UpToPar

[quote]If the theory of evolution is true, and this type of giant leap has only happened twice, and even then it just resulted in plants, how did we go from this….[/quote] It's only happened twice that we know about. And 4 billion years is a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGGGG time....

Correct, which is why the hypothetical is broken. An instantaneous feedback loop like contemplated in the hypothetical is never triggered because the only way the conveyor belt moves is if the wheels move, but the wheels can't move because it means the wheels exceeded the speed of the conveyor belt....

[quote]They both would be at zero RPM[/quote] RPMs is a really bad way to measure wheel speed and the speed of the conveyor belt here. The conveyor belt obviously has a much larger diameter than the wheels, so even if they are traveling at the same RPM (assuming it's not 0) the speed of the conve...

This guy explains it under the difference scenarios. In a frictionless world the plane takes off just as it would on a normal runway. With friction, both the wheels and the conveyor belt speed towards infinity and at some point the friction in the ball bearings in the wheels completely negates the t...

[quote]The plane doesn’t need to be moving “forward” to take off[/quote] Sure it does. If we assume there is zero headwind the plane has to move forward to generate enough airspeed over the wings to generate lift. It's not a helicopter....

[quote]Again, where is a wheel speed greater than zero introduced?[/quote] As soon as the plane moves forward the wheels are spinning, which again, breaks the hypothetical. ...

[quote]But if you are evaluating this scenario in reality, the plane is going to move because the plane is propelled by thrust, not the wheels.[/quote] I'm not arguing otherwise. But as soon as the plane moves forward the hypothetical is broken....

[quote]Since we are ignoring friction, they will be spinning at the same speed as the belt but moving in the direction of the plane.[/quote] Nope. If the plane is moving forward (which it would) the wheels would have to be spinning faster than the treadmill. ...

[quote]You ever hold a hot wheels car on a treadmill and make it go forward or do you think the laws of physics render that act impossible[/quote] Yes. And every single time the hot wheels car moves forward the wheels are spinning faster than the treadmill. It's literally the only way the hot whe...

[quote]It absolutely can. Draw a free body diagram of the plane. Draw all forces exerted on the plane along the X axis. Did you draw any horizontal forces caused by the wheels?[/quote] His point is that for the plane to move forward the wheels HAVE to rotate faster than the conveyor belt, thus vi...