If you want more detail on the explanation here it is: 1. The car is powered only by the wind. There is no motor or batteries of any kind. 2. The propeller does NOT spin like a windmill. The wind does NOT push it and make it turn. 3. Instead the wheels are geared to the propeller to turn it the opposite way, like a fan, so it pushes air backwards. 4. To start the vehicle the wind simply pushes on the whole vehicle (like a block of styrofoam) and gets it moving. 5. The wheels are turning so they turn the propeller in the opposite direction to how the wind is pushing it. 6. The prop is pushing air back so air pushes the prop forwards, accelerating the car. 7. Once you get up to wind speed there is no apparent wind on the vehicle. If the prop were spun like a windmill this would mean no more thrust. But, since the prop is operating like a fan, it still accelerates air backwards, generating thrust. 8. You can go faster than wind speed continuously because even when going faster than the wind, the prop can still accelerate air backwards (in the car's frame of reference) generating thrust. In a stationary frame of reference you would see that the wind behind the propellor is slower than the surrounding air. So it's clear that the energy is coming from the wind. FAQ: If power is coming from the wheels to turn the prop, why doesn't that slow down the wheels more than it gets the prop to push back? A: Because the wheels are moving over the ground much faster than the prop is moving through the air (because there's a tailwind). Example: Let's say the car is going 12m/s in a 10m/s tailwind, so faster than the wind (note the prop will be moving through an apparent headwind of 2m/s). Power = Force x Velocity Let's say the chain applies a drag force of 100N on the wheels to drive the prop. This means we're taking power from the wheels = FxV = 100N x 12m/s = 1200W If we apply this power to the fan, it can create a force of F = P/V = 1200W / 2m/s = 600N Admittedly I've assumed no losses, but even if we waste half the power, we'd still get 300N of thrust which is more than the 100N of drag the prop adds to the wheels. The key is that we're harvesting power at higher speed, lower force, and deploying it at lower speed, higher force (which is only possible because we have a tailwind - in still air this wouldn't work because the relative velocity of the wheels over the ground would be exactly the same as the relative velocity of the prop through the air).

"That's great in practice, but how does it work in theory?"

"I expect a lot of pushback in the comments." That's okay, this thing is driven by pushback.

I was blown away that so many physicists called it fake or impossible.

This is totally the post-apocalyptic extraplanetary desert science-fantasy vehicle of unfathomable awesomeness.

When your online argument with random people is so heated you ended up building a vehicle that seems to defy logic....

"If I put two sailboats, that's a prop" that explanation was mind-blowing.

As a windsurfer already going (much) faster than wind while sailing sidewind seems magic, but the physic involved it's not so difficult in the end: just some vectors. The very brilliant thing here is to have made a device that can go "sidewind" while going downwind.

The best part is even when they had a working model people on the internet told them it was impossible. If you have an idea you think will work don't let the internet stop you.

It's not breaking the laws of physics, it's breaking the laws of understanding.

Experiments made out of spite to prove people wrong is the best kind of science

Now just give it a few years and we will have the first-ever cylinder earthers.

As a yacht racer and captain it took me 25 years to accept and understand apparent wind and going faster than the wind. So as a base level I think I already understand more than your average person. But I did have to watch every second to understand how this works. Mind still boggles.

The inventor must have been grinning so hard in that shot where he's holding the wind sock. Basically got the best shot possible with great equipment that he was right all along.

"I am not a stupid person, but i cannot understand" is now my new favorite quote

Once you mentioned the "fan driven by the wheel" it really starts to make sense. Imagine that the fan is just a giant sail, then it would go down at wind speed; and by converting the energy at the wheel to the fan it gets this additional oomph that pushes it faster.

I had the same problem happen to me in a middle school science class… teacher asked if a plane could lift off if it was on a treadmill going backwards as fast as the plane going forwards. If the speed came from the propellers and not the wheels then it shouldn’t matter if the wheels were turning backwards… I was the only one in class saying the plane would lift off. Interesting thing (taught me a lot about people) is that I got threats and was even on the receiving end of violence when I would not change my stance. When we watched a mythbusters video that showed the plane did lift off they still wouldn’t believe and continued to threaten and bully me. Perhaps the most dangerous people in our society are the ones who think they know and will not listen.

this is going to become a trick problem on a physics exam.

