Can It Be Done?

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2002-11-03 01:50am

Ok, anyone see that car commercial about a car sitting on a lonely stretch of road, watching a sunset? Anyway, the sun sets, then the driver races for the horizon so fast that the sun comes back up (for him) so he can watch the sunset again.

So.... how fast would that car have to go?

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2002-11-03 01:53am

What is the latitude?

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-11-03 01:55am

I was wondering about that, too. At first I thought it might be feasible in the Arctic, but then I realized that, too, would be immensely difficult. The sun was NOTICEABLY receeding in the commercial, so the car would have to be traveling at an immensely high speed. Airplanes don't even move that fast, usually. I'd say it would have to be at least 1000 mph.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-11-03 01:57am

The Earth has a diameter of roughly 12750km, and it rotates once every 24 hours. This is all the information we need.

The circumference of the Earth would be 12750km times PI, or roughly 40,000km. Therefore, the tangential velocity at the equator is more than 1600 km/h (1000 mph, for you Yanks). This is obviously not possible for anything short of a supersonic aircraft.

Even if we take a latitude 70% of the way up to the North Pole, the circumference would still be greater than 28000 km (EDIT: in case you're curious, that's the 45-degree line, where the latitude and radius are both 70.7% of maximum), so the tangential velocity would be around 1200 km/h, or 700 mph. Not too damned likely for the car they showed in the commercial.

In other words, it's false advertising.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-11-03 01:59am

Darth Wong wrote:The Earth has a diameter of roughly 12750km, and it rotates once every 24 hours. This is all the information we need.

The circumference of the Earth would be 12750km times PI, or roughly 40,000km. Therefore, the tangential velocity at the equator is more than 1600 km/h (1000 mph, for you Yanks). This is obviously not possible for anything short of a supersonic aircraft.

Even then, only about a half dozen desinges could sustain it for any length of time.

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2002-11-03 02:02am

I'll do this at the equator for simplicity.

The Earth's circumference is 40,075,000 meters. It turns through all of these meters in one 24-hour period.
In order merely to keep up with the sun, the car would have to travel at about 1600 kilometers per hour, or 450 meters per second, if my calculations are correct.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-11-03 03:03am

Short and simple" Really fucking fast, or, too fucking fast for the commercial.

Enlightenment · Post by **Enlightenment** » 2002-11-03 03:13am

Like the Ford ad where a pickup 'tows' a 20,000 tonne icebreaker, this fleeing sunset ad is just so blatantly stupid that I really wonder what the MBA morons are trying to say. This kind of overstatement advertising is more of a joke than even a half-assed attempt to portray the real and useful capabilities of a product. It's just nuts.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-11-03 03:18am

Enlightenment wrote:Like the Ford ad where a pickup 'tows' a 20,000 tonne icebreaker, this fleeing sunset ad is just so blatantly stupid that I really wonder what the MBA morons are trying to say. This kind of overstatement advertising is more of a joke than even a half-assed attempt to portray the real and useful capabilities of a product. It's just nuts.

It's 21st century advertising. There was once a time that people would get up onscreen and extoll the virtues of their product. Now, advertising is Pavlovian. They try to associate positive reinforcement with their product and then drill the mindless association into your head with exaggeration and repetition. They literally treat us like animals instead of rational human beings. Sadly, this is highly effective, since (as I have noted many times before) most people are idiots.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-11-03 03:30am

Darth Wong wrote:
Enlightenment wrote:Like the Ford ad where a pickup 'tows' a 20,000 tonne icebreaker, this fleeing sunset ad is just so blatantly stupid that I really wonder what the MBA morons are trying to say. This kind of overstatement advertising is more of a joke than even a half-assed attempt to portray the real and useful capabilities of a product. It's just nuts.
It's 21st century advertising. There was once a time that people would get up onscreen and extoll the virtues of their product. Now, advertising is Pavlovian. They try to associate positive reinforcement with their product and then drill the mindless association into your head with exaggeration and repetition. They literally treat us like animals instead of rational human beings. Sadly, this is highly effective, since (as I have noted many times before) most people are idiots.

It can however lead to some pretty cool ads. Saab had a pretty car add for a while with a Ja39 flying low above the car. Course the Ja 39 stall speed is lower then the max speed of the car in question.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2002-11-03 07:38am

Excellent replies, thanks. And I'm sure the commercial wasn't claiming this was POSSIBLE! I'll look to see if there's a disclaimer next time I see it. (There usually is).

I once asked Curtis Saxton what would happen if gravity on Earth ceased for two seconds. He gave a great reply, which I've completely forgotten! Anyone have any cool speculations on that?

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-11-03 07:39am

Lord Poe wrote:Excellent replies, thanks. And I'm sure the commercial wasn't claiming this was POSSIBLE! I'll look to see if there's a disclaimer next time I see it. (There usually is).

I once asked Curtis Saxton what would happen if gravity on Earth ceased for two seconds. He gave a great reply, which I've completely forgotten! Anyone have any cool speculations on that?

Complete and utter chaos. Sorta. I'd hit my head on the ceiling and promptly be pissed off?

