Question: |
While in a car when it is raining, why does the windshield get wetter when you are driving than when you stop (like at a stoplight)? |
Category: |
Science > Physics |
Keywords: |
amount, move, stop, catch, rain, raindrop, wetter, body, car, windshield |
Type: |
why |
Rating: (0 ratings) Views: 78 Discussions: 0 In Watch Lists: 1 |
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Answer:
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You can imagine how, when moving along a horizontal surface, you will pass more road signs than if you are standing still. The faster you travel, the more road signs you will pass (until a friendly policeman stops you, that is). With the raindrops, your body or a car at rest will encounter a given number of drops. Move your body or the car horizontally through a rainstorm and you will encounter more drops, thereby making yourself wetter. There is naturally a variety of precipitation speeds in a storm, that is, in a storm the rains falls at different rates. You therefore might experience less "wetting" than you might expect when traveling, just because the storm is made that way. But, given a theoretical "set-speed" storm, the faster you move through the storm the more raindrops you will encounter.
An interesting footnote is, that, above a given speed, you might actually become LESS wet, as the wind and vacuum created by your super-fast travel might cause less drops to actually be able to contact your car/plane/jet surface.
Sources:
[1] Rickru, "Amount of rain hitting the windshield", Online posting. NEWTON BBS Ask a Scientist.
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While in a car when it is raining, why does the windshield get wetter when you are driving than when you stop (like at a stoplight)?
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