Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and beginning April 20th, 2021 (Eastern Time) the Yahoo Answers website will be in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

Mike asked in Science & MathematicsPhysics · 7 years ago

What is the lift force on the airfoil due to the moving air?

The speed of air moving over the top of a thin airfoil, such as an airplane wing, is 50 m/s. The speed of air moving under the airfoil is 40 m/s. If the area of the surface is 30 m^2, what is the lift force on the airfoil due to the moving air.

Assume air has a density of 1.29 kg/m^3.

1 Answer

Relevance
  • 7 years ago

    Can't tell as we are not given the coefficient of lift Cl.

    But in general the lift force L = 1/2 rho Cl A V^2; where rho = 1.29 kg/m^3, A = 30 m^2, and V = 50 mps.

    When you don't know the value of a factor like Cl, do what we do in the real world and put in a range of values to see how critical that factor is to the final answer. For a jet, Cl is typically small as the velocity V is high. Of course, if you know the weight of the plane, you can actually solve for Cl = 2W/(rho A V^2) where W is the weight.

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.