Someone I know asked me this question so I will ask it here just to see what sort of answers we get. Imagine there is a plane flying in the sky, and inside this plane there is a bird standing on the floor. The bird then starts flying around the plane. Does the weight of the plane remain the same as when he was standing?
im guessing lighter when the bird is flying.... i thought of it like this though: image a bird is standing on scales, while on the scales it has a figure showing how heavy it is... once the bird is in the air, it's no longer on the scales, hence not weighing down the scales.
The same. Someone with a better grasp of physics will explain why, but basically I think the flapping of the birds wing pushes down with the same force as its weight? Or maybe it uses skyhooks. Mitch
The plane is an enclosed system. The mass within remains constant during the flight, regardless of what the bird is doing, therefore the weight of the plane remains the same. EDIT: If you'd like to be technical, the mass of a plane is constantly decreasing, due to the consumption of fuel. But since the question makes no mention of fuel, I've disregarded it.
In the same way, the mass of the bird would be decreasing as it uses up energy (from food etc) constantly just by being alive and even more so when its flying.
Same. Newton's laws state that every force has an equal and opposite force, so the average overall balance of forces is the same whether the bird is supported by the floor or the air.
These guys sound like they know what they're talking about so I'm gonna nod politely and agree with them in the hopes of looking smart myself in the process... so yeah, what they said!
But the waste product of respiration would also stay in the plane, so the total mss would stay the same.
1.) The flapping of wings would push down on the scales. 2.) Scales aren't neccesarily the best way of measring thing like this, as you'd gave to assume that helium had a negative weight, which we know is not rue.
