We are sure many of you hated Physics when studying in school. After all, formulas and numbers have proved to be too complicated for many of our minds to understand.

Understanding the agony of many, a popular YouTuber who teaches problem solving methods, recently rented a helicopter to find the solution to a physics exam question in the US Olympiad.

Derek Muller, who runs a YouTube channel named Veritasium, took a helicopter ride to solve a confusing Physics question.

In the video, Muller read out the confusing question that appeared in the 2014 exam for the US Physics Team.

“A helicopter is flying horizontally at a constant speed. A perfectly flexible uniform cable is suspended beneath the helicopter. Air friction on the cable is not negligible. Which of the following diagrams best shows the shape of the cable as the helicopter flies through the air to the right?”.

The question is followed by five multiple-choice answers. To select the correct answer, Muller used the rented helicopter.

What better way to find the correct answer?

The video shows a man lowering a cable from the helicopter along with a 20-pound kettlebell to see how it flies.
Upon completing his experiment, Muller said that the answer was ‘D’.

However, he experimented again by attaching a flag and a parachute to clear all doubts.

So, what’s the correct answer?

The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) website said: "since there is air friction on the cable, then there must be a horizontal component to the force where the cable attaches to the helicopter."

There you have it!

MAIN IMAGE: Veritasum YouTube