Mythbusters predictions, place your bets.

*AL*

Richie63 wrote:

You deserve a Gold Star for sheer effort.

Thewaylander

Hmmm I'm going with slightly backwards, the sail would have to be 100% efficient at catching all the force of the fan for it to be totally stationary. Though I'm not sure how the sail acting like a wing could effect the movement direction.. Interesting problem.

getonyourbike

I haven't got a clue tbh, I'm eagerly waiting on the answer being posted.

Andy

I predict the boat will be poorly made and the sail will fall off when the fan is turned on.

Anonymous

The more I think about this, the more likely I think it is that the boat will go backwards.
And although I'm not convinced the hull will have an appreciable effect, we'll have to wait and see.

It's on tomorrow at 8 or 9pm on discovery, by the way

supersonic

I think it will spin in circles, before sinking, bumping into a nuclear submarine which will release a torpedo that hits an oil rig causing petrol prices to rise.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

I think it will spin in circles, before sinking, bumping into a nuclear submarine which will release a torpedo that hits an oil rig causing petrol prices to rise.

Don't ruin it. I TOLD people if they'd already seen the episode, don't reeal the outcome yet :roll:
You always spoil everything

Richie63

Never mind littlle boats

Ponder what happens when a bucket of water spins in space far enough away from any objects that would affect it gravitationaly.

supersonic

Ssssh, don't tell them that Master Bates and Seaman Staines were onboard.

Richie63

for those that said the boat was poorly made the thing held together nicely to see results

superinjunction taken out on results but can be seen in jock land and twatter

Richie63

And the result was...........

Anonymous

The result was, incredibly....

The boat can go forwards, OR backwards, OR stay completely and utterly still!
FRIKKIN AWESOME!
I love it when something like that ends up being entirely unexpected. Well, kind of.

As it turns out, with a big enough fan, the sail will act as a reflector, blasting some of the fan's power sideways and rearwards, resulting in a net forward thrust.
Cool!

They even made a jet-engine propelled skateboard. Damn, I want to work on that show so much. I wish they'd invited me on as their "sound expert"

sheepsteeth

it went forwards when enough thrust was applied.

they proved originally that the forces would cancel themselves out and the boat remained exactly stationary (just like what i said)

however, mythbusters being mythvusters meant they tried until they could get it to happen and with enough thrust, it looked like some of the thrust was "reflected" off of the sail and there was a net thrust backwards producing forward movement.

they did agree that the bets way to do their business was to just point the fan bacwards and the boat would have got cracking with the knacking, i dont know why you would try to fill your sail

The Northern Monkey

but.... if you pointed the fan backwards with the sail up, wouldn't the sail cause drag and stop it from gaining any speed? I wonder if it would go any faster than with the fan pointing at the sail?

Anonymous

The Northern Monkey wrote:

but.... if you pointed the fan backwards with the sail up, wouldn't the sail cause drag and stop it from gaining any speed? I wonder if it would go any faster than with the fan pointing at the sail?

If the fan is pointing backwards, why bother with the sail at all?

All in all that was one of the best episodes yet I reckon. They really were pretty damned comprehensive too, which is always fun

supersonic

It's all about if the system is enclosed or not. Not enclosed, hard to model the actual airflow and you will get some net movement.

The Northern Monkey

yeehaamcgee wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

but.... if you pointed the fan backwards with the sail up, wouldn't the sail cause drag and stop it from gaining any speed? I wonder if it would go any faster than with the fan pointing at the sail?

If the fan is pointing backwards, why bother with the sail at all?

All in all that was one of the best episodes yet I reckon. They really were pretty damned comprehensive too, which is always fun

It was a question :P

Might be a fixed sail boat!

Did they try it from the side?

Did Kari get wet?

Anonymous

I don't think it is, honestly, Sonic. Real world result was, give it PLENTY of welly, and it will go forwards.
Give it a smaller sail, and it will go backwards.
Give it "normal" conditions, and nothing happens at all.

So, nobody was wrong in their predictions (ahem, apart from one GT loving blue plasticine blob - who was quite quite terrifyingly wrong )
But then again, everyone was correct, (apart from one GT loving blue plasticine blob - who was quite quite terrifyingly wrong ) and one guy studying physics

supersonic

I'll have to watch it lol. If you put the whole lot in a box would the same happen?

Anonymous

Yeah, I think so. Imagine that the sail gets blown by the fan into a dish shape (basically). That dish now reflects the fan's thrust.

Check it out, it was actually really cool. I love it when they do things that have unforseen consequences.
And jet powered skateboards. That looked fun too, even though there was no reason for them to have it in the show.

Richie63

For all that are curious. The model in the bath went round in a circle.....O

Anonymous

Richie63 wrote:

For all that are curious. The model in the bath went round in a circle.....O

Really? Their airboat did that initially too, until they nailed the controls.

supersonic

Richie63 wrote:

For all that are curious. The model in the bath went round in a circle.....O

I was right first time!

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

Richie63 wrote:

For all that are curious. The model in the bath went round in a circle.....O

I was right first time!

Ahem. Not really...

supersonic wrote:

I think it will spin in circles, before sinking, bumping into a nuclear submarine which will release a torpedo that hits an oil rig causing petrol prices to rise.

Of all the unexpected outcomes though that's the one I WISH had happened

supersonic

Close enough hehe

Anonymous

Shall we do the same for next week's?
Carry this thread on, or new one?

supersonic

Yeah! What channel is it on?

sheepsteeth

im deffo in, so far i am completely correct in my predictions

COMPLETELY CORRECT.

Richie63

I'm in as long as I can build something

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

Yeah! What channel is it on?

Discovery.