Braingle: 'Breaking the Sound Barrier' Brain Teaser

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Trivia brain teasers have some element of trivia in them, but they are not just pure trivia questions.

Puzzle ID:	#32913
Fun:	(2.97)
Difficulty:	(2.33)
Category:	Trivia
Submitted By:	bigSWAFF_69_

A number of people have broken the sound barrier, either in a super-fast car, or in nice fancy planes. However, hundreds of years ago it was broken on horseback. How?

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Comments

blondebookworm Sep 09, 2006	wow. I learned something new today. Nice job!
blondebookworm Sep 09, 2006	wow. I learned something new today. Nice job!
twixy Sep 09, 2006	cool
GebbieRose Sep 09, 2006	That's interesting!
brillent2 Sep 10, 2006	I went back to school today very good one, gave me an headache
rkaaland Sep 13, 2006	well, as much as I deal with horses I probably should have known that!! Good JOB Swaff!
OldChinaHand Oct 10, 2006	This one was a snap...good one.
lmurray Oct 10, 2006	I WAS ALWAYS TOLD THE SAME THING WHEN GROWING UP, BUT ALWAYS DOUBTED THE VALIDITY. THE ROMANS AND EGYPTIANS USED WHIPS (ON HORSES AMONG OTHER THINGS) "THOUSANDS" OF YEARS AGO. TKS.
Phalanx Oct 10, 2006	well that one was great...!
marschie Oct 10, 2006	Who was the comedian who used to say, "Verry Inerresting?" He was on SNL. I too say, "Verry Inerresting."
Badger Oct 10, 2006	Kids, just be sure you don't take someone's eye out with this one! EZPZ Swaff, but fun fact. Thanks for submitting!
Badger Oct 10, 2006	PS: For those who care... It's the Law of Conservation of Energy. As the whip goes from thick to very thin at the tip, the mass decreases... The energy is the same and has to "go" somewhere... It goes into accelerating the tip beyond the sound barrier... The energy dissipates in the form of sound waves and heat. SNAP!
bradon182001 Oct 10, 2006	Have to agree with all of the above. This was very educational and interesting.
iteachkids Oct 10, 2006	Fun to learn ... and fun to learn even more from these other Brilliant Brainglers. Thanx EVERYNE!
FatHead Oct 10, 2006	Cool! Of course, I would think this might go under the Trick category.
BeckyD Oct 10, 2006	To Marschie: I remember that phrase, "Verrrrry Interrresting," but it wasn't on SNL... it was one of the regular phrases spoken on that very old comedy show, "Laugh In." It was one of Arte Johnson's characters where he wore a German uniform and helmet, and would be hiding behind some shrubbery, peeking through at one of their other funny skits. He used a German accent, too, when he said that phrase. Ok, I'm dating myself again... yes, I remember those OLD shows!! LOL
BeckyD Oct 10, 2006	I also thought this was an excellent brain teaser!! It never occured to me that a bullwhip made that cracking sound because of breaking the sound barrier. MY guess was really dumb... I thought it was that he passed over a time zone.... hahahaha!!!
Trishgal Oct 10, 2006	Ireally did not know just how interesting all this was til I read the comments. their are some very well informed people here. Thx.Keep these coming.
4kai2lyn6 Oct 10, 2006	I love you people! Everyone here seems to want to learn for the pure and simple satisfaction of obtaining knowledge! Thanks youse guyes! Verrrry intttterrrrrresting stuffs here!
Infrared Oct 10, 2006	I got this one!
OhEmGee Oct 10, 2006	huh? i dont get this one! i mean i kinda understand but its sorta confusing. someone please help me out?? RESPOND TO THIS COMMENT PLEASE!!
FeaerFactorY666 Oct 10, 2006	smart! nice!
OhEmGee Oct 10, 2006	PLEASE RESPOND TO THE COMMENT TWO ABOVE MINE PLEASE!!
davidrools Oct 10, 2006	I think of the whips that jockeys use while riding a horse and it's more of a switch kind of a device that just smacks the horse's butt (i'm totally not a horse person) and not a whip that breaks the sound barrier. The ones you imagine being used by old stage coach drivers are the whips that crack from the mini sonic boom...but those are used from a carriage or coach rather than on the horse's back.
OhEmGee Oct 10, 2006	davidrools? thanks sooo much!!! yay
OhEmGee Oct 10, 2006	davidrools whats your last name??
Pizzazz2u Oct 10, 2006	After checking the answer, I knew it. But, I have to admit, this wasn't on the list of any of the items I have learned to remember. Very good and a fascinating teaser for youngsters. Keep them coming.
