babesgift.blogg.se - september 2023

HUMAN DIY KITE SERIES

Instead, we will focus on the four major forces that determine whether or not a kite flies, and delve into the physics happening behind the scenes. To precisely explain kite flight mathematically, we would need computers to map the air’s behavior, and we would also have to measure all acting forces on the kite, analyze those forces, and sum them for literally every instant’s change. If you’ve ever watched water in a river, you’ve witnessed the complexity and dynamism of fluid behavior. They can flow chaotically in different directions, curl around obstacles, and create vortices or swirls that can push off the flying object. Fluids don’t just flow straight and horizontal.

HUMAN DIY KITE SERIES

When we watch a kite soar, we witness a tumultuous series of net forces in action, which quickly influence the kite’s speed and direction.Īnything that flies contends with air, which is a fluid-and fluid behavior can easily change. The kite flies without accelerating in either direction.

In the third sketch, the lift and the weight vectors “cancel” each other out, the net force is zero.

In the second sketch, the lift vector is larger than the weight vector, and the net force accelerates the kite upward!.

In the first sketch, the lift vector is shorter than the weight vector, so the net force accelerates the kite downward.

None of these kites would accelerate horizontally. In all three sketches, the horizontal vectors are the same length, meaning that tension and drag “cancel” each other out, and the net horizontal force is zero.

In each diagram, how do the lengths of the horizontal vectors compare with each other?.Below each sketch is a mathematical statement that indicates how opposing forces combine to create a net force. The length of each vector indicates how much force is exerted. The sketches above show that lift (F L) and weight (F W) oppose each other in a kite, as do tension (F T) and drag (F D). Newton’s Second Law tells us that when a net force is present, the acceleration of the kite depends on the size of the net force and the mass of the kite.Įlah Feder in collaboration with Susan Romano These competing forces contribute to a net force-that is, a single, mathematically summed force that accelerates the kite, meaning it causes the kite to change its straight speed in a certain direction, or keeps the kite in equilibrium. On any given axis, one force might be bigger than the other, and will pull or push the kite in that direction. When the kite is flying, these forces play tug-of-war with each other on three different axes: They pull or push the kite up or down, side to side, and forwards and backwards. The forces of weight, lift, tension, and drag determine whether a kite stays aloft or plummets to the ground. Drag (F D) – the push of the wind against the kite.Tension (F T) – the pull originating from the person holding the string.

Lift (F L) – pushes the kite up and is the upward force acting on the kite.Weight (F W) – the gravitational force of the earth pulling down on the kite.Though these fundamental forces act on the kite together at the same time, they do not necessarily act on the same positions on the kite (more on this later). The main forces that determine whether or not a kite is able to fly are weight, lift, tension, and drag. Just like rockets, jets, or birds, all kites experience a combination of forces as they fly.