The Physics of Planes

Over the past two weeks, I have been on six flights and with two more coming up this week. After spending so much time in the air, I began to think about the logistics of a plane, or rather, the physics behind flying.

First, let's talk about propellers. A propeller basically lifts an airplane forward. For ease of understanding, a propeller is similar to a wing, but it spins. Similar to a wing of a plane it produces lift in a forward direction. This force is called thrust. The propeller works with the help of the engine.

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/propth.html

Thurst = F = A x (delta p)

The rotational motion of the propeller while through the air creates a difference in air pressure between the front and back of the blades of the propeller. This increases the air pressure on one surface and decreases the air pressure on the other. It is also important to know that the pressure over the top of the wing as the plane is lifting itself into the air is greater than the pressure below the wing.

Through Newton's Third Law of motion, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, We can see how the propeller pushes or pulls you forwards by pushing a mass of air behind you. The combination of the propeller, engine, calculated momentum, thrust, velocity, and pressure, pilots can keep huge planes in the air with 100s of people and cargo in them. The next time you are on a plane, see if you can see the propeller rotating as you fly as well as the flaps on the wings opening and closing to account for air pressure change. I definitely will.