Damn the explanation with the two sailboats was amazing.

Always love when people prove other “know it alls” wrong

This setup is an active sail(s) combined with wills paired by an accurate rotation ratio I like to see if some telltale thing is placed behind the fan this fan is redirecting a large volume of air in another direction in a cone shape which a blackbird in the center of it This system will work as long as the wheels are on the ground. Rick explained how it worked, clear in minutes 8:00 to 8:30.

Lazy Physics Teachers: "Can't be done." Crazy Desert man: "Hold my beer."

"JUST GO WITH WHAT FEELS LIKE IS SLOWING YOU DOWN" SCIENCE!!!!!!!!

8:05 was my absolute favorite part of the video. jumping from an intuition to an abstraction to a mechanical solution. amazing stuff

I am 42 years old. I clearly remember that as a child, I often laid in the grass and watched the sky. One thing I always paid attention to was how when a airplane flew I could always watch the end of it's contrail disappear at the same rate as the airplane moved. The length of the contrail varied but the fact that it always disappeared at the same rate as the pane flew always caught my attention.

everyone: the earth is a sphere flat earthers: the earth is flat this guy: imagine the earth is a cylinder

lol true inventor spirit: _"how do I stop this?"_ _"you, uuh... I dunno, push the lever."_ _"which lever?"_ _"the one that stops it!"_

Amazing. One of the best things I've seen for a while👍. Absolutely loved it.

The fact that people that are actually physicists had a hard time understanding this, makes me feel so much better about myself.

Veritasium: "How do I stop?" *The creators watching each other akwardly* "We don't do that here..."

I forget who said it -- several years ago -- but went something like: "Sure they made it work in practice, but can they make it work in theory?"

Oh I finally get this. The wings turn because you move forwards. The wings then generate lift in the forwards direction which makes the wings spin faster. Nice

I love how simple questions and problems produces so beautiful answers and solutions. What a time to be alive

physicist, "nope not gonna work" engineer, "Imma assume the earth is like a cylinder"

Derek* “I expect a lot of push back in the comments” The comments* “THE EARTH IS A CYLINDER”

I think the sailboat tacking is akin to what happens with the propeller pitch. Further more the boat's keel and it's interactions with the waters friction probably have similarities with the cars propeller mechanism, momentum energy and friction with the ground. In any event, it is most likely the same fundamental as the balloon and the tacking boat.

This is probably my favorite episode. I fully understand how it works, and that it does work. Yet, It still boggles my mind.

That's it Derek, you settled the debate: *I'm a Cylindrical Earther now.*

Sending this video to my mom! She’ll be so proud of me..... for once.....

Very interesting, it’s hard to believe but you did a good job explaining and proving it. It looks like a fun home project!

Even after seeing the more detailed video about this, I'll just categorize this into the "okay I accept it, but I do not understand it" section in my brain.

The way the creator explained the prop mechanic of a "cylindrical earth" is mindblowing, and that kind of out of the box thinking is the mark of a genius.

That cylindrical earth argument was something really elegant and beautiful.

You tube recommended videos hit a home run. Amazing video. Very educational. I love this.

20:22 the windsock and the telltale pointing at each other. I wish physics had been taught like this when I was in high school.

"Derek slow down" Derek: *I am speed*

"Slow it down derek!" Derek: *"i'm speed"*

the fan lowers the wind speed delta behind it, thus allowing it to move faster.

Another way to think of this is in terms of air pressure acting on the wing surfaces of the propeller it may make more sense. A sail boat going straight down wind reaches its maximum speed when the force from the difference in pressure from the back to the front of the sale equals that of the drag of the boat. By using the forward motion to drive the propeller from the wheels the pressure at the back of the propeller stays higher than if it were not rotating. Therefore, a pressure difference (and therefore a force) between the front and back of the propeller remains even above the wind speed.

