most successful ask a ___ thread so far

9/15/2014 4:48:01 PM

lion4russel needs to clarify his position on airplanes and treadmills or I'm drafting a letter to the NCEES asking them to revoke his license

9/15/2014 5:36:25 PM

Quote :

"I think most of the confusion comes from the stipulations in the question. Simply asking if a plane will take off on a treadmill is not enough information. The short answer is, if the question's stipulations imply that air move over/under the wings, then yes; if not, then no."

Clear enough?

9/15/2014 7:50:37 PM

Quote :

"No, you are an idiot. Plane is propelled forward by engines that are pushing against air (in case of propellers) or against gaseous fuel they release in high velocity (in case of jets). They are not propelled forward by the wheels."

Your inability to communicate is prof enough that you're an engineer. Why would the question about the treadmill be proposed if not insinuating that the plane is stationary and there is no relative movement to the treadmill? Earth is just a big treadmill and planes can still take off.

Quote :

" Therefore, a plane on a treadmill will not be stationary, it will move forward regardless of what tarmac is doing underneath it, and take off just like it would on a regular landing strip (assuming the brakes are not on). You just showed your inability to grasp basic physics concepts, your engineering advice going forward in this thread is therefore declared worthless."

Translation: planes work. We know this. That's not the point of this question.

9/15/2014 7:59:21 PM

Quote :

"I think most of the confusion comes from the stipulations in the question. Simply asking if a plane will take off on a treadmill is not enough information. The short answer is, if the question's stipulations imply that air move over/under the wings, then yes; if not, then no. "

That's the "trick" in the question. If the plane is in working order, if the engines are on, the plane will move regardless of anything the treadmill is doing.

The treadmill aspect of the question is really a misdirection.

As long as the question implies a plane on a flat surface, the plane is taking off.

full disclosure: i used to believe the plane wouldn't take off years ago, until someone pointed out the sea planes/ice planes thing.

^ The point of the question is that there's nothing a treadmill can do to stop a plane from taking off, so the answer to the question is always "yes, plane will take off" regardless of anything else.

[Edited on September 15, 2014 at 8:15 PM. Reason : ]

9/15/2014 8:13:38 PM

Quote :

"Your inability to communicate is prof enough that you're an engineer. Why would the question about the treadmill be proposed if not insinuating that the plane is stationary and there is no relative movement to the treadmill? Earth is just a big treadmill and planes can still take off"

The funny thing is, I'm not even an engineer. I'm a fucking business major, ESL one at that. It is scary to realize that I may be better at applying physics concepts and communicating them that someone who supposedly got a engineering degree from NC State. The questions is set up where you have to take several different forces and several areas of friction that act upon an object. It is not insinuating anything. It's a simple fucking force diagram, something I remember doing in a high school physics class. Do I need to draw it for you? How that fuck would the plane be stationary? What is holding it in place? Stop devaluing my goddamn diploma. I'm signing dtownral's petition.

[Edited on September 15, 2014 at 9:12 PM. Reason : .]

9/15/2014 9:11:07 PM

its pretty hard to devalue an ESL business degree from nc state.

and yes, i would like for you to draw a free body diagram. that would eliminate any of the confusion between our assumptions and would shut you up.

9/15/2014 9:34:00 PM

hissy fit over. back to legitimate questions. maybe with more clear questions and answers this time.

so the mpemba effect is pretty cool guys. what do you think?

9/15/2014 9:36:29 PM

OK, I thought you were just joking about the treadmill question at first.

As a mechanical engineer myself, I'm afraid I can't just let that one go.

Quote :

"Clear enough?"

Uhh, well, no. Unless the wheel bearings fail or something due to rotating at twice their normal speed (which I doubt, due to even airplanes, with their emphasis on light weight, still being designed with a safety factor, particularly on something like wheel bearings that need to last under repeated use and the lateral loads imparted under landings. That's extremely far fetched.), there is nothing a treadmill can do to an airplane to stop it.

The only impact it has is slightly more rotational friction on the wheels, and that will be pretty near negligible, especially next to both parasitic and induced drag. Any plane that has enough power to climb out of ground effect should easily have enough power to overcome this tiny bit of extra rotational friction.

9/15/2014 10:17:01 PM

Quote :

"its pretty hard to devalue an ESL business degree from nc state"

I know, but you just managed to do it. You sir, at the very least, deserve a cookie.

Seriously though, how do you expect people to trust you with your answers to other questions if you have just been told by numerous people that you are most definitely wrong, and you won't consider it a lesson learned?

9/15/2014 11:46:38 PM

I have learned my lesson.

9/16/2014 10:05:40 AM

QUESTION FOR MECH ENG:

Do you love your calculator?

And If I may, just a follow up to your follow up:

Why are you a nerd?


I look forward to your answers, fine sir. Good day.

9/16/2014 10:34:12 AM

Yes

It's fun and it pays well

+ our friends are better

9/16/2014 12:11:05 PM

Unless another engineer wants to step up to the plate we can just go ahead and end this thread now. lion4russell has lost all engineering credibility and there is no need to beat the dead horse of the plane/treadmill scenario anymore.

9/16/2014 12:19:29 PM

nobody told me that there was a dead horse involved.

we really need a fbd

9/16/2014 1:41:47 PM

The Coz and raiden are A+ users in my book.

9/16/2014 1:43:02 PM

I don't know if he was licensed or not but I am and as much as I love you guys I'm not letting one of you jerks do something similar to what I said or leave something out while describing the situation and sue me as a professional because I either didn't get enough info form you or you didn't exactly understand me.

If you want something from me pay me enough to cover my insurance on your project and we will get to binness lol.

I don't know if my username and status counts as a disclaimer or not.

I guess I could say everything as hypothetical but even then in not sure if that works

[Edited on September 16, 2014 at 4:00 PM. Reason : .]

9/16/2014 3:58:37 PM

...I just thought this thread was more like "what's the angle of your dangle?" type of questions.

9/16/2014 4:02:05 PM

I am neither licensed nor do I work as an engineer, but my degree is in ME, and I'm pretty savvy on mechanical stuff, so I'll try to field questions if anyone cares.

9/16/2014 4:20:49 PM

Question 1:

Why does the Marine Corps no longer want you?

9/16/2014 4:37:08 PM

I'm quitting them, not the other way around.

9/16/2014 4:54:57 PM

I'm an engineer. I don't math. I click computer buttons for the most part.

Plane takes off.

9/16/2014 7:19:09 PM

Yeah I would struggle with any serious mathing nowadays. Concepts are prob more important anyway, because ^.

9/16/2014 8:09:32 PM

There is truth in that... There is a rule of thumb for almost everything and what there isn't , that's what mat lab and excel are for.

9/16/2014 8:22:49 PM

why you gotta write a WPS like production takes place in a lab. Ain't nobody got time for that

9/17/2014 6:49:58 PM

if you can't hack it, there are plenty more guys out there willing to take that stinger out of your hand

9/17/2014 6:57:27 PM

Interesting opportunity for a zinger.

seriously though let's see how those people handle a flight of upright Ls on a line designed for fucking SAW butt joints

unless these people you speak of are Magneto.

9/17/2014 10:06:25 PM

Quote :

"I don't know if he was licensed or not but I am and as much as I love you guys I'm not letting one of you jerks do something similar to what I said or leave something out while describing the situation and sue me as a professional because I either didn't get enough info form you or you didn't exactly understand me."

This abomination of a run-on sentence is all the proof I need to know this guy is a legitimate engineer. It's so perfect I almost feel like it must have been intentionally created to make absolutely no sense.

9/17/2014 11:25:46 PM