The Forces on an Airplane Four Main Forces

The Forces on an Airplane

Four Main Forces Lift, Weight, Thrust, and Drag

Weight, Lift, Thrust, Drag Lift Thrust Drag Weight Lift Weight Thrust overcomes generated force the downward by is the directed toward caused on the airplane. by center of. Paper the and The forceisofa drag isthat caused by engines air force resistance, and is weight affected by Earth. the The gravity. airplanes magnitude don’t is generated of have the continuous weight by the depends wings thrust, and so the they mass forward fall oftoall the shape and. Lift velocity of the aircraft. Would aon box shaped airplane have a large or the small drag force? How doon you know? airplane motion ground. ofparts, For the airplane. fuel, plane andto any move payload forward, board. the thrust A major forceproblem in must flying beis greater trying than to overcome the forceweight. made by This drag. is done by lift.

Forces Affect Each Other • Forces acting in the same or opposite directions have an affect on one another. • Thrust is used to overcome drag, while lift overcomes the weight of the aircraft.

Can This Plane Fly? Lift = 5, 000 Newtons Weight = 8, 000 Newtons Would this plane be able to fly? Raise your hand!

How Do They Fly? • The design of the wing (an airfoil) causes air over the wing to move faster than the air under the wing. This creates a high pressure system under the wing. This is Bernoulli’s Principle! • The high pressure underneath the wing creates lift. What direction is the lift force in?

Remember this?

Bernoulli’s Principle • The toilet paper unrolled because of Bernoulli’s Principle. Air moves very fast over the top of the toilet paper, creating a high pressure system under the paper, allowing it to move forward and stay level. This guy LOVES Bernoulli’s Principle!

Different Types of Airplanes Amphibian Airplanes Planes made for stealth bombing by the military Airplanes made for speed Paper airplanes

Paper Airplanes • Now, you get to make a paper airplane. • Try and make one with a design that will allow maximum flight time and distance! • If you throw it in the classroom, you will not be allowed to participate. We will just be building them today.