As a sailor and physicist, the only one thing, that drives me crazy about this is that I didn't have this idea myself. The cylinder earth is brilliant!

"If I want to slow down at the end, I pull it back. Right?" Famous last words of Veritasium

Visualizing a propeller as two sailboats on a cylindrical body of water is what made it seem less impossible in my mind. So cool.

Great vid. i loved all the nervous build up about it being dangerous and hoping to survive just to move at walking speed

Scientists always say, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof." This is a rare case of someone making that effort.

Man, the explanation of "if the earth was a cilynder" was so straightforward.

So elusive to grasp the concept; to be honest I couldn't teach it so I'm not sure I really get it even when I'm sure I've finally gotten it. 'Props' to the idea-man. PS: I'm greatly relieved the title wasn't misleading, not that I wanted you in danger, but I'm glad both your well-being and integrity are healthy.

It makes sense to me from a sailing perspective, and it makes sense from a mechanical perspective that there is some way of using gearing with air. A venturi increases velocity and creates a pressure difference, so it is no great leap to figure there may be a way to manipulate the air in a continuous process to replicate what sailors have already demonstrated is possible.

The jump from cylindrical earth to prop is pretty much the spark of genius.

"If the Earth were a cylinder...", hey, don't give them any ideas!

"Vacum". Lower pressure in front, because air flows faster in curved side of propeler. Like a airplane wings.

GREAT video great man build this Idea, as a aerospace engineer always wonder there is wind 🍃 flow with great amount of kinetic energy and this says and this concept explains it well and the propeller too

that idea of the cylindrical earth and two sailboats being like a propeller was genius

"It's a little unbalanced, isn't it?" The entire propellor threatening to crush down on Derrick

Unbelievable. Well done. This is fascinating.

It's like paddling a canoe with the current.

This broke my mind until you showed the sail boats in a cylindrical world. The creator explained it the best way, your addition of the animation helped tremendously. 👍🏼

“Is it safe? It feels makeshift.” The hallmark of any proper, reliable machine.

I want to see a new version of that thing built that would be sick!!

Oddly enough, this actually feels really intuitive to me. Maybe you just explained it super well, but it just makes sense, haha. Super cool!

i was following this internet debate like 15 years ago, when it spanned three different message boards, including 30 maxed out threads at talk rational. i can't believe it's still going on. that fight was BRUTAL

the two boats on a cylinder acting like a propeller! That's amazing

You did a fantastic job explaining how it works. Makes perfect sense. 😉

I feel like the fan analogy he uses says it most simply. Imagine an electric fan blowing the car forward. In this case the fan is powered by the cars wheels moving over the ground rather than electricy. Move forward motion gives more fan power. The wind just gets you going and keeps you going when friction would want you to slow down. So does the raw wind power have to at least = the resistance of the vehicle for it to work? I think it does.

The sailboats around a tube explanation is genius!

So this is basically, "This one trick will make your *Air Propelled Vehicle* go faster than the surrounding wind. Scientists HATE him!" But it works.

That's so good! I'm going to discuss it with my physics teacher for sure!

Just when I understand and master the basics Derek has a way of blowing my mind.

Here´s a civil comment: This is scientifically possible. There are no laws broken here. Keep up the good work!

"It's like a coffin Shoddily put together" - total Savage to say that right in front of the builder and owner

The best explanation here I think is the sailboat example when introducing Lift. A plane takes off and gains vertical velocity with 0 (relative) wind in the vertical direction. It is gained solely from traveling horizontally down the runway. Because the wing can deflect horizontal air downward. That is what is happening here. At exactly wind speed, the propeller is still rotating. It is moving perpendicular to the air collecting the air particles and deflecting them backwards.

the same way that the sail, at an angle to the wind including the positive mass inertia propels it faster than the air. the propeller does for the vehicle

That shot when the man is standing clearly showing the wind s blowing opposite to what the piece of string is showing on the blackbird is ICONIC!

