What exactly is turbulence, and is it at all an indication of danger during a flight?
In: Physics
Imagine a container of jello. Open it up, and wedge a tiny toy airplane about halfway down, suspended in the jello — not touching the bottoms, sides, or top. The airplane is “held up” by the Jello now, much the same way an airplane is “held up” by the airflow around the wings.
Now tap the top of the Jello. This sends waves through the Jello — Jello is a fluid, albeit a very thick one, after all. So is air! That’s why they call it *fluid dynamics*. You’ll see that, as you shake the Jello, tap it, move it around, the plane suspended in the Jello *cough*air*cough* also vibrates up and down.
This is turbulence. Just as you won’t rip the wings off the toy airplane tapping the Jello, try as you might, it won’t happen on a modern airliner.
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