The Physics Behind Lift: Past, Present, and Future

Taylor Phelps, An Nguyen, Dylan Shaw, and Isaac Shepard

Mr. Jacob Savishinsky
Big History
1 April 2015

Although the harnessing of lift is a modern concept that is still being explored today, lift
has existed since the beginning of time. Like every other complexity, the production of lift has
ingredients, which were provided by the Big Bang, and goldilocks conditions, which were met

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after the formation of earth and its atmosphere. Lift is not a new thing developed just in the
modern times, it has existed in nature for a long time, giving flight to the birds and insects that
roamed the planet before people did. Through collective learning, humans understanding of
what lift is and how we can produce it has been increasing since ancient times. Our knowledge
about the force has improved from simply fantasizing about human flight to designing and
building complex aircraft and spacecraft that can use lift to almost its full potential. Since the
beginning of its existence during the big bang, the force of lift has become increasingly stronger
due to the way humans and other countries in nature have learned to harness it.
In the context of Big History, the production of lift is a complexity, which means it is an
object or system that has distinct components that must be connected in a precise arrangement.
Those components are called ingredients, and the precise arrangement is called the goldilocks
conditions. The only ingredients needed to produce lift are a fluid and a solid; however, these
goldilocks conditions make the generation much more complex: the fluid must have a high
velocity (the required velocity depends on the object that is being put under the force of lift), the
fluid must flow around the solid, and the solid needs to be just the right shape so that the fluid
moves more quickly over one side of the object compared to the opposite side. The most
common shape used to meet the third requirement is an airfoil (Figure 1 in Appendix). The top
edge of an airfoil is curved more than the bottom edge; consequently, when a fluid such as air
flows around it, it moves more quickly over the top edge than the bottom edge, which causes the
pressure below the airfoil to be higher than the pressure above the airfoil. The difference in air
pressure results in the fluid below pushing up on the object and lifting it. If just one of the
ingredients are missing or one of the goldilocks conditions are not met, the complexity cannot be
produced.

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The first airfoil most likely came into existence as a birds wing when life started to roam
our planet, yet the creation of birds and their wings dates all the way back to the creation of our
universe: the big bang. Approximately 13.82 billion years ago, an extremely small, hot, dense
point existed in the middle of nothing. It expanded at an extremely fast rate while the
components of our universe began to form inside, and it has not stopped expanding since. Within
the first moments, three elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium, appeared. When there was
enough matter in the expanding universe, the elements accumulated to form stars, which
eventually created the rest of the elements. These elements make up all matter that exists in our
universe, including the ingredients of our complexity (Threshold 1: The Big Bang). All the
universe needed then was to meet the complexitys goldilocks conditions.
About 4.5 billion years ago the Earth began to form. Materials left over from the solar
nebula began to combine, which is known as accretion. As these combined materials increased in
size they gained their own gravitational force, which allowed them to grow even more. Through
accretion, the Earth and the solar system formed, but the early Earth was very different from the
Earth we know today. One major difference was that the early Earth was molten. This occurred
because the Earth was frequently colliding with other astronomical bodies, which led to extreme
volcanism. A very large collision helped shape the planet and is known for causing the Moon to
form. As the collision occurred, a fragment of Earth was separated from the rest of Earth and
then caught in Earth's gravitational pull. This collision also caused the planet to have a tilt, which
is the cause of todays seasons. Eventually, the early Earth began to cool and form a solid crust.
Despite becoming more stable, the Earth is constantly changing, even today. The formation of
the Earth is important to lift because the planets atmosphere and biosphere provides our
complexity with its goldilocks conditions.

