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Q:
what are some physics priciples regarding airplanes?
- kim gonzalez
sacred heart, cebu, philippines
A:
The most imporant physics of an airplane is what keeps it in the air.
It wouldn't be good for the airplane to drop out of the sky. That's why
it has wings, just like a bird.
The wings work on what is call the Bernoulli effect. Because of the
shape of the wing, the air travels faster over the top over the top of
the wing than is does underneath. The different speeds will cause the
wing to lift up.
There's an easy experiment you can do to see this. Take an ordinary
piece of paper. Hold it at one end with the other hanging toward the
ground. Blow over the top of the paper. You will see the hanging end of
the paper rise up. That's because you are blowing air faster over the
top of the paper, just like a wing.
Adam
(published on 10/22/2007)
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