Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics

Alex Mercilliott

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University WorldWide

Physics

102

Mr. Gamalie

March 15, 2014

Aerodynamics

To many people, they are lost on what actually goes into aerodynamics and how it affects a flight. Many times while teaching I have been asked what is aerodynamics. NASA has a simple way of explaining it, “Aerodynamics is the way objects move through air. The rules of aerodynamics explain how an airplane is able to fly. Anything that moves through air is affected by aerodynamics, from a rocket blasting off, to a kite flying. Since they are surrounded by air, even cars are affected by aerodynamics ("NASA," 2014).”

Newton’s three laws of motion apply to flight of any and all aircraft. Newton’s first law, inertia, states that a body at rest will remain at rest, and a body in motion will remain in motion at the same speed and same direction unless acted upon by an external force. Such as an aircraft at rest on the runway remains that way until a force strong enough to overcome its inertia is applied. Newton’s second law, acceleration, states that a force required to produce a change in motion of a body is directly proportional to its mass and rate of change in its velocity. An example of this is the aircraft at rest on the runway, the pilot pushes the throttle up and the aircraft starts to move forward. Newton’s third law, action/reaction, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This accounts for twenty-five percent of lift. As the pilot increases the throttle the jets of the engines pushes a blast of hot gasses backwards; the force of equal and opposite reaction pushes against the engine and forces the plane forward (Department of the Army [DOD], 2007, p. 1-1).

Bernoulli’s principle is the relationship between internal fluid pressure and fluid velocity, and is a statement of the law of conservation of energy and also explains why an airfoil develops an aerodynamic force. According to the law of...