Watch: YouTuber rents helicopter to solve physics exam question

A YouTuber shared a stunning video of himself renting a helicopter to solve a physics examination question.

Derek Muller rented a chopper to find answers to a hypothetical scenario that was given in the physics paper of a 2014 exam.

Muller shared the video on YouTube with the caption: “The story of a controversial physics question on the qualifying exam for the 2014 US Physics Olympiad team. How does a uniform cable beneath a helicopter hang?”

“A helicopter is flying horizontally at a constant speed. A perfectly flexible uniform cable is suspended beneath the helicopter. Air friction on the cable is not negligible. Which of the following diagrams best shows the shape of the cable as helicopter flies through the air to the right?” he reads out the question at the start of the video.

Instead of using the regular stationary tools like books and pens, the YouTuber rented a helicopter to test the scenario and put an end to the debate once and for all. He lowers down a cable from the helicopter along with a 20-pound kettle-bell to see how it flies. After the experiment, he opts for the option D.

He later attached an object with almost no weight to determine the correct answer. But he didn’t find a satisfactory answer and tried the experiment again and this time lowered a bagged parachute to see what happened.

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) posted the solution on its website. “Since there is air friction on the cable, then there must be a horizontal component to the force where the cable attaches to the helicopter,” it wrote.

The YouTuber, however, demonstrated in his experiment that the answer is likely to change depending on what is attached to the dangling rope. “You could get answer B, C or D”, he added.