mmmcla01 Oct 10, 2006	Good job! I didn't really care for it but trivia teasers don't interest me that much ... still good job
mentalcase Oct 10, 2006	Good job, davidrools. I got on here (for the first time ever, mind you!) only to be annoyingly erudite and point out that while this was a cool braingle, it was not strictly true - the whips used while riding, also called quirts, are short and do not break the sound barrier. These long whips are only used while driving. So there you have it, Mighty Brains! Keep on braingling! mentalcase
thesd16 Oct 10, 2006	heard this somewhere else, but i couldn't figure out then, but when i saw the answer, i wondered why i didn't.
tmking Oct 10, 2006	wow i cant wait to tell my friends that one.
i_luv_2_read Oct 10, 2006	neat little trivia fact....i read it in a puzzler book somewhere once
luvdoritos706 Oct 11, 2006	thats very interesting....makes sense
tdbrsun Oct 12, 2006	I too learned something new. Great teaser!
Qrystal Oct 13, 2006	neato.
RRAMMOHAN Oct 15, 2006	Wow, that was brilliant, and very interesting! Didnt know this! Thanks to all those who gave the scientific explanation - i have learnt something new today! Thanks for the teaser.
MalcolmReynolds Oct 28, 2006	Finally a "harder" one I can get.. lol.
vlerma Oct 28, 2006	Nice job there. I was trying to think what you could do to a horse that would make him that fast. But having been raised on the farm I can remember my dad popping the old bull whip over the horse's head when he was rounding up the cows. But of course I didn't remeber until I saw the answer. Great job.
Stormcrafter Nov 29, 2006	The difficulty rating would apparently show that that is not a commonly known fact... I knew that from when I was in third grade But then I like finding out random oddities and nuances. Did you know that coca-cola was originally green?
john1701 Jul 19, 2009	Am I the only person who also thought of firearms? A flintlock pistol propels a bullet faster than sound, and flintlocks were being used by soldiers on horseback at least a couple of hundred years ago.
jaycr Oct 10, 2009	OK, it's kinda out there but I was thinking about breaking a horse who's name was "Sound Barrier".
doehead Oct 10, 2009	Another repeat,another repeat, another repeat, another repeat, another repeat. TAKE NOTICE EDITORS, SEE HOW SICKENING IT IS SEEING THE SAME OLD TEASERS.
craniac Oct 10, 2009	Hmmm, even with the correction provided by Davidrools, I'm not sure I believe this explanation, I thought a whip cracks because it's leather striking leather really hard. I don't know enough physics to judge if the answer given for this teaser is correct or not. Just call me a skeptic today.
bestgirl Oct 10, 2009	Doehead, cool it. Don't make me sorry I voted to keep you here. I have been a member for at least 2 years, and I hadn't seen this one. Now, I admit I have been wondering why most post lately are so old, but I assume not many people are submitting.
phyllisa Oct 10, 2009	Interesting, but I agree that you use a different kind of whip on a horse. It is called a crop. Anyway, my answer was Paul Revere !
UptheHill Oct 10, 2009	HA!
patiencewithaP Oct 10, 2009	Fun!
auntiesis Oct 10, 2009	I was hung up on the horse breaking the sound barrier, never gave a thought to the whip. I even knew that fact from many years ago, but never connected it to this teaser. Well done.
TZCastor Oct 10, 2009	yay i got it with my first guess. and did you know if you dipped a whp in gasoline, and cracked it it would make a mini fireball becuase of the air friction of the sonic boom.
HABS2933 Oct 10, 2012	Very easy, Looking at the dates again it appears that this was reaser of the day on this date in 2006 and 2009 now in 2012- Another 3 year cycle it seems. When I first started on this site I never ubderstood why it bothered Doehead so much. Now that I've been here for a bit I completely understand and agree. We need to get some newer teasers in the rotation, Many of the submitters of these old teasers have not even been on the site in 3+ years.
JQPublic Oct 10, 2012	Fun teaser!
cutebug Oct 10, 2012	I agree w/ HABS. Maybe that guy DOEHEAD was pretty smart after all.
Gwendalla Oct 10, 2012	Actually, I learned this a couple days ago in physics. And I was so excited to use my knowledge today! Well written. Danke!
iggy39 Oct 10, 2012	never would have guessed that