Jasmine: Hi, l'm Jasmine.
Chrissy: I'm Chrissy.
Jasmine: We're from NIU STEAM and...
Chrissy: You're listening to The Sound of Science on WNIJ. Ben from Plainfield would like to know how an airplane has the ability to fly when it is so big and heavy? Those triple 7 airliners do seem to use magic to stay aloft!
Jasmine: There are a few principles that are used when talking about flight in general. The first, and maybe most important, is something called "lift". Lift is an upward force that is created by air moving over the top of a plane's wing. As a plane moves forward, the speed of the air is faster above the wing than it is below the wing causing a pocket of high pressure to form underneath the wing. The shape and depth of the wing determines how great this force is and if the force of the air pushing up on the underside of the wing is greater than gravity pulling down on the mass of the plane, flight occurs.
Chrissy: The second ingredient to airplane flight is thrust. Thrust is, simply put, a force that pushes something forward. In an airplane, thrust is produced by the giant engines which burn fuel and produce hot gasses which exhaust out the back of the engines at a rapid speed. Newton's Third Law states that if we accelerate particles in one direction, an object will move equally in the opposite direction.
Jasmine: If you have ever driven a car on a windy day or have ridden your bike top speed down a hill, it feels like you are being pushed around by the wind. We've all heard of wind resistance, and this is something that jet airliners experience as they are hurdling through the air at almost 550 mph. The wind resistance is pushing backward on the plane, as the plane is trying to move forward.
Chrissy: In order for the plane to overcome the wind resistance, the engines need to push the plane forward with an equal amount of force. This balance of forces helps the plane experience a stable and controlled flight and also maintains the speed at which the air flows over the wings to create lift.
Jasmine: You have been listening to The Sound of Science on WNIJ where you learn something new everyday.
