Lift and the Physics of Flight Essay - 1127 Words

Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have always had a fascination with flight. Now that we live in a world where boarding an airplane and flying across the country – or even the world - is simply a part of everyday life, the wonder of flight has diminished for many. Despite this, physics students from all around continue to delight in the many physical forces that play a part in keeping these huge objects (like jumbo jets) from falling out of the sky! The common explanation given to those curious about how an airplane wing produces lift uses the Bernoulli Principle. This is the concept that because of the airfoil shape of a wing, the air traveling over the top of the wing must travel faster than the air going under the†¦show more content†¦Let’s say a plane is flying at a constant velocity and is not changing in altitude. Newton’s first law states: â€Å"Any object at rest will remain at rest or an object in motion will remain in motion unless a force acts on it.† Newton’s second law tells us that the sum of the forces (F) acting on a body is the mass (m) times the acceleration (a) of the body. In the case of our airplane, there is no acceleration because the velocity does not change up or down, forwards or backwards, so the sum of the forces must be zero. (F = ma = 0) In the case of the up and down forces, we know that the weight of the plane is acting down, so the counteracting lift fo rce must be of magnitude equal and opposite the weight (which can be very large depending on the size of the airplane in question)! First, we must clarify that air does not fly over an airfoil as smoothly and as straight as is commonly depicted. Let’s take a little detour to look at air as a fluid to explain how the shape of an airfoil diverts air down. When a moving fluid such as air or water comes in contact with a curved object such as an airfoil, it tends to follow the curve. This is known as the Coanda effect. As long as the curve is not too drastic, the molecules of air try to follow the airfoil shape. This is because of a property that fluids have called viscosity, which is a resistance to flow. Those molecules closestShow MoreRelatedPhysics in Aircrafts Essay682 Words   |  3 PagesPhysics in Aircrafts All you need to know about the role physics plays in the flight of an aircraft. Introduction Many people are amazed with the flight of an object, especially one the size of an airplane, but they do not realize how much physics plays a role in this amazing incident. There are many different ways in which physics aids the flight of an aircraft. 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