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Earth is unique from the other planets in our solar system because of the atmosphere that
protects it. The earliest atmosphere, which formed as Earth began to cool, is made up of the
gases emitted during the time of extreme volcanic activity. These gases included hydrogen,
methane, and ten to two-hundred times as much carbon dioxide. As the surface continued to cool
it solidified enough that water was able to collect on the surface. Eventually, photosynthetic
organisms in this water began to produce oxygen, and this oxygen reacted with the methane that
was already in the atmosphere. Over time, the atmosphere has changed greatly the Earths
temperature and density.
The force of lift is directly associated to the air density around the object. Lift is when an
object is deflecting a fluid, liquid or gas, that is moving. According to Newtons second law of
motion, lift and drag, aerodynamic forces, are directly related to the change in momentum of the
fluid with time. This fluid momentum is equaled to mass multiplied by the velocity. The density
is equal to the mass divided by the volume that mass of fluid would occupy if halted. Force and
lift are equal to the constant multiplied by the density. This means that when the density is
halved, all three of these aspects are halved.
Long before humans ever existed, lift principles have existed and have been harnessed for
its benefits by beings in nature. The origins of which are not very widely understood, but many
have tried to make predictions. Any flying animals main source of lift comes from their wings,
just like a man-made vehicle such as a plane. They can take advantage of Newtons third law by
flapping their wings, or Bernoullis principle when in level flight if their wing has the right
shape. Some only flap their wings a few times to get up to altitude then glide to their destination,
while others beat their wings hundreds of times a second. Flight in nature is a very diverse
subject.

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Approximately 400 million years ago, the first insects appeared. Then, eighty million
years later, there were several new species that took flight with the very first wings ever to
appear on the planet. Insect flight remains very unique to this day because they can flap their
wings more than one thousand times per second. If a human were to try to flap their arms as fast
as they could, they would almost certainly perform less than five flaps in a second. This
difference is a result of the distinction between the way their brains are wired to correspond with
their arms or wings. A human brain would have to instruct their arms to flap with each flap, but
an insect brain only has to instruct their wings to begin flapping, or to stop flapping.
About 150 million years ago, the first birds took flight. Birds mark a significant threshold
in lift because they are the first flying beings that incorporate feathers, which are revolutionary
for their light weight and huge potential to catch air. A birds feathers are plotted around their
bodies, but are not placed randomly as it appears. Follicles are arranged in linear tract called
pterylae. The most important feathers for flight are the rectrices and the remiges. Rectrices are
the feathers attached to the tail, which help control direction and stabilize flight. Remiges are the
feathers attached to the wings, and they produce almost all of the lift during flight. The rest of the
feathers are meant either for warmth or for making their path through the air more streamline. It
is believed that their wings evolved from arms, and were originally used to assist in jumping.
This made it easier to get from point A to point B if point B was higher up, or if there was a drop
between the two points. Over time, their wings became more and more efficient, until eventually
they allowed for full flight capabilities. Today, birds can travel long distances with ease due to
their trademark feathered wings.
Humans understanding of the physics of lift is a compilation of discoveries made by
physicists since the fifth century BC. Archimedes had been observing buoyancy during a bath

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when he made a conjecture that any object put in a fluid is raised up by a force equivalent to the
difference between the weight of the object and the weight it displaces. He used this hypothesis
to later propose the idea of flight by balloons. In the late 1400s, Leonardo da Vinci, who lived
from 1452 to 1519, became the first to set on paper rational ideas concerning human flight and
set the groundwork of aviation principals (Schmitt). Along with extensively studying the
components of effective wing structures, he determined that the lack of muscles in the human
body is what stops them from flying like birds. Humans most complex understanding of lift is
based on Bernoullis Principle. Daniel Bernoulli lived from 1700 to 1782, and greatly improved
our knowledge of lift by explaining that two different pressure areas can cause lift (see Figures 2
and 3 in Appendix for a clear depiction of the principle). The easiest demonstration of this is the
lifting of a piece of paper when you blow across the top of it (Bernoulli Effects). Through the
understanding of how lift is generated, engineers have been able to design successful airfoils for
modern-day aircraft and spacecraft.
Speaking of designing air and spacecraft, design components of modern flying machines
are also results of collective learning. The first known man-made object that produced lift
belonged the Romans: a windsock made to look like a dragon (see Figure 4 in Appendix). The
windsock had military purposes, as it was used to scare incoming enemy troops and to give pride
and confidence to the Roman troops. Although they had no connection to the Romans, the
Chinese began to design, build, and fly kites soon after. These kites became the basis of the
worlds collective learning about designs that could generate lift. In 1300, Marco Polo traveled to
China, observed the kites, and then shared his observations along the rest of his journey. Thanks
to Polo, other countries were able to build off the Chineses initial idea, make more advances in
flying technologies, and eventually share their successful designs. Two thousand years after

