Off Topic If a helicopter hovers above Earth. Does Earth move?

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Aaron_Jones

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I came across this theory recently and I need someone smarter than me to help me out. Hypothetically, if a helicopter had an infinite supply of fuel, and it hovered 10 or so feet above earth for 24 hours. Would the Earth rotate under it? In my mind I think the earth would rotate beneath it, but I don't know how the atmosphere works on aircrafts and all, so that's why I need someone to help me with this one. Thanks!
 
I don't know of any helicopters fast enough to stay in one place. The atmosphere revolves along with the ground, and the air would push the aircraft at the same speed the ground is moving. Now if you were to hover directly over one of the poles, you could watch the Earth turn below you, although one revolution in twenty four hours wouldn't be very exciting to watch.
 
Aaron_Jones said:
I came across this theory recently and I need someone smarter than me to help me out. Hypothetically, if a helicopter had an infinite supply of fuel, and it hovered 10 or so feet above earth for 24 hours. Would the Earth rotate under it? In my mind I think the earth would rotate beneath it, but I don't know how the atmosphere works on aircrafts and all, so that's why I need someone to help me with this one. Thanks!
Click to expand...

The gravity would pull the helicopter around with the ground as the earth rotates. The helicopter would have to be a lot higher than they can normally fly to see any difference.
 
Aaron_Jones said:
I came across this theory recently and I need someone smarter than me to help me out. Hypothetically, if a helicopter had an infinite supply of fuel, and it hovered 10 or so feet above earth for 24 hours. Would the Earth rotate under it? In my mind I think the earth would rotate beneath it, but I don't know how the atmosphere works on aircrafts and all, so that's why I need someone to help me with this one. Thanks!
Click to expand...

^^^ If you don't mind, Aaron: I'd like to start with imparting just a few of the basics. Then, you just might have a better chance at grasping your get to your "24 hour stationary helicopter" inquiry. 450-newtons-law-of-universal-gravitation.jpg NC-Newton-second-law.jpg NC-Newton-third-law.jpg


Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass in the universe, and the gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.


first.jpg
starbar.gif

According to Newton's first law...

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This law is often called
"the law of inertia".

What does this mean?

doing.gif
This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to keep on doing what they're doing. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence of an unbalanced force, an object in motion will maintain this state of motion.





Let's study the "skater" to understand this a little better.
skater.gif

What is the motion in this picture?

What is the unbalanced force in this picture?

What happened to the skater in this picture?

Let's meet up here tomorrow Aaron. I'd be more that happy to indulge any other "what if's," you may have. :D

And btw- the skater's ok. :cool::thumbsup:



 
Lol couldnt figure out why you were bashing gonebad when he didnt post in the thread but then i checked my ignore list and realized he is on it;) love the ignore feature:thumbsup: keeps the site clean

BTW gonebad, if you reply to this i will not see it hehe
 
1 10fingers
Your post is bordering on trolling. Stick to the thread topic instead of the posters. Already issued two warnings in this thread.
 
KELAMA said:
^^^ If you don't mind, Aaron: I'd like to start with imparting just a few of the basics. Then, you just might have a better chance at grasping your get to your "24 hour stationary helicopter" inquiry. View attachment 718764 View attachment 718765 View attachment 718767


Newton's law of universal gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass in the universe, and the gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.


first.jpg
starbar.gif

According to Newton's first law...

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This law is often called
"the law of inertia".

What does this mean?

doing.gif
​
This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to keep on doing what they're doing. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence of an unbalanced force, an object in motion will maintain this state of motion.





Let's study the "skater" to understand this a little better.
skater.gif

What is the motion in this picture?

What is the unbalanced force in this picture?

What happened to the skater in this picture?

Let's meet up here tomorrow Aaron. I'd be more that happy to indulge any other "what if's," you may have. :D

And btw- the skater's ok. :cool::thumbsup:
Click to expand...

KELAMA KELAMA Thank you. I really appreciate you taking your time to help me. I will definitely let you know on any other questions I have! Thanks again!
 
Aaron_Jones said:
KELAMA KELAMA Thank you. I really appreciate you taking your time to help me. I will definitely let you know on any other questions I have! Thanks again!
Click to expand...

I actually learned something useful (refreshed my memory), knowledge I haven't thought about in a very long time. Plus, thanks to yablanowitz, I'm going to see if I can charter a chopper, the next time I'm down in the South Pole. :p

BTW- I really like that skater gif. It kind of makes things a lot easier to understand. :)
 
Someone riding in the back of a pickup truck and jumps straight up in the bed of the truck while the truck is going 100mph. They will land in the bed of the truck. As in it won't be that he will jump straight up and the truck will move on while he falls out the back.

