# What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237 "2005-08-02T01:05:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/21 "2005-08-02T12:39:59Z")
> [@StaberindeMk2](#): > > This is an interesting brain-teaser that I came across. There is one official answer that I’m thinking of but I’m sure there are other “correct” answers. Just wondering if anybody can get it. I think this would result in a reverse-Newton’s First Law. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/22 "2005-08-02T14:06:35Z")
As it turns out, the object _does_ move. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/23 "2005-08-02T14:10:49Z")
> [@StaberindeMk2](#): > > What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Give an example. ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/24 "2005-08-02T14:21:54Z")
You can bet as sure as you live Something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give, Something’s gotta give. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/25 "2005-08-02T14:26:11Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > the results were the Big Bang. I thought the Big Bang was how Jesus was conceived? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/26 "2005-08-02T20:16:20Z")
Har… I’m guessing the unstoppable force gets re-vectored in a direction away from the immovable object? ala wind going around a mountain? or am I not getting the question? Perhaps the unstoppable force transfers THROUGH the immovable object via the 8th dimension? By way of Planet Ten? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/27 "2005-08-02T20:27:47Z")
The unbreakable analogy shatters. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/28 "2005-08-02T20:39:33Z")
I’m reminded of that time that Buckaroo Banzai, using his oscillation overthruster, drove right through a mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/29 "2005-08-02T20:42:34Z")
The universe would be recreated. With pie. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/30 "2005-08-02T20:44:48Z")
Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie, Why does a chicken? I don’t know why. Ask me a riddle and I reply Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie. —_Winnie-the-Pooh_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/31 "2005-08-02T20:45:13Z")
> [@StaberindeMk2](#): > > What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? > > > [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > > > Give an example. Well, the unstoppable force has dibs. Duh. Now, you could have made it a trick question by saying “what happens when an immovable object runs into an unstoppable force”, because immovable objects don’t run into things… ---
**Author:** ![Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Cornelius\_Tuggerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cornelius_Tuggerson)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/32 "2005-08-02T21:12:33Z")
**What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?** I don’t think you need to worry about it all that much. I mean the chances of it actually happening are like a 1000000 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/33 "2005-08-02T21:30:47Z")
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? XTC’s **Skylarking**. At least that’s how it was characterized in the book _Chalkhills and Children_. Andy Partridge being the unstoppable force and Todd Rundgren being the immovable object. At least that’s how I remember it from reading it in a bookstore many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/34 "2005-08-02T21:37:39Z")
My semi-serious answer is that if you have a universe with both an unstoppable force and an immovable object, they cannot interact with each other. That is, the force merely passes through the object as if it wasn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/35 "2005-08-02T21:50:42Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > I’m reminded of that time that Buckaroo Banzai, using his oscillation overthruster, drove right through a mountain. You don’t say. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/36 "2005-08-02T22:35:03Z")
> [@StaberindeMk2](#): > > This is an interesting brain-teaser that I came across. There is one official answer that I’m thinking of but I’m sure there are other “correct” answers. Just wondering if anybody can get it. So, what’s the “one official answer” that you were thinking of? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/37 "2005-08-02T22:36:09Z")
The unstoppable force passes through the immovable object and continues. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/38 "2005-08-02T22:40:11Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > You don’t say. :dubious: Oh well, that’s what you get when you get a phone call in the middle of posting and then don’t go back to check if your point has been made in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![StaberindeMk2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@StaberindeMk2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaberindeMk2)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/39 "2005-08-02T23:55:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > So, what’s the “one official answer” that you were thinking of? Well its only “official” in the sense that it was the correct answer in the book. Anyway all these smartarses “Oh, thats obvious, its simple!” still haven’t got it so I’m not giving it away! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![funeste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@funeste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funeste)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237/40 "2005-08-03T01:41:17Z")
What happens is the force isn’t stopped and the object doesn’t move. 🙂 On a serious note, does a “force” necessarily move objects? Maybe it’s just not that kind of a force, so there’s no contradiction. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-an-unstoppable-force-meets-an-immovable-object/315237.md?page=3)