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Archimedes balloon-flight proposal, two brothers named Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier
became the first engineers to design and build an aircraft that could keep humans in the air
through the production of lift. The balloon, which held Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and
Marquis dArlandes, flew five miles at an altitude of 3,000 feet. The brothers revolutionary
balloon sparked the interest of even more engineers to make improvements to hot air balloons;
notably, Jean-Baptiste added a hole at the top of the balloon to allow for a more stable descent.
As hot air balloons improved, people began to give them martial purposes. In the first coalition
against the French revolution, the French used balloons to spy on Dutch and Austrian troops.
During the Civil War, Thaddeus Lowe used hot air balloons to carry messages to and from
President Abraham Lincoln (Schmitt). The increased use of balloons also increased humans
knowledge of temperature and pressure changes in the atmosphere, which would eventually be
used to understand aircraft performance at different altitudes and to design flight instruments for
airplane cockpits. On the topic of airplanes, the Wright Brothers accomplishment in 1903 is one
of the most famous milestones in peoples understanding of lift. With their first heavier-than-air
controllable aircraft, they were the first to control the amount of lift an aircraft harnessed to make
the aircraft move exactly the way the pilot wants it to (Schmitt) (Figure 5 in Appendix).
Although our understanding of lift has been continuously increasing as a result of
collective learning, our knowledge increased at a faster pace during World War I because of the
realization that aircraft have a great military value. At the beginning of the war, aircraft were
simply used for aerial photography. The French spied on their enemies to collect information for
artillery strikes and about German troop movement. Aerial combat was clumsy and extremely
deadly, so it was mostly avoided. An unknown British general perfectly described the aircrafts
abilities when he said, The airplane is useless for the purposes of war (Trueman). Later on in

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the war, however, engineers began to improve the combat abilities of the aircraft by designing
and building fighters and bombers. These aircraft include the Avro 504, Sopwith Camel, and
Fokker Dr. Triplane, which is one of the most successful and famous World War I aircraft
because of its great maneuverability and rate of climb. By the end of the war, militaries were
using long-range bombers, which allowed for aerial attacks, especially on military production
factories (Trueman).
Nowadays, aerodynamic lift is being used more than ever, especially for airplane design.
Airplanes need lift in order to fly, so engineers and scientists give it to them by constructing
them so that they can produce lift. Engineers and scientists have discovered that lift is caused by
the air going over the top of the wing faster than below, which causes an area of low pressure
above the wing. The air so the high pressure air below the wing rushes to the low pressure
region, thus creating lift (Anderson). Today with the huge airplanes being built there needs to be
a massive amount of lift to keep the heavy planes in the air. The response that engineers have
come up with to this problem is the incorporation of powerful engines. More powerful engines
result in a plane with more kinetic energy; the faster the plane goes, the more air that is forced
over the wing, and the more lift is produced. With more lift, heavier aircraft are able to get off
the ground and stay in the air. Engineers put the principles of lift into designs when building a
plane part. The most important part for a plane to have lift is in its wings. What an engineer will
do is make a design that has an airfoil. An airfoil is perfect for lift because it forces the air to go
faster over the top of an airfoil, and that creates the region of low pressure which creates lift.
With the new knowledge of lift it has greatly increased the aviation industry. For example, if we
had no knowledge of lift, then we wouldn't have all of these big aircraft that can travel around
the world. Without these aircraft, then the world that we know today could be different. For