Several times throughout that video I was like, “oh! That makes sense, I get it now,” only to be like a few moments later, “ah? Yeah, I don’t get it anymore.”

I think the best analogy was the sailboats on a tube(shaft). I totally got it when you put it like that. I just didn't think the blades were big enough to work. That being said, with balanced, possibly bigger blades and a better (more expensive/professional structure), this would be better proven. It would definitely produce better results.

This vehicle is for sale on ebay motors right now for $2550. Hopefully it goes to a good home or is donated to a museum.

Derek: "How can I halt this thing? Inventor: "You must figure it out by yourself."

This takes "someone was wrong on the internet" to a whole new level

The way I would explain it is once you reach windspeed the prop starts counteracting the wind coming from behind and starts acting like opposing magnets, the props thrust is pushing against the natural thrust of the wind from behind

Excellent conclusion with the great explanation - the internet meme that started it all dates to 2003 no less :-] (yes, pretty much all of my back-friends thought this was a no-brainer and it won't happen - all except one, not me, sadly, though, he was simply open for the possibility, not trying to figure out why/how). As far as my opinion was back then - I had far more important things to address at the time, but I do remember the lively forum discussions and dozens of attempts at untangling the dynamics. I remember one in particular that claimed that the rotating propeller doubles as a sail of sorts - forgot the original source or the name, but turns out that opinion was at the beginning of the right track. Thank you for sharing :-]

The sail boat metaphor was really clear, everything just clicked for me after that.

Engineering: Assume some values to find solution. Engineer: Ok then, let's assume earth is a cylinder.

As you stated the hole ship is the sail. The secret to speed is in direct drive gear ratio with ground. Wind pushes cart, wheels force prop to spin just a little faster then the winds influence would have had just act like wind mill.

That was interesting. It's not counterintuitive from the frame of reference of the vehicle. And that's where most of us fail to understand either the fullscale model or the one on the treadmill, because we keep looking at it from the frame of reference of the observer standing next to the vehicle.

Hope this video doesn’t become foundation of the Cylindrical Earth Society

I felt the most happiest for the guy who dreamt this up, had the balls to share the idea and was then mocked for it, and called out as some kind of liar when showing a working model. Vindication feels good. Those are the types of people that push technology forward, by not caring what others believe, believing in their own ideas and just doing it. Bravo Sir!

Just needs another sail to get the initial push. Guess it would have to be able to be disengaged once you are approaching the tailwind speed.

Looking at a sailboat, it's direction of travel is (neglecting drift here) determined by the hull's heading. For every meter the wind pushes the sail downwind, the boat must also travel x meters (depending on the heading) perpendicular to the wind. This is even more true for a land sail vehicle, which has practically no drift. The same happens with the fan-car, for every meter forward travel of the blade, the blade has to travel x-meters perpendicular to the wind direction. (In this case, in a circular path, instead of a linear path, nonetheless traveling in a plane perpendicular to the wind). The gear ratio between the wheels and the blade determines how much perpendicular travel will happen for each downwind meter traveled by the 'sails'. So with the correct gear ratio and with low enough drag, it is possible to have a velocity made good of the blades that surpasses the wind speed.

"To steer, push back on forth on one of the levers. To stop, pull on one of the other ones. Probably" --The Designer, probably

"I expect a lot of pushback in the comment section" The whole comment section: Wholesome appreciation of this marvelous phenomenon.

19:05 This I think is the best and simplest explanation why this vehicle is not breaking the laws of physics. It's using the energy of the wind which the propeller slows down to drive the car forward. The other thing you need to understand is the basic principles of a propeller. The force generated by the propeller blade has two components. One is backwards and the other component is in the turning direction of the blade. The force in the turning direction has to be generated by the wheels. But this force is smaller than the backward force (which indirectly power the wheels). So it's really just a question of building an efficient enough construction when it comes to rolling resistance, propeller design, losses in the power transfer from the wheels to the propeller and aerodynamic drag. And I can imagine if for example NASA or an F1 team would go all in on this, they could probably make a vehicle that achieved highway speed with very little wind.