FRISBEE PHYSICS How does a Frisbee fly?

AIRFOIL An airfoil is a designed surface that will fly when there is air flow above and below it. Think of a Frisbee as an airplane. How does an airplane fly???

How does an airplane fly? For an airplane to fly you must have the following – Thrust – Lift – Weight – Drag

THRUST Moves an object by pushing or pulling Airplanes use propellers In our case your arm acts as a propeller to create thrust.

LIFT Holds a plane or Frisbee in the air Created by Frisbee splitting the air At this point the force under the Frisbee cause the object to fly

WEIGHT All objects have weight Created by mass and gravity Without weight objects would just float Frisbees could be thrown and never land in this case Weight is the counterpart to lift, which is pulling the Frisbee into the air

DRAG Drag is the counterpart to thrust While thrust is propelling the Frisbee, drag is constantly trying to slow the Frisbee down If you have ever been in a moving car with your hand out the window you would be able to feel drag This resistance is felt by the Frisbee every time you throw it

Increasing and Decreasing Drag Less drag = longer distance Increase Throw Frisbee harder – The faster the throw the more drag it will experience Throw Frisbee at an angle – The greater the angle the more drag, try to throw linear Decrease Adding spin – The more spin a Frisbee has the less wobbling it will do to decrease drag THROW FRISBEE ON A LINEAR PLANE – Keeping a Frisbee flat and linear will decrease drag and increase the possible distance

KEYS TO A GOOD THROW FLAT – Best way to keep a Frisbee flat is by adding spin SPIN – Make sure you flick your wrist to create spin LINEAR – Keep the Frisbee on a straight line. Best way to do this is by pointing at your target on the follow through