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example, if there was no large aircraft, then there would be no transport to other countries
besides boat, which would take a long time and result in no international trade and delivery.
Along with airplanes, helicopters also use lift. Instead of having the airflow over the wing
like a airplane, a helicopters blades spin which force the air over the blades, and that creates lift
for the helicopter. Helicopters use the lift just like airplanes to stay in the air, but helicopters fly
in a different way. A helicopter also had a tail rotor which spins and pushes the helicopter
forward. With the main rotor creating lift and that keeping the helicopter in the air and the tail
rotor pushing the helicopter forward, it allows the helicopter to fly. Lift has come a long way
allowing planes and helicopters to fly, and also revolutionizing the aviation industry.
As humans continue to advance their aircraft designs, there comes a greater need to be
able to efficiently produce lift at higher and higher speeds. Beginning the production of the
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, supercruise, or the ability to travel at supersonic speeds using a
jet engine but without using an afterburner, has been realized possible. Currently, there are only
about two aircraft in the world that incorporate supercruise. One is an American military jet, and
the other is a Russian military jet. In contrast, supercruise might become much more common in
the future. In order to efficiently produce lift at supersonic speeds, a very distinct wing shape is
needed. Supersonic airfoils will be more widely made, and will increase in performance as
knowledge of airfoils grows.
Supersonic airfoils are very different from subsonic airfoils. A subsonic airfoil has a
rounded leading edge, because that means that air can flow smoothly around the wing at a
variety of angles of attack. A supersonic airfoil has a sharp leading edge and trailing edge. At
high speeds, a rounded leading edge could cause a powerful shockwave that can be extremely

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damaging to the wing. Instead, a thin, bladelike wing is used to reduce wing damage, and allow
for a smoother flight.
Because humans and creatures in nature have been using lift to keep heavier and heavier
objects in the air, lift has proved to be extremely practical in modern society. With this
knowledge collected from experimentation and observing lift in nature, engineers and scientists
have created aircraft and spacecraft designs with innovative ideas, and are the cause of success in
the aviation and aerospace industries. Our understanding of lift has allowed humans to explore
earths atmosphere and beyond and revolutionized the world we live in today.

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Works Cited
"All About Birds." : Feather Structure. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
Anderson, David. "How Airplanes Fly." How Airplanes Fly. Sport Aviation, 20 July 2012. Web.
30 Mar. 2015.
"Bernoulli Effects." University of Minnesota: School of Physics and Astronomy. University of
Minnesota, 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
"Identification and Biology of Spotted Wing Drosophila." Identification and Biology of Spotted
Wing Drosophila. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2015.
"Insects :: Incredible and Inspirational." Insects :: Incredible and Inspirational. N.p., n.d. Web. 27
Mar. 2015.
Schmitt, Megan. "Aviation: Soaring Through the Development and Principles behind Flight from
Ancient Times through WWI." Daniel J. Meissner. Marquette University, n.d. Web. 01
Apr. 2015.
"Symscape." NACA 4415 Airfoil. Symscape, 23 Nov. 2007. Web. 31 Mar. 2015.
"Timeline of Flight." The Dream of Flight. The Library of Congress, 29 July 2010. Web. 01 Apr.
2015.
"Threshold 1: The Big Bang." Big History Project. Bill Gates, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.
Trueman, Chris. "Aircraft and World War One." History Learning Site.
HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.
Image Citations

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Bernoullis Principle. <http://www.cdxetextbook.com/images/bernoulliprinciple.gif>.
NACA 4415 Airfoil. <http://www.symscape.com/files/images/naca-4415-airfoil.png>.
Roman Wind Sock. <http://www.fectio.org.uk/articles/draco26.jpg>.
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Timeline of Flight. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/wb-timeline.html>.

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Appendix

Figure 1. A simple airfoil

Figure 2. An airfoil under the force of lift

Figure 3. Speed affecting air pressure

Figure 4. Ancient Roman windsock

Figure 5. Timeline of flight