So this TV show makes up possible life forms from exoplanets. Atlas’ gravity is 2x earth, but they say it is easier to fly there because of the air pressure. I don’t get it. I expect air pressure proportional to gravity, and the Bernoulli principle is proportional to density, so 2x gravity 2x air 2x lift. Not easier. The same. I feel like I am missing something.
In: Physics
Air pressure is not proportional to gravity, it’s determined by how much atmosphere there is, what it’s composed of, and other factors. The most important though is just how much air there is, as the pressure is literally how much air is sitting on top of you.
Titan and Venus, for example, have less gravity than earth but much higher surface pressures. It’d be pretty easy for a human with strap on wings to fly on Titan, actually.
A larger planet with a proportionally larger (by mass) atmosphere would result in a smaller (by altitude… possibly by volume…) atmosphere would make flight more viable. This is because on a more massive planet the atmosphere is more attracted to the center of mass, and will therefore be pulled to a lower average altitude. This will result in a high density and pressure atmosphere, which consequently makes buoyancy and lift forces higher for a given object (random blob or airplane or bird like creature, etc) and probably also higher compared to the gravity at a given altitude (especially at the near surface altitudes)
Edit: the higher mass atmosphere results in it all being lower
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