So I know the simplified theory and basic principles here, Newton’s 3rd law, air compression and sudden exhaust and all, but it boggles me how this principle can lift, even move, 350 tons flying objects.
I get how it works but I need some kind of metaphor to understand and wrap my mind around the forces and amount of thrust at play here
In: Engineering
A couple things.
1) The engines throw a LOT of air backwards at very high speeds. And that ends up being a lot of mass. Its a lot more mass than you think.
2) For planes, it isn’t lifting it straight up, but along a ramp. So less than 350 tons of force is required to lift the plane, as long as the plane also travels forward a large distance.
3) It doesn’t take much force at all to just “move” an object. A single person can pull an entire jumbo-jet. It does take a lot of force to oppose other forces, like friction and drag. But air doesn’t resist that much at low speeds, and at higher speeds that resistance is all the engines have to fight for level flight. They don’t have to ‘lift’ the plane directly.
Latest Answers