The plane is heavy and there’s gravity on earth. How does it just fly without falling down?
In: Physics
Planes have 4 basic forces acting on them-
Gravity down to the center of the Earth
Drag – the backwards push due to the air
Thrust – the forewords push due to the engines,
Lift – the upwards push due to the wings
So they come in pairs, Lift/Gravity and Drag/Thrust.
I guarantee somebody will post a theory called the “Equal Transit Theory”, which (avoiding physics) says the wings create a zone of high pressure below them and a zone of low pressure above them due to air traveling at different speeds across the surfaces. **THIS IS INCORRECT (but still taught in wayyyy too many aerodynamics courses)**
Truth be told, lift is really confusing to explain without some high level physics and math, there really isn’t a good ELI5 of it, suffice to say it has to do with the way fluids work (in this case ‘air’ is considered a fluid in physics speak). It’s correct to say lift is caused by a pressure difference (high pressure below the wing pushes UP against low pressure above the wing) but the actual cause of the pressure differential is really complicated and difficult to explain without high level physics and maths. The best answer I can give you is that the wing’s *shape* introduces tiny little whirlpools and tornadoes in the air (invisible to the eye) that create the pressure differences, kind of like how when you comb your hand through the surface of water in a pool you see little whirlpools form in the wake? Kinda like that but powerful enough to lift an airplane.
Latest Answers