Airplane Lab Bernoullis Principle There are 4 main forces that act on a paper airplane (or a real airplane

e for that matter) while it is flying. These are:

Lift Gravity Thrust Drag

Lift is the force that keeps the airplane in the air. Without lift the plane woul not fly. Lift can !e a very complicate force to e"plain# !ut here are two !asic mo els to give an intuitive un erstan ing. 1. Bernoulli's Principle (name after $wiss %hysicist Daniel &ernoulli): 'f you ever look closely at the wings of an airplane from the si e# you will notice that they are not flat. The wing has a curve shape to it. This shape is calle an airfoil. (irfoils are specially esigne to pro uce lift. To un erstan how &ernoulli)s principle causes lift# we must first un erstan that air usually presses e*ually on all si es of an o!+ect. $uppose that as the plane flies forwar # the approaching air splits up when it hits the lea ing (front) e ge of the wing an re+oins at the trailing (!ack) e ge of the wing. The airfoil shape causes the air to go farther over the top of the wing than un er the !ottom# !oth in the same amount if time. This means the air on top of the wing must move faster. When air spee s up# its pressure gets lower. $ince the air pressure on top of the wing is lower than the air pressure on the !ottom of the wing# the wing pro uces lift, This phenomenon is calle &ernoulli)s principle.

2. Newtonian Explanation The famous scientist $ir 'saac -ewton state in his famous thir law that #./or every action# there is an e*ual an opposite reaction.. -ewtonian lift largely epen s on the tilt of the wing or .angle of attack.. 'f the lea ing e ge of the wing is pointing upwar # the !ottom surface is eflecting oncoming air ownwar . When this air !ounces off the !ottom surface of the wing (action)# it pushes the wing upwar (reaction)...or pro uces lift.

Gravit is a force that we are all familiar with. 't)s what causes any o!+ect you throw into the air to come !ack to the groun . Gravity is also what keeps us on the groun . Without gravity# we woul all float away into space, With airplanes# gravity works against lift !y pulling the airplane towar the groun . !"rust is the force that causes the plane to move forwar through the air. 'n a real airplane# this is pro uce !y the turning propellers or +et engine. With a paper airplane# the thrust is pro uce when you throw the plane into the air. Without thrust# planes coul not pro uce lift. #ra$ is the force that tries to slow the airplane own. Drag is pro uce when air flowing over the plane causes friction. When the plane is flying# it must push oncoming air out of the way. (s this air is pushe aroun the plane# it !umps into other air molecules. (ir close to the surface of the airplane also wants to try to stick to it. (ll of this causes friction. 0ave you ever ri en your !ike on a win y ay1 The win hitting you in the face that makes it har to keep moving is rag. Lift an thrust help to keep a plane flying. Gravity an rag work against it. We can)t o anything to change gravity# !ut we can try to minimi2e rag an increase lift an thrust. This will make a paper airplane fly well.

%esearc" &uestions' !( BE )(*PLE!E# (N A +EPA%A!E P,E)E (- PAPE%. 3) 4"plain &ernoulli5s %rinciple: 6) 4"plain -ewton5s thir law with at least two e"amples: 7) Diagram the four forces of flight (an then answer the *uestions !elow) 4.) (ccor ing to the &ernoulli %rinciple# how oes the plane achieve lift1 8.) (ccor ing to -ewton5s thir law# how oes the plane achieve lift1 9.) &rainstorm a list of how you can achieve L'/T on your paper airplane :.) &rainstorm a list of how you can ;'-';'<4 the effect of G=(>'T? on your plane.

-or our proce.ure/ ou will nee. to .escribe'

() Draw the esign of your plane !efore you actually !uil it# an any mo ifications you ma e to the airplane after you test it. &) 0ow you teste your paper airplane. Things to recor while you are !uil ing an testing @ copy the ta!les !elow an fill them out as you go, As you build your paper airplanes, keep track of the following: ,.eas to *a0e our plane fl furt"er 4"ample: Ase lighter paper 1ustification Gravity will pull less

As you test the planes, you will need to keep track of the following: Proble2s ou "ave .urin$ experi2ent 4"ample: %lane kept flying to left 3ow ou solve. t"e2 Blose the gym oor @ kill the !ree2e

#A!A )(LLE)!,(N' 4se t"e exa2ple below to create a .ata table to collect .ata as ou test our plane. 5ou s"oul. "ave at least 6 .ifferent trials
!rial 1 2 : ; 6 #istance 72eters8 !i2e 7secon.s8 Av$. +pee. 729s8

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