Fast Honey!

[bruce5755]

If a bee was in your car, and you were travelling at 60mph, why doesn't the bee die of exhaustion trying to keep up?

[stevie21]

Unless you and the bee are in a convertible, there's no wind resistance for either of you.

[bruce5755]

Thanx stevie21.  But what about "G-Forces", or should I say Bee-Forces? Ha Ha!

[rojash]

Everything in the car is moving at 60 miles an hour, including the air in which the bee is flying - so if the bee hovers its air speed is zero - it's all relative!

[Loosehead]

Rojash is correct, the bee is travelling at 0 relative to the car and everything in the car is going at 60. Speed is a measure relative to something else. How fast am I moving whilst typing this? well 0 relative to the building but 60000mph relative to the sun and gawd knows what relative to the centre of the galaxy and so on....

[Gef]

Sorry to stir things up but the Earth is not travelling at 60000 mph relative to the sun. It is orbiting the sun at 60000 mph but it's distance from the sun does not increase or decrease by 60000 miles every hour.

[gastwo]

Back to bruce5755 second posting - what about G-force? When you accelerate in a vehicle you are pushed back in your seat...?

[Loosehead]

Gef, it is 60000mph relative to the surface of the sun (ok ok pedants I'll disregard the sun's rotation for this explanation). Ok imagine a plane travelling at 500mph at an altitude of 1000 feet. It is travelling at 500mph relative to the surface of the earth. Now replace the earth with the sun, replace the plane with the earth and make the altitude 93million miles. Bigger numbers same situation. moving toward or away is not the point in this case.

Gastwo: acceleration is a different discussion, here we are talking about a steady 60mph acceleration=0.

[Gef]

A good point Loosehead but now you have got me thinking (and drinking!). Imagine the Space Shuttle leaving the Earth at 25000 mph. If you ignore the Earth's rotation then, ignoring toward or away as in your point of view, it is travelling at 0 mph relative to the Earth's surface! Please tell me I am just stupid.

[Gef]

No, I'll tell myself that I am stupid. Speed is not relative to anything, it is simply distance divided by time. If you are travelling at 60 mph then every hour you will travel 60 miles.

[bruce5755]

gastwo.  So does that mean that the bee would be thrown towards the rear window as well, squashing him on the inside of the window?