ORIGINAL: dick Hanson
ORIGINAL: Tim Green
ORIGINAL: mjfrederick
You got that right. And the experiment proves it.
No it doesn't, all it proves is that the downward flow of air can be used to negate the force of lift generated by the blades... Your experiment confirms portions of Newton's laws, but proves nothing regarding Bernoulli.
OK, I finally thought of a way to show you why your experiment is invalid. Take that helicopter up to, say, 50 feet. Hover it. Stand directly under it. Do you honestly think that you're going to feel that downward flow of air? For strictly Newtonian laws to be applied, the downward flow of air would have to constantly be pushing on the earth to maintain flight. It's not. Instead, it is the pressure differential created that is allowing the helicopter to stay aloft. The air pressure is lower above the blades than it is below the blades. That is all that Bernoulli's experiments showed. All your experiment showed was that a helicopter can't lift off if you bolt it to the surface it is sitting on... I coulda saved you a lot of time.
Nope - helicopter was bolted to plate, not to the box.
Also, air doesn't need to push on the earth to cause reaction in the object generating the air stream. Haven't you ever pointed a water hose, or an air hose, at nothing - and noticed that it pushes against your hand anyway?
Shakespeare said it best
Do you mean "Much ado about nothing" ?? Possibly. Well, probably is more like it. This thread is reminiscent of the Conveyor Belt Thread, except there IS a right answer...mine!
