first time to go in qatar.

By anonymous• 21 Jan 2011 13:37
anonymous

try understanding the problem with reference to newton's first law of motion...it's simple, no need for any debates or discussions.

By Victoria5518• 21 Jan 2011 13:02
Victoria5518

i donno tb....smoke have the correct answer :)

By timebandit• 21 Jan 2011 12:52
timebandit

It's my opinion that you are correct Vicky

By Victoria5518• 21 Jan 2011 12:48
Victoria5518

i was did not even read the tread last night..i was feeling sleepy! i hope i got it.

yanni u have to read the riddle, it says "on the same spot" i dont care if possible or not

By ghazalz• 21 Jan 2011 12:44
Rating: 3/5
ghazalz

:))

But, if the Helicopter crosses the atmosphere and goes into space yaani more than 80 kilometers above the Earth then it will watch the whole world rotating beneath it :))

and that's impossible for a helicopter.

By ghazalz• 21 Jan 2011 11:24
Rating: 4/5
ghazalz

No, the Helicopter will remain there at the Same Spot :

As The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of air called the atmosphere. The atmosphere is made up of various gases that act as a protective shield for the Earth...It rotates with the Earth, the helicopter is inside the atmosphere, does not cross it and it will remain there the rotation of the Earth will not influence on it :)

By timebandit• 21 Jan 2011 09:22
timebandit

It took you all night to come up with that?

By Victoria5518• 21 Jan 2011 07:16
Victoria5518

as u mentioned "in the exact same spot"

By Victoria5518• 20 Jan 2011 22:24
Victoria5518

i will answer tomorrow...im feeling sleepy now :(

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 13:17
anonymous

Pilots have no OT!

By flor1212• 20 Jan 2011 13:06
flor1212

testing a logic which may seem be differently viewed by different people.

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 12:48
Rizks

WTH will the pilot of tat copter do sitting for 10Hrs above the ground ? :(

Keep starring at tat spot and get hiptonised and crash the copter ? :(

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 12:47
anonymous

Forget that 'antique' idea. It is the mass of the earth which curves the space-time continuum. The helicopter is only forced by the curvature of space-time which pushes it down towards the center of the mass.

By sandtest• 20 Jan 2011 12:44
sandtest

While Earth is Rotating with reference to an Object in Air (in this case helicopter) -- two forces act with gravitational pull of the Earth -- Centripetal & Centrifugal.

It's like a stone tied to a string or rope and then rotated by hand like a sling.

Helicopters original position on Earth will remain same for above reason.

By eugeneme• 20 Jan 2011 11:54
Rating: 2/5
eugeneme

It will land at the same spot

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 11:22
smoke

Alright so the answer is Same Spot. Good enough.

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 11:03
Rizks

ok ....:(

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 11:03
Colt45

I answered it, so no black spot on me :-(

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 11:03
Colt45

I know how you feel, I feel the same :-(

Rizks - behave yourself :-P

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 11:02
Rizks

Not answering this simple and ridiculous riddle is a black spot on you, Colt ! :(

By flor1212• 20 Jan 2011 11:02
flor1212

on our friend's employer head! Really hard I wish!

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 11:00
Rizks

hmmm.....or may Shutup ! :)

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 11:00
Colt45

and if you do, Smoke will get you goldspot :-P

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 11:00
Colt45

or maybe hot-spot :-P

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 10:59
Colt45

G spot :-P

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 10:59
Rizks

will land on i-spot ! :(

By Colt45• 20 Jan 2011 10:57
Colt45

Same spot, you need to attain certain altitude to land in a different spot ;-)

By flor1212• 20 Jan 2011 10:37
flor1212

SAME spot. Unless the chopper went out the gravitational area of the earth (which I think is impossible as of this writing). lol! I completely agree with LP and it may sound to technical but that's the ONLY logical answer!

By bhie_09• 20 Jan 2011 10:31
bhie_09

so what is the answer? we are waiting the correct answer smoke..

By kagester• 20 Jan 2011 10:15
kagester

check this out smoke n this wud help everyone

http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae203.cfm?CFID=36814628&CFTOKEN=56e2f761dd0166e3-A22AC899-15C5-EE01-B92F5FAFFE2435A9

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 10:08
anonymous

Lincoln, you are correct of course. I was just replying to some guys who thought they were clever by bringing up the notion that the earth revolves under a helicopter which would be 'standing still'.

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 09:43
anonymous

Gravity always wins!

