Discussion of the Question 01/96

The question was:
What is the minimal speed with which a person can run on the surface of the water.

R. Mints (1/96): It is easy to set an upper bound - the escape velocity (8 km/sec) is certainly sufficient to walk on water. Actually, it is sufficient "to walk on air"...
Y. Kantor(1/96): It is easy to set a better bound. If I will run at the speed of sound in the water (1500m/sec=5400km/hour) then the water will not react (i.e. will behave as a solid). This is certainly an upper bound. However, I think that the actual answer will be around 100km/hour - just think about swimming "butterfly" style...

Back to "front page"