it would hit the windshield as long as it continued to travel 65 mph

now wait...... it doesnt have the aerodynamic drag factor.... so basically its just hovering inside an ambient/non-turbulant environment.

id still say windshield

 

I don't think a humming bird would be hovering next to your head at 65 mph, that would be some skills.

 

Then nothing would happen because the car never took off.

 

how fast do they fly?

 

mythbusters can help us out on this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYlstdCWzCY

 

nothing would happen the humming bird would just stay in place

even if you were braking slightly the humming bird wouldnt move from wherer it was

if you were to accelerate its no like the humming bird would have to fly faster to keep up

as far as its concerned the inside of the car is a static enviroment and outside forces wouldnt effect it

 

IIRC from physics class - the humming bird - being suspended in mid-air should not move at all.

 

If you slam on the brakes, everything in the car flies forward. Kleenex boxes, old McDonalds french fries. Hang something in midair from your sunroof on a string, slam on your brakes, it flies forward. Why would the hummingbird not?

 

Mushrooms?

 

this question always trips me out. i've tried proving this on so many attempts on roadtrips in college...

 

Because then its attached to the car.. it would not be its own independent force

 

I believe it has to do with suspended "items". The humming bird isn't being held up by the car, it is floating with it's own force; the car isn't actually pulling the humming bird the way everything that sits "on" the car is being pulled by the car. I'm not sure but I remember hearing this question before and I believe the humming bird just stays where it's at. Makes no sense to me but I"m pretty sure thats the right answer.

 

Same reason if you flip a coin while driving - it doesn't fly to the back does it?

 

Same thing that happens to the dangly crap some people hang from their mirrors whenever they hit their brakes: moves forward toward the windshield, but the rate is determined by its mass & coefficient of drag in a static-air environment. Also: Are the windows up or down? Try hanging one of those novelty-store gyroscopes from your mirror & try this - see if it moves more or less than a solid object or a piece of paper/foam similarly suspended. Forces involved = inertia... including the air suspended in the car. This is why I leave nothing in my car loose - everything in the back is held down by a bungee net, and the V1 is securely suction-d to the windshield.

Keep it tight.

Oh, and:
brings up another question: is this question a matter of physics or "chemistry"?

Oh yeah, Paul's background is in mechanical engineering = physics geek! Nice!

 

OK, but my McDonalds fries are just sitting on a seat, unnattached, they fly forward also.

I guess you would have to like throw something in the air, then slam on the brakes while it is in midair and see if it goes forward?

Replace slamming on brakes with slamming into a brick wall. If there was no rear windshield lets say, would the hummingbird just stay stationary and fly away out the back unharmed?