How Airplanes Fly Jonathan De La Cruz Quan Nguyen

 Vectors – Concepts such as thrust, drag, lift and weight all have direction and magnitude.  Forces – The above mentioned concepts are all forces that help or oppose motion in the directions.  Newton’s Laws  Gravitation – The forces of gravity and weight play a big role in maintaining flight.  Energy – Engines must use potential and kinetic energy to actually form motion. Heat is also a key component in engines to start combustion and create thrust. Physics Related Concepts

 Physicists’ definition of fluids includes both liquids and gases.  They are classified under the same mathematic relationships.  Our atmosphere contains enough fluid for it to be considered under fluid mechanics. Intro: Fluid Mechanics

Forces: Thrust and Drag  Thrust  Can be caused by a propeller or engine. Pushes an object towards a desired location.  Drag  The “friction” of flight, opposes movement of an object in motion in a fluid.  For flight to take place, thrust must be equal to or greater than drag. An increase in drag causes the plane to slow down

Forces: Weight and Lift  Weight  Product of both mass and acceleration due to gravity.  Lift  Opposes weight through the use of wings, or airfoil.  Exists only in presence of a moving fluid.  Occurs when a moving fluid is deflected by any solid object.  Wings are designed so that air over the wing travels faster than air under the wing, allowing for an increase in speed.  Newton’s Third Law supports the idea that if wings create a force, there is an equal force on the wind.

Landing and Take Off  Greater angles = more lift, smaller angles = less lift.  Wings must divert enough air to create sufficient lift.  Landings and take off require a drastic change in speed.  Flaps on wings are released to create more lift. (Increases drag though, so take off requires more thrust.)  Slats perform the same task, but are located on the front, not the rear.

 Lift requires power, as the air below the wings is given energy. Power is supplied by the planes engine.  The power needed to lift the plane is proportional to the mass and the vertical velocity of the air.  “Induced” power is used to overcome weight, “parasitic” power Is used to overcome drag. Lift and Power

 To create the necessary thrust, plane engines must consider Newton’s Third Law.  Air enters and is compressed and forced into combustion chambers where fuel is added to the mixture and combustion occurs, creating thrust.  Fans may be used to add additional thrust to the object, creating more motion. Engines

 We now grasp the difficulty of applying several aspects to flight that must be accounted for to maintain flight.  We understand the effect of forces on our everyday life and how they account into our travels.  We understand that every part of the plane is vital and useful and necessary for safe take offs and landings.  We know that a powerful engine plays a huge role in creating the necessary thrust. Insight

 odern/airplanes.htm odern/airplanes.htm  tengineworks.htm tengineworks.htm   References