Weird WheelScience brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
Lenny was out at the street one morning when he saw a rare sight: a car that has wheels with spokes driving down the road. As he jogged closer for a good look, he noticed the spokes on the top were going so fast they were blurred. But when he looked at the bottom half of the wheel, the spokes appeared to be going so much slower he could have counted them. If all the spokes were on the same wheel, how did this happen?
HintThink of the treads on a tank.
AnswerWhen viewed by a stationary object, the top spokes seem to be zipping by because they are going the speed of the car plus the rotation speed. But the spokes on the bottom of the wheel are going the opposite direction as the car, which is moving the same speed, but in the opposite direction, appearing still.
See another brain teaser just like this one...
Or, just get a random brain teaser
If you become a registered user you can vote on this brain teaser, keep track of
which ones you have seen, and even make your own.
Back to Top