How Do Heavy Things Fly?
WouterIf you’ve ever wondered how heavy things fly, you’re not alone. The question begs the question: “How does air resist movement of things?” The answer is the interaction of air resistance and weight. The interaction of these forces is what moves things forward. In this article, we will look at the interaction of air resistance and weight in flight and learn why hot air balloons can fly and rockets can propel themselves into the air.
The science of flight is called aerodynamics. It describes how objects in the sky move. The forces that drive motion are: lift, drag, and momentum. Lift pushes things upwards, and the shape of a helicopter’s whirling rotor blades create lift. But while momentum dominates the flight of ballistic flying objects, lift is also important.
Air has a weight that varies with speed. Its mass is approximately a third of the mass of an airplane. Airplanes need this force to maintain their altitude. But if they’re too heavy, they won’t fly as far or as high. So, a heavy airplane might require a longer runway or a higher takeoff speed.
Another method of flight is a rocket launch. This provides initial thrust and propels a spacecraft away from Earth. Astrodynamics is used to determine the motion of the spacecraft. Some of these objects stay in space indefinitely, disintegrating during atmospheric reentry, while others reach the lunar or planetary surface. Many human cultures have constructed flying objects, and some have reached the moon or planetary surfaces.