The same principle means that a helicopter taking off and holding steady is already moving "forward" (as in around the world) as fast as the world is turning. Likewise a helicopter right at the north pole will be rotating as fast as the world is turning and so will not see the ground rotate under him.
 
Lapedog said:
Someone riding in the back of a pickup truck and jumps straight up in the bed of the truck while the truck is going 100mph. They will land in the bed of the truck. As in it won't be that he will jump straight up and the truck will move on while he falls out the back.

The same principle means that a helicopter taking off and holding steady is already moving "forward" (as in around the world) as fast as the world is turning. Likewise a helicopter right at the north pole will be rotating as fast as the world is turning and so will not see the ground rotate under him.
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I'm pretty sure that 100 m.p.h., the windstream is going to blow you right out of the truck if you jump up higher than the cab, unless you have a 100 m.p.h. tailwind (hey, around here it's possible). I'm not going to try it, but you're welcome to. Please post video if you do, I'd like to see if you're right.

The helicopter hovering over the pole will not necessarily be rotating along with the Earth. Once it lifts off, the Earth will no longer have a direct connection to it, so it will no longer be imparting rotation. Of course, the chance of keeping a helicopter in a stable hover long enough to verify the relative motion is due to the rotation of the Earth and not the controls of the aircraft is somewhat less than the chance of the Moon falling out of the sky.
 
For the same reason that the world doesn't rotate under the airplane the north pole does not spin under the hovering helicopter.

I don't know about winds knocking someone out the back of a pickup. Someone did the same experiment at 80mph and the wind didn't blow them out the back. Infact they only experienced the wind because they were also moving forward at 80mph. I know it's all kind of counter intuitive but think of a skate boarder jumping off his board and landing on it while it is moving forward.

These things are all covered by the laws of inertia.
 
Lapedog said:
For the same reason that the world doesn't rotate under the airplane the north pole does not spin under the hovering helicopter.

I don't know about winds knocking someone out the back of a pickup. Someone did the same experiment at 80mph and the wind didn't blow them out the back. Infact they only experienced the wind because they were also moving forward at 80mph. I know it's all kind of counter intuitive but think of a skate boarder jumping off his board and landing on it while it is moving forward.

These things are all covered by the laws of inertia.
Click to expand...

^ But you live up in Canada, eh? ;)

From what I've learned, once you get up into the extreme Northwest, the World is a much different place. I think the Earth must be spinning differently or something up there; what else would explain why people behave/speak this way: :D


yablanowitz said:
I'm pretty sure that 100 m.p.h., the windstream is going to blow you right out of the truck if you jump up higher than the cab, unless you have a 100 m.p.h. tailwind (hey, around here it's possible). I'm not going to try it, but you're welcome to. Please post video if you do, I'd like to see if you're right.

The helicopter hovering over the pole will not necessarily be rotating along with the Earth. Once it lifts off, the Earth will no longer have a direct connection to it, so it will no longer be imparting rotation. Of course, the chance of keeping a helicopter in a stable hover long enough to verify the relative motion is due to the rotation of the Earth and not the controls of the aircraft is somewhat less than the chance of the Moon falling out of the sky.
Click to expand...

^ My Ford F-150 3.5L pickup will do a 100! :D
 
Lapedog said:
For the same reason that the world doesn't rotate under the airplane the north pole does not spin under the hovering helicopter.

I don't know about winds knocking someone out the back of a pickup. Someone did the same experiment at 80mph and the wind didn't blow them out the back. Infact they only experienced the wind because they were also moving forward at 80mph. I know it's all kind of counter intuitive but think of a skate boarder jumping off his board and landing on it while it is moving forward.

These things are all covered by the laws of inertia.
Click to expand...

The person in the back of the pickup is moving through the air at 100 m.p.h. as long as the truck is applying energy (thrust). His own inertia will try to continue driving him forward at 100 m.p.h. when he jumps up in the air. The air will resist, pressing against the front of his body, swirling around him and creating drag. Without the truck continually supplying thrust, drag will begin overcoming his inertia and reducing his forward speed, while the truck will continue under thrust and maintaining its speed. This is all covered under the laws of aerodynamics. There is much more involved than simple inertia. The skateboarder can jump up and land on his board at normal speeds. Care to guess the outcome at 100 m.p.h.? Even if the skateboard isn't motorized to maintain its speed, it will still have less drag so it will decelerate at a slower rate.
 
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