A Boeing 747 weighs around 750,000 pounds, so how does it manage to get off the ground? It’s all thanks to a force called lift and something you may be familiar with from other AstroCamp videos: Bernoulli’s Principle. Lift is just the name for the force pushing an object up into the air, but Bernoulli’s
Read moreDIY Tumblewing Glider
To build a tumblewing glider, start with a long, thin rectangle of paper. We experimented with gliders ranging from about three to eight inches in length and had good results with rectangles roughly 4-6 times as long as they were wide. The lighter and thinner the building material you use, the easier your glider will
Read moreAerodynamics, Fire, & the Coanda Effect
Imagine a torpedo in a wind tunnel. Incoming air slips around the torpedo’s nose, slides along its surface, and flies off its blunt back end. The air stream can’t navigate sharp corners, but as long as a smooth contour is available, it clings to that curve. This is called flow attachment, or the Coanda effect.
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