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2002-11-03 07:47am

In the 60's they used to have car adds where the car would drive through a brick wall. Volkswagon parodied it with a beatle failing to go through a hollywood mock up of a brick wall (Just frame and painting.)

yeah, I also remember the underwater car....

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2002-11-03 10:15am

Darth Wong wrote: It's 21st century advertising. There was once a time that people would get up onscreen and extoll the virtues of their product. Now, advertising is Pavlovian. They try to associate positive reinforcement with their product and then drill the mindless association into your head with exaggeration and repetition. They literally treat us like animals instead of rational human beings. Sadly, this is highly effective, since (as I have noted many times before) most people are idiots.

I think the commercials are perfectly fine (Swedish bikini team, the Twins etc...) that way as long as you are aware of them so you hopefully won't fall for it.

The Simpsons had a good parody of Beer ads where these two losers sprayed Duff beer all over a bunch of militant protesting feminists and then they turned into a bunch of bikin wearing party girls (who like hanging out with those two guys).

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-11-03 11:10am

How much do you wnt to bet that some moron is going to try doing that?

Car commercials these days are dumb. If they're not showing the car doing something that's physically impossible for anything it's size to do, then they're depicting the people that don't drive that car as idiots.

The Ford commercials always show the car doing something that it can't do, such as park on a cliffside, drive underwater, tow somethng 1000 times bigger, or stay together.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-11-03 11:54am

Same thing with SUV and Truck ads. They show the cars going places and doing things people will never do. If you are really going to use your SUV to haul cargo through areas with primtive roads you do not need leather seats and plush carpeting. As for trucks, I cant tell you how many times I encountered people more worried about scratching the bed than actually using it to haul cargo.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2002-11-03 11:57am

Lord Poe wrote:I once asked Curtis Saxton what would happen if gravity on Earth ceased for two seconds. He gave a great reply, which I've completely forgotten! Anyone have any cool speculations on that?

Centrifugal forces would tear the planet apart for two seconds, and then pull it back together.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-11-03 11:57am

TrailerParkJawa wrote:Same thing with SUV and Truck ads. They show the cars going places and doing things people will never do. If you are really going to use your SUV to haul cargo through areas with primtive roads you do not need leather seats and plush carpeting. As for trucks, I cant tell you how many times I encountered people more worried about scratching the bed than actually using it to haul cargo.

Ui, really!? That's what thje plastic covering is for, the dolts! And why BUY an SUV or truck if they're not gonna use it for what it's INTENDED for...!?

Solid Snake · Post by **Solid Snake** » 2002-11-03 12:27pm

Ludicrous Speed! GO!\

...They've gone to plaid...

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2002-11-03 12:30pm

Ui, really!? That's what thje plastic covering is for, the dolts! And why BUY an SUV or truck if they're not gonna use it for what it's INTENDED for...!?

Pure status symbol. Okay, mabye its more than that, I do agree its easier to haul 4 friends to dinner in a SUV than in my 2 door Honda. To be fair thought I did go skiing once in a Lexus SUV. Its was a very comfortable ride all the way, albiet very poor gas mileage.

Post by **haas mark** » 2002-11-03 12:40pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:
Ui, really!? That's what thje plastic covering is for, the dolts! And why BUY an SUV or truck if they're not gonna use it for what it's INTENDED for...!?
Pure status symbol. Okay, mabye its more than that, I do agree its easier to haul 4 friends to dinner in a SUV than in my 2 door Honda. To be fair thought I did go skiing once in a Lexus SUV. Its was a very comfortable ride all the way, albiet very poor gas mileage.

*Sigh* The "luxury" of an SUV, ne?

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-11-03 02:14pm

How did SUVs become status symobls? The high cost? The low MPG? The ability to park above a VW bettle?

The most annoying thing about those commercials is that they're so damn overplayed.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2002-11-03 04:09pm

What pisses me off is the people that buy SUV's and come to Yosemite for vacation. I actually had one of those Lexus SUV owners try to drive up "4 mile trail" (A steep foot path), the idiot flashed his lights until I pulled over, so he could ask me how to do it?!? My car is still suffering the effects of several hundred dollars of damage caused by idiots who don't know how to drive, but own vehivles that take up too much of a foot print. (Oh, I drive a sensible Chevy Geo.)

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-11-03 04:30pm

THe Yosemite Bear wrote:What pisses me off is the people that buy SUV's and come to Yosemite for vacation. I actually had one of those Lexus SUV owners try to drive up "4 mile trail" (A steep foot path), the idiot flashed his lights until I pulled over, so he could ask me how to do it?!? My car is still suffering the effects of several hundred dollars of damage caused by idiots who don't know how to drive, but own vehivles that take up too much of a foot print. (Oh, I drive a sensible Chevy Geo.)

IF you cant real off road capacity, you should just buy an M1 Grizzily

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2002-11-03 04:35pm

I LIVE in the Wilderness, haull serious tonnage (My shocks need work now, I shouldn't have used a Geo to help somebody move), and I have no desire to get some over gunned vehicle.