If you're on an airplane that is traveling the speed of sound, and were in the back of said plane and decided to run to the front, would you be going faster than the speed of sound?
2007-06-12 03:18:13 · 25 answers · asked by Baird 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It depends where you put the observer (observation point). If the observer is outside the airplane and looks at you (let's think the airplane as transparent) he will see you running faster than the airplane (faster than the speed of sound). If the observer is inside the plane he will see you running like a regular human.
2007-06-12 03:24:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
This is a question regarding relativity, and it is excellent at demonstrating different observed results depending on who is observing.
Everyone on the plane is moving at the same speed, relative to the ground. But to them they are stationary. No you go running past them at 10mph and they observe you cover the distance of the plane at only 10mph.
If someone on the ground was watching you (I don't know, like if it was a see through plane or something) they would see where you started running from (the back of the plane) over the ground, and by the time you reached the front of the plane, the plane would have travelled however far at the speed of sound. So when they look at where you ended over the ground the distance would be huge. To them you would have run faster than sound.
2007-06-13 15:47:47 · answer #2 · answered by Mike T 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As with any measurement of speed it is all relative. To the people outside the plane(there are people outside the plane? Yes they float in clouds!) you would be faster than the speed of sound, providing they were not moving in the same direction as you. However the people inside the plane would not think you were and would probably tell you to sit down because you were making too much noise. You will only break the sound barrier which is what i think you were getting at here, if you are moving at the speed of sound or more relative to the enviroment your in. Are you hitting the air infront of you at the speed of sound or are you (as far as the air is concerned (inside the plane)) only running at a few meters per second?
2007-06-12 13:51:36 · answer #3 · answered by Flash 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you will be faster than the sound
condition1: the plane is of the same speed as the sound
. . . the advancing sound will stay put as with airplane
condition2: If you move from tail to head of airplane
. . . . You are advancing with respect to the airplane
. . . . You move faster than the plane
therefore: You move faster than the airplane
Hoping there is no joke here, where the person is "on" an airplane.
2007-06-12 10:35:04 · answer #4 · answered by CPUcate 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You would not be going faster than the sound inside the airplane, only the sound in the air well outside the airplane. This is because sound travels through mediums (air as well as other materials) and the airplane is carrying its own body and all that air inside with it at its own speed, so the sound inside the airplane can move in the direction of the airplane's travel faster than the sound outside the airplane can.
Now here's the strange thing: This is NOT the case for light beams. The basis of Einstein's special relativity is that light does not move in the same way sound does.
2007-06-12 10:29:12 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This answer depends on what you're comparing the speed to. Relative to the ground then yes you are going faster than sound. Relative to your fellow passengers no you're not.
Here's why if compared to the ground...
A plane traveling at the speed of sound; speed = 764 mph.
You can run at around 10 mph.
If you run in the same direction as the plane your speeds are added. Your combined speed would be 774 mph...hence faster than sound.
Here's why if compared to other passengers...
If they're sitting, their speed is 0.
You can run 10 mph...25 mph if you're a world class track athlete. Are you seeing the picture?
2007-06-12 10:29:29 · answer #6 · answered by unclecharlie1169 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
sure, but it depends on the quantity of cash u have... becouse there are no more supersonic passengers planes left after concorde retired... :-P just joking...
well, apart jokes, it depends on the origin u are considering...(remember Galileo's ship)
1) if u fix the airplain, u are just running some km/h... and the air and ur grown around are not moving...
2) the air flowing outside the airplaine...: the airplaine is moving at sound speed... u r running in it, sure, u are faster than sound... flash!!!
3) if u consider grown, controltower for ex., maybe u are, or u are not... becouse the airspeed u read on the anemometre of the airplain is not the grown speed, so u may be moving more fast than sound...
oh, maybe it should help u knowing what sound is... sound is the propation of infinitely little pressure changes in the air... vibrations... and sound speed can change changing the fluid or the material in wich propagates...
P.S. now, u want a more tricky question? try to think the same, but substituting sound with light ;-) u can reach and go faster than sound... but u will never and ever cannot go faster than light... ;-) what if u for hipotesis turn on a lamp on a spacecraft that is flight at light speed? who will see u turning the lamp on? everyone? and the passengers in front of u what will they see? speed of light is fixed.
2007-06-12 11:11:10 · answer #7 · answered by horta792002 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. but only relative to a given position outside the plane. Relative to some point on earth you may not be going the speed of sound. That would be the case if there was a headwind. You would be going the speed of sound minus the headwind plus the speed you are walking. If there was a tailwind, you would be going the speed of sound plus the tailwind plus the speed you are walking.
This would not be the case if the plane could go the speed of light. You would be looking at the back of yourself :)
2007-06-12 10:31:04 · answer #8 · answered by Jerrry H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, you'd be going faster than the speed of sound in the air OUTSIDE the aircraft. But the air inside the aircraft is moving with it, so you'd only be moving through that air at the speed you run. Therefore, there would be no effect any different from doing the same inside the same aircraft stationary on the ground.
Unless of course the aircraft suddenly disintegrated, but then you wouldn't be worrying about this question!
2007-06-12 16:35:23 · answer #9 · answered by James P 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, relative to the ground you would be going faster than the speed of sound, but it wouldn't feel like it to you. It would feel like the the speed you are traveling relative to the plane which would be whatever speed you are running at.
2007-06-12 10:22:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