How do boomerangs return?

315 views

How do boomerangs return?

In: Physics

Anonymous 0 Comments

As I understand it, a boomerang is basically a double-sided airfoil (e.g. like a plane wing). As it spins through the air the side which is moving forward moves faster than the one moving backward and gets more lift, which tries to tilt the boomerang sideways; but again, because it’s spinning, this has the effect of causing the path of the boomerang to curve instead (gyroscope effect). When thrown correctly this means it can return to its starting point.

If you were to throw it so it wasn’t spinning, or wasn’t upright, then it wouldn’t work.