Why a Flying Drone Gets Pushed Backward Inside an Accelerating Truck

James of The Action Lab conducted an interesting experiment to see if a flying drone would move forward or backwards inside an accelerating truck. It turned out that the drone was pushed backwards as the truck propelled forward.

The reason that the drone moved to the back is because an object at rest will stay at rest unless there’s an outside force on it. As we start to move forward there’s almost no forward force on the drone so the drone moves the back.

He then tested the same theory with a neutrally buoyant helium balloon, which stayed very much in the same spot during acceleration.

There’s something different happening the balloon isn’t flying it’s floating. The balloon’s average density is the same as the air around it so that means that it will move the same as the air in the truck … since the balloon is the same average density, it moves with the air around it being pushed forward by the air behind it and pulled by the air in front of it.