wind powered car faster than wind powering it:

http://www.physorg.com/news194851568.html

It seems impossible but they have done it.

Originally posted by sonhouse
It seems impossible but they have done it.

Its not impossible at all. The power of the wind is quite separate from its speed.
Even a car with a sail can travel faster than the speed of the wind.

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_sailing
"Modern land sailors, generally known as "pilots," can go three to four times faster than the wind speed, because of Bernoulli's principle."

Originally posted by sonhouse
http://www.physorg.com/news194851568.html

It seems impossible but they have done it.

You never been sailing???????????

Originally posted by wolfgang59
You never been sailing???????????

I was going to say, in a sailboat, it's possible to go faster than the wind...INTO THE WIND...

What is unique about this car, is not its speed compared to the wind speed, but the fact that its direction of travel is the same as that of the wind ie it is moving faster than the wind in the direction the wind is blowing - something that is impossible with a sail.
You can sail downwind fast than the wind speed, but to do so you must travel at an angle to the wind, and your velocity in the direction of the wind will not exceed that of the wind.

Originally posted by twhitehead
What is unique about this car, is not its speed compared to the wind speed, but the fact that its direction of travel is the same as that of the wind ie it is moving faster than the wind in the direction the wind is blowing - something that is impossible with a sail.
You can sail downwind fast than the wind speed, but to do so you must travel at an angle to the wind, and your velocity in the direction of the wind will not exceed that of the wind.

OK now I've clicked the link. Thats cool.

How does it work?

Originally posted by wolfgang59
OK now I've clicked the link. Thats cool.

How does it work?

It looks like it works like this:

The wind pushes the car, making the wheels spin. The wheels are linked by gears to the propeller. The wind doesn't spin it, the wheels spin it.