Why do airplanes normally take off into the wind?

Short Answer

Expert verified

Airplanes normally take off into the wind to reduce the required ground speed.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the concept of Bernoulli’s equation

Bernoulli’s equation states that when the pressure is low in an area, the flow of fluid or wind is larger. Therefore, greater speed will result in lesser pressure.

02

Determine the reason behind the airplanes taking off into the wind.

As you know, the airfoils of an airplane move faster than the relative air. Therefore, it can deflect the air, but the streamline flow is always maintained because the streamlines are crowded together on the above side of the wing.

The streamlines on the above side of the wing indicate that the airspeed is larger than below the wing. Therefore, there is the presence of upward force known as dynamic lift, which can help the airplane rise.

Also, the wings of the airplane are tilted in an upward direction. The air striking on the bottom surface will be reflected in the downward direction, and the change in moment of air particles will result in the additional upward forces acting on the wings.

When the plane moves with the wind, the wind acts in the opposite direction, which acts as a drag force to stop the plane's motion. Therefore, less speed is required to lift the plane when it moves in the off direction of the wind.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

(II)A fish tank has dimensions 36 cm wide by 1.0 m long by 0.60 m high. If the filter should process all the water in the tank once every 3.0 h, what should the flow speed be in the 3.0 cm diameter input tube for the filter?

(III) The Earth is not a uniform sphere, but has regions of varying density. Consider a simple model of the Earth divided into three regions—inner core, outer core, and mantle. Each region is taken to have a unique constant density (the average density of that region in the real Earth):





(a) Use this model to predict the average density of the entire Earth. (b) If the radius of the Earth is 6380 km and its mass is 5.98 × 1024Kg, determine the actual average density of the Earth and compare it (as a percent difference) with the one you determined in (a).

A drinking fountain shoots water about 12 cm up in the air from a nozzle of diameter 0.60 cm (Fig. 10–57). The pump at the base of the unit (1.1 m below the nozzle) pushes water into a 1.2-cm-diameter supply pipe that goes up to the nozzle. What gauge pressure does the pump have to provide? Ignore the viscosity; your answer will therefore be an underestimate.

A ship, carrying fresh water to a desert island in the Carib-bean, has a horizontal cross-sectional area of \(2240\;{{\rm{m}}^2}\) at the waterline. When unloaded, the ship rises 8.25 m higher in the sea. How much water \(\left( {{m^3}} \right)\) was delivered?

Question: A simple model (Fig. 10–56) considers a continent as a block (density\( \approx {\bf{2800}}\;{\bf{kg/}}{{\bf{m}}^{\bf{3}}}\)) floating in the mantle rock around it (density\( \approx {\bf{3300}}\;{\bf{kg/}}{{\bf{m}}^{\bf{3}}}\)). Assuming the continent is 35 km thick (the average thickness of the Earth’s continental crust), estimate the height of the continent above the surrounding mantle rock.

Figure 10-56

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free