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: 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