Air, Aerodynamics, and Flight

By Jaclyn Schmitz

Aerodynamics

Definition: the study of the dynamics of gases, especially of the forces acting on a body passing through air

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I will be using an extremely helpful website as we travel through this topic. It can be found here:

http://www.fi.edu/flight/own2/forces.html

Inspiration: Leonardo da Vinci’s Journal of Inventions, the Wright Brothers

The idea of Flight

We take flying for granted now with our modern day aircrafts and space crafts, but it was once only dreamed of and deemed to be impossible

Innovation, experimentation, and risk taking has led us to the point that we are now

Four forces of Flight

Flying – Day 1

Create a list of things that fly.

Choose one.

Draw a diagram of your chosen flier (with labels)

Research: how does it fly? Explain. Draw a diagram of it in flight.

Four forces of flight: Research on the website

Define the four forces of flight

Label the 4 forces of flight on your picture. How does this impact your flier? How does it overcome obstacles?

Choose a totally different type of flier. Explain how the four forces of flight affect this flier? How does it overcome obstacles?

Challenge

You have 10 minutes

Your task is to push a ping pong ball to the bottom of a jug that is filled with water without touching the ball or removing any of the water

Materials I will provide you with:

Ping pong ball

Jug

Water

Tissue

3 Straws

Cup

Tape

Scissors

Results

Air

We talk about “air” all of the time, but what really is it?

Air is a gas that is made up of a combination of other gases

We can’t see it with our naked eye, but it is all around us on earth

It does not exist in space because there is no gravitational pull keeping it together

Air – take note

Dry air is made up of the following gases:

Nitrogen (the largest part, around 78%)

Oxygen (21%)

Argon, Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapor (all help make up the last 1%) there are other gases present that we will not cover

There is more water vapor present in certain parts of the world than others.

3 Properties of air

1. Air takes up space – what does this mean?

How can you PROVE this is true?

Must include a detailed diagram as well as an explanation

3 Properties

Air exerts pressure – what does this mean?

How can you PROVE this is true?

Must include a detailed diagram as well as an explanation

http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/air_pressure/