Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics that studies the movement of air and the way solid objects react when they move through the air. Aerodynamics has contributed to the advancing of airplanes and other vehicle technology. In this essay I will be discussing how aerodynamics have improved and changed our world in several great ways. Overall, without aerodynamics, our world today would not be as developed as it is now.
Firstly, Aerodynamics has lead to humans making airplanes which grants us the privilege of flight. Airplanes have improved travel time between different cities and countries which could have taken weeks or even months. The invention of planes has created whole industries including designing and building planes, the maintenance of planes, flying the planes, ect. Aside from passenger planes, there are many other uses for planes such as moving
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Improving the aerodynamics of vehicles reduces drag meaning there is less resistance as an airplane or car passes through the air. Why this is important is because it takes less fuel to make the vehicle accelerate. When you burn gasoline it releases carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and unburned hydrocarbons which all contributes to air pollution. It also produces carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to climate change. Using less fuel reduces the vapors released into the atmosphere, which helps the environment.
Another benefit of improving aerodynamics of a vehicle is cost savings. Improving the aerodynamics burns less fuel, which means you are saving money. Your car ends up being much cheaper to run and therefore saving consumers money. In the same way airplanes have also become more fuel efficient. Airplane designers have figured out many ways of conserving as much fuel as they can so that airliners can save money on fuel for the
The history of flying dates back as early as the fifteenth century. A Renaissance man named Leonardo da Vinci introduced a flying machine known as the ornithopter. Da Vinci proposed the idea of a machine that had bird like flying capabilities. Today no ornithopters exist due to the restrictions of humans, and that the ornithopters just aren’t practical. During the eighteenth century a philosopher named Sir George Cayley had practical ideas of modern aircraft. Cayley never really designed any workable aircraft, but had many incredible ideas such as lift, thrust, and rigid wings to provide for lift. In the late nineteenth century the progress of aircraft picks up. Several designers such as Henson and Langley, both paved the way for the early 1900’s aircraft design. Two of the most important people in history of flight were the Wright Brothers. The Wright Brothers were given the nickname the “fathers of the heavier than air flying machine” for their numerous flights at their estate in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Orville and Wilbur Wright created a motor-powered biplane in which they established incredible feats of the time. The Wright Brothers perfected their design of the heavier than air flying ma...
Aerodynamics is generally summarized in these 2 terms: “Lift against Weight” and “Thrust against Drag”. This basically means the amount of flight power generated must be equal to, or greater than the amount of weight of the airplane, and the amount of pushing generated, must be equal to or greater than the airs resistance. But the overall question, so far, is how is “Lift” and “Thrust” generated? The answer to how “Thrust” is generated is quite simple. Its sort of how a car would move, except in a much different way. Airplanes have 4 engines, which can each exert easily up to 200 PSI of air (pressure per square inch), composed of liquid fuel cylinders, and internal combustion (like a car). It also tops to 250 km per hour on the runway! But how “Lift” is generated is, the true definition of aerodynamics. The first thing you must consider to understand this is that the wing of the plane is specially designed, to force the air above the wing to rush faster, than the air beneath it. This works according to the “Bernoulli’s principle”. The reason air above the wing must be fast...
The Airplane was first invented in 1903; it amazed everyone but never really took off because of how dangerous it still was. They used planes in WWI but they threw them aside. After WWI (around mid 1920’s) the Federal Government had the idea of airmail. This was readily accepted; instead of receiving mail in two weeks it would only take a couple of days. Soon after this, transporting people quickly caught on although only the upper-class people could afford it, it soon became accessible to almost everyone. (Inventions: Airplane)
What would the world be like without flight? Today we take aircraft for granted but for centuries man could only dream of flight. It was not until the late nineteenth century that human flight started to become a reality. During this time people started to see flight as a possibility, and enthusiastic inventors began working on and experimenting with many different types of flying machines. Although there were many determined people trying to develop an airplane, the Wrights were the first because of their good methods of testing, and their focus on understanding and developing lift and control.
Many people are amazed with the flight of an object, especially one the size of an airplane, but they do not realize how much physics plays a role in this amazing incident. There are many different ways in which physics aids the flight of an aircraft. In the following few paragraphs some of the many ways will be described so that you, the reader, will realize physics at work in the world of flight.
What is aerodynamics? The word comes from two Greek words aerios concerning the air, and dynamis, meaning powerful. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air. Humans have been interested in aerodynamics and flying for thousands of years, although flying in a heavier-than-air machine has been possible only in the last hundred years. Aerodynamics affects the motion of a large airliner, a model rocket, a beach ball thrown near the shore, or a kite flying high overhead. The curve ball thrown by big league baseball pitchers gets its curve from aerodynamics.
Wilbur Wright once said, “The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors who... looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space... on the infinite highway of the air.” He changed American culture forever when he made the first flight alongside his brother Orville. This invention would have an even greater impact on our culture than cars. Although cars are used every day in America, planes have had the largest impact on American culture. Without planes, our lives would be drastically different, but not in a good way. Airplanes had a major impact on military, commerce, and travel.
The first advantage is hybrid vehicles use less fuel than their petrol counterparts. This is because hybrids have an additional electric motor to help power the vehicle and reduce the strain on the engine, besides being able to shut down the...
Automobiles play a major role in today's society. Almost every American owns at least one motorized transportation vehicle. Some say they make our lives better by reaching places faster than before. Others say they are a harmful to the environment. Have they made our society better or worse? They may be fast, but do we as humans want our environment to suffer because of time. Face it, cars pollute. And they release destructive chemicals into the air. Air pollution can threaten the health of many subjects in the environment including human beings.
Flight is one of the most important achievements of mankind. We owe this achievement to the invention of the airfoil and understanding the physics that allow it to lift enormous weights into the sky.
The first World War expedited the evolution of aircraft technology, which continued through World War II. These developments revolutionized military strategy and contributed greatly to the final outcomes.
Environment: The lower fuel burn means lower emissions. Winglets are recorded to have resulted in decreases of CO2 by as much as 6% and in NOX by 8%.
Today, people use their own personal vehicles to travel more than ever before. Personal transportation is no longer considered a luxury; it is now considered a necessity. The number of cars in the United States has been growing steadily since the 1970s. The number of miles traveled by cars has risen nearly 150 percent, yet the United States population has only grown roughly 40 percent during that time (hybridcars.com, Driving Trends). Although it may seem like we are advancing into the future, in reality, we are moving backwards from the effects these vehicles have on our bodies and the environment. The pollution produced by these vehicles has brought us to the day where we must find other modes of transportation that cause less harm to the world in which we live. Advances in technology have developed hybrid vehicles to try and slow down the amount of pollution. Driving a hybrid vehicle, instead of a conventional gas powered vehicle, can reduce the amount of pollution that affects our lives and the environment around us.
Electric cars help lower emissions because they have completely clean motors. As time progresses, emission standards rise and will become harder to meet for automakers. Electric motors will always have zero emissions and auto makers won't have to spend extra money to make their engines cleaner and more fuel efficient. Originally, when the internal combustion engine was invented, pollution wasn't a problem. After hundreds of years and the many combustion engines created, all the exhaust has built up. Today, pollution is one of the largest problems in our environment. Every year the average miles driven rises for everyone. When this rises, the pollution rises as well. Toni Marzotto, in "The Evolution of Public Policy: and the Environment," explains how air pollution will continue to keep on increasing:
Bosnor, Kevin. "How Flying Cars Will Work." Howstuffworks. How Stuff Works Inc., 1998. Web. 24 Jan.