An actual question my five year old asked me and I couldn’t answer, please help!
In: Physics
Aero engineer here, albeit late in the thread.
While everything I’m reading is true for propeller design, it all boils down to mass flow rate. The true ELI5 answer is you can change the propeller’s overall size while pushing the same amount of air.
Each blade moves some air mass proportional to its surface area. Assume two long blades move about the same amount of air mass as four short blades half the size. Design constraints determine the rest which goes above the ELI5: max prop diameter to the ground, excess power required for performance, engine efficiency, blade tip speed, etc.
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