• Question: If your driving 80 mph towards an 80 mph wind, and you stick your head out of the window. Would it be windy? If not why?

    Asked by begeckochan to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 4 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Ashley Cadby

      Ashley Cadby answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      Yes, it would be if you were driving in to the wind the total speed of the wind as far as your concerned would be 160 mph. If you driving away from the wind you would be hitting stationary air which would feel like 80 mph wind (it would be stationary because the back of your hear would act as a wind break)

    • Photo: SarahJayne Boulton

      SarahJayne Boulton answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      HAHA!! Cool question!!

      Well even though the forces in theory are balanced, the air around a car doesn’t travel in straight lines, it kind of curves around the body of the car, like this ::

      You see how the smoke moves? This is called aerodynamics. The wind rushing the opposite way to the way the car is travelling would mean that these aerodynamic lines would be really messy – you’d experience lots of turbulent air when you stuck your head out! The fact you’re heading into them also means you’d actually experience 80mph car speed + 80 mph winds – 160 mph windspeed!! That’s nearly a hurricane!

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      Yes!!! Just as ash says… Even if it weren’t for the wind the movement of your car through the air would produce wind conditions for your head!!

      Now maybe if the wind were pushing your car as fast as the wind itself without you driving then it might not feel so windy to your head out the window… But because we don’t live in a vacuum we will also feel resistance when we move fast through air particles!!! Now the question is, do we feel wind if we drive in space?!!! Maybe not!

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