Posted by Dr. Science on 12/05/2011 in
Question |
You’re driving down the highway behind a vehicle that’s doing only 50 mph. When you try to pass this vehicle, it speeds up to keep pace with you. Even if you’re now going 100 mph, you still can’t seem to pass this car. What’s going on?
———- from Karin S of Woodland Park, CO
Every slow moving car emits a force field that extends from the rear bumper of the car back to the car directly behind it. When you accelerate and approach the slow car, you compress the field. DeSoto’s Third Law demands that a decrease in bumper force field size be compensated by an increase in axle rotation. So stop blaming the other guy; it’s you who’s in the driver’s seat.
