Brain Teasers
Paracending
Tom had just jumped out of an aircraft at 5000 ft above hard ground when he looked up and saw a relatively large hole in his parachute. He did not use his reserve chute, no one else was around to help him, and yet he landed safely.
How did he survive?
How did he survive?
Answer
Most parachutes need a hole in them. If they didn't let some air through, the parachute would swing wildly from side to side.Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
This used to be more true than it is today. On round parachutes, you do need the hole in the middle, otherwise you get the mentioned wild swinging due to excess air venting itself from the parachute. Most modern parachutes are a rectangular airfoil design- since these are much more aerodynamically stable than a hemisphere that round parachutes form, they don't need to have a hole in the middle.
Dude. Thats why he said MOST parachutes.
This is a good teaser. I've seen video on TV of people jumping with a huge hole in their parachute and I always wondered why they weren't concerned about the hole.
Good teaser! This one got me!
Took me awhile, but good
Ah ha! i finally got a science teaser. i didnt know that all parachutes have a hole in them but i remember seeing pictures of ones with holes in the middle. great teaser, and easy enough for the average(or below in my case lol) person!
I knew that!
Whoops! I rated it med. difficulty when it should be easy.
Whoops! I rated it med. difficulty when it should be easy.
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