Airplanes

Isaac Newton
Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and physicist Date of birth is January 4, 1643 Death date is March 31, 1727 He was born in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England, United Kingdom He died in London, England, United Kingdom

Newtons Third Law of Motion

According to Newtons third law for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets pushed back in the opposite direction equally hard.

What enables an airplane to lift itself off the ground?

An airplane lifts off the ground because of the difference in pressure from the upper and lower part of the wing. The air travels faster over the top of the wing than the bottom because of the wing shape. This creates a low pressure on the top of the wing and high on the bottom. The pressure difference causes and upward force on the wing which creates lift which allows the plane to lift off the ground.

Simplified Aircraft Motion

This slide shows some rules for the simplified motion of an aircraft. By simplified motion I mean that some of the four forces acting on the aircraft are balanced by other forces and that I am looking at only one force and one direction at a time. In reality, this simplified motion doesn't occur because all of the forces are interrelated to the aircraft's speed, altitude, and orientation. But looking at the forces ideally and individually does give me some insight and is much easier to understand.

Angle of Attack
As an aircraft moves through the air, the wing is leaned to the flight direction at some angle. The angle between the chord line of the airfoil and the flight direction is called the angle of attack. Angle of attack has a large effect on the lift generated by a wing. During takes off, the pilot applies as much thrust as possible to make the airplane roll along launch rail. But just before lifting off, the pilot "rotates" the aircraft. The nose of the airplane rises, increasing the angle of attack and producing the increased lift needed for takeoff.

Modern Lift Equation

The amount of lift effected by an object depends on a number of factors, including the density of the air, the velocity between the object and the air, the viscosity and compressibility of the air, the surface area over which the air flows, the shape of the body, and the body's desire to the flow.

What is Lift?
Lift is the force that holds an aircraft in the air. Lift can be generated by any part of the airplane, but most of the lift on an airplane is generated by the wings.

What is Thrust?
Thrust is a mechanical force generated by the engines to move the aircraft through the air. (Thrust is the force which moves an air). Thrust is used to overcome the weight of a rocket.

What is Weight?
Weight is the force that generated by the gravitational attraction of the earth on the airplane.

Vocabulary
Interrelate- relate or connect to one another. Altitude- the height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level. Viscosity- the state of being thick and sticky. Compressibility- a measure of the relative volume change of a fluid or solid as a response to a pressure. Angle of Attack- the angle between the chord of an airfoil and the direction of the surrounding undisturbed flow of gas or liquid. Thrust- the propulsive force of a jet or rocket engine. Weight- a bodys relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force.