By bhie_09• 20 Jan 2011 09:39
bhie_09

but i guess it will come back to point A..:)

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 09:39
anonymous

It will land at the same spot

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 09:38
Rizks

The copter will land at Taxi hotel and the Pilot will have a cup of Karak Chai with Porota and again hit the sky for 10Hrs....:(

Is the answer right ? :(

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 09:36
smoke

I dont want technical answers. Its simple...a helicopter goes up straight, hovers there for 10 hours and comes back down straight...will it land in the same spot or somewhere else?

Obviously the answer is not that simple giving different circumstances.

By osamabawab• 20 Jan 2011 09:34
osamabawab

this question make sense, but i don't know

By bhie_09• 20 Jan 2011 09:33
bhie_09

hmmm better ask some pilot....

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 09:27
Rizks

is this a logical question ? :(

By timebandit• 20 Jan 2011 09:27
timebandit

And which is the right one?

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 09:25
anonymous

Smoke what is the logical answer? and

what is the commonsense answer?

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 08:44
anonymous

Jabba, a helicopter can never reach earth's escape velocity of 11.4 km per second. And the center of gravity remains at the same spot. It won't move, and so won't the chopper.

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 08:40
anonymous

Smoke did you wash that damn helicopter the day before yesterday?

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 08:37
Rating: 5/5
anonymous

If it does not move at all in respect to the earth's movement (however that would be possible), then it won't be able to land. Because the earth not only revolves around its axis, but also around the sun at 30km/s. That means that after 10 hours (in space!) the helicopter's crew would not only have run out of air and died, but also would the helicopter after ten hours be 1,080,000km away from Earth.

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 08:04
anonymous

Well, there you are. Good morning, TB.

By Fatboyslim• 20 Jan 2011 08:03
Rating: 4/5
Fatboyslim

The air rotates along with the Earth. If it didn't there would be a constant wind of hundreds of miles per hour as Earth rotated but the air remained still. So a helicopter hovering in the air is always above the same spot on the ground.

By timebandit• 20 Jan 2011 08:02
timebandit

I was wondering when LP was going to appear and solve this riddle.

By anonymous• 20 Jan 2011 07:53
Rating: 5/5
anonymous

The magnetic field of earth can move a small compass needle but not a large metallic object. It is too weak. If there is no wind, the helicopter will be stationary, held in place by gravity. Even the atmosphere moves with the earth. You have to go up to some 200 km to be in "empty" space. Then you could see the earth rotate below you with an approximate speed of 1.750 km/h.

By Formatted Soul• 20 Jan 2011 07:51
Rating: 5/5
Formatted Soul

come back to Point A bcos it took off from Point A.

By timebandit• 20 Jan 2011 07:39
timebandit

Ok now I am talking from supposition rather than knowledge. And I don't have time to go and google this. But as far as I am aware below a certain altitude (no I don't know what it is) there is an effect (ground, magnetic whatever) that would carry a large metallic object with it. But above a certain altitude (probably inner space), an orbit can be achieved where an object, in this case a helicopter can be independent of the earth's rotation.

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 07:34
Rizks

naa...u can reach Dubai in just 45mins. not 10Hrs.....:)

By britexpat• 20 Jan 2011 07:34
britexpat

You will land in the same place, since your point of reference will be constant..

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 07:32
smoke

Ok so given all the conditions are favorable can we assume that for example that the a helicopter can take off in Qatar and land in say Dubai without even moving from the same spot due to the earths rotation?

By FlyingAce• 20 Jan 2011 07:32
Rating: 5/5
FlyingAce

Helicopter does not have fuel capacity of 10 hours. Lets suppose it does then

if you blind fold the pilot and he has to vertically takeoff and hover over the same spot for 10 hours, technically he would be landing some where else keeping in mind the wind direction, altitude.......

By timebandit• 20 Jan 2011 07:31
timebandit

Wind effect would move his location. But lets say there is no wind at all either. Given adequate altitude the answer would be that he would land in a different location. In the same way that low orbit satellites circle the earth.

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 07:30
smoke

Neither its an Indian copter

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 07:29
smoke

Lets say it does..:P

By britexpat• 20 Jan 2011 07:28
britexpat

Is it a Russian or American helio-copter ?

By Rizks• 20 Jan 2011 07:27
Rizks

another location...

but does the copter has tat much fuel capacity to run for 10 Hrs ? :(

By smoke• 20 Jan 2011 07:23
smoke

Ok lets assume we blind fold the pilot, all he has to do is take off vertically stay hovered in the air for 10 hours and come back down. Then will he land in another location or in the same spot that he took off?

By timebandit• 20 Jan 2011 07:17
Rating: 5/5
timebandit

The pilot to hover statically will either be taking his points of reference from the ground in which case no, or he will be using GPS to lock his hover in which case no. But take the pilot out of the equation along with wind etc. give enough altitude and the answer would be yes.

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