Some time ago a heard that a truck filled with chickens would weigh the same if the chickens either are on the floor of the truck or if they are hovering just under the roof. The reasoning is that the chickens are part of the same «system» as the truck, so the whole «system» would always weigh the same, even if the objects inside it is not in contact with it physically. Can someone explain what is meant by this «system» and if this is a true statement?
Thank you!
In: 1
The assumption here is that the truck is sealed and nothing can get inn or out. In that case it does not matter how things are arranged inside the truck, on the floor or flying, the entire sealed system have the same mass and therefore the same weight. In this case what would happen is that in order to fly the chickens flap their wings to push air downwards. The force pushing the air down is producing an equal force on the wings pushing the birds upwards and countering the force of gravity. However the air that gets pushed downwards will end up hitting the floor of the truck. So the floor of the truck gets pushed downwards by the same force that lifts the chicken up. It just goes through the air instead of through the chickens feet.
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