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Copyright 1999 by Randall Hopkins, all rights reserved. The author grants the use of these materials for nonprofit educational use only. Any other use of these materials requires written permission from the author.
Table of Contents
Chapter Title Preface 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Units and Unit Conversions Velocity and Acceleration Forces Mass and Weight Newtons Laws Satellite Orbits Introduction to Aircraft Flight Pressure Density The Standard Atmosphere and the Ideal Gas Law What Makes an Airplane Fly The Bernoulli Principle and How Wings Work Bernoullis Equation (optional) Application of Bernoullis Principle Real Aircraft References Index Page iii 2 8 11 14 16 21 32 33 35 37 46 59 62 64 69 71 72
Preface
AE120: Aerospace Science for Educators is a unique college course. Few offerings across the Colleges of Engineering and Arts & Sciences span such a broad range of topics, including aircraft flight, satellite orbits, construction of a scale model solar system from observable data, an introduction to practical astronomy which includes observing sessions, and an introduction to meteorology. Supporting course topics include Newtons laws of motion, the law of gravitation, unit conversions, definitions of pressure and density, the ideal gas law, forces, Bernoullis principle, and others. Field trips include a trip to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, astronomy sessions, a visit to the local airport to examine aircraft, and a visit to a local elementary school where AE120 students teach the fundamentals of Newtons Laws to the 4th grade. Instructors in AE120 do not lecture. Instead, the course is designed around cooperative learning. Students are grouped and work through problems daily; daily lessons are based on the learning cycle. Evidence strongly suggests that students comprehend more in this type of environment, rather than in a typical lecture setting, since their misconceptions are confronted during the daily science activities and experiments, forcing them to reconsider their understanding of basic science principles. Finding a textbook that encompassed all of these topics was impossible. Therefore, it became necessary for the instructors of the course to create workbooks specifically designed for the course content and pedagogical style. Objects in Motion is the result of four years of teaching AE120. The author hopes that the activities contained in this workbook will help students become more adept at science, and more interested in science, once they see that it is within their reach.
OBJECTS IN MOTION
Motion
You have spent several weeks now building a model of nearby space, complete with planet orbits to scale out to Mars. If you look down on the solar system disk that you made, you can imagine the planets moving in their orbits -- they move counterclockwise around the sun. It takes tiny Mercury only 88 days to complete one orbit, but it takes Pluto (which would be nearly two meters away from the sun on your disk!) 247 years to complete one orbit. But what keeps the planets moving in nearly perfect circles ? Why dont they just fly off into outer space ? And why does Mercury move around the sun so quickly ? How can an aircraft weighing 500,000 pounds manage to fly, and why does it have to be moving at a high speed ? How does the pilot control the direction of the aircraft ? In this unit, we will answer these questions. However, in order to proceed, you must understand units of measurements. Examples of units of measurement are miles per hour (mph), feet per second(ft/s), square yards (yd2), etc. The first few activities of this section of the course review the concepts of units, and give you practice in converting from one set of units to another, such as converting from miles to kilometers. This unit assumes that you are familiar with the metric and English systems of measurement. The following two pages are for reference during this part of the course. You will refer to these often for formulas for volume and for conversion factors used to change kilometers to miles, for example.
Motion
V = r 2 h
V=
1 3 r h 3
V = LWH
V=
4 3 r 3
THE METRIC (meter-kilogram-second) SYSTEM OF UNITS Base Units mass length time temperature kilogram meter second Kelvin kg m s K
(= degrees C + 273)
Derived Units (Nicknamesgiven to certain common combinations) force pressure length: volume: Newton Pascal N Pa 100 cm = 1 m
kg m s2 N kg or 2 m m s2
THE BRITISH (traditional) SYSTEM OF UNITS Base Units mass length time temperature slug foot second Rankine slug ft s o R
(= degrees F + 460)
Derived Units (Nicknamesgiven to certain common combinations) force pressure length: pound pound/square inch 5280 ft = 1 mile lb psi
slug ft s2 lb in 2
12 in = 1 ft 39.37 in = 1 meter
2.54 cm = 1 in
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multiply by 0.0929 0.000645 2,590,000 515 4.45 0.305 0.0254 1610 1850 0.001 14.6 101,000 6890 0.305 0.278 0.514 0.447 0.0283
LENGTH foot inch mile (U.S. statute) mile (nautical) MASS gram slug
PRESSURE atmosphere 2 lb/in (psi) SPEED foot/second kilometer/hour knot (nautical mi/hr) mile/hour (mph)
VOLUME 3 foot
How to use this chart. (1) Find the units that you are trying to convert from in the first column. (2) Find the units that you are trying to convert to in the middle column. (3) Multiply your number by the conversion factor in the third column. If the units that you are converting from are in the middle column and the units that you are converting to are in the first column, then divide by the conversion factor. Example. How many meters is 4 feet ? The conversion factor from foot to meter is 0.305, so the answer is 4 0.305 = 1.22 meters . Example. How many feet is 3 meters ? 3 0.305 = 9.84 feet .
* Adapted from: Wegener, What Makes Airplanes Fly ?, Springer-Verlag: New York, 1991.
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3. Determine the area of the classroom doorway or one of the windows. Express the area in metric units and in square feet (ft2). Remember: when you multiply numbers, you multiply the units also!
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5. Big Al weighs 2,000 pounds. In metric units, what is the force (in kN) he exerts on the Earth? (N is the symbol for Newton, a metric unit similar to the pound. The lowercase k in front of the N means kilo, or 1000 Newtons. You will find a conversion factor from pounds to Newtons on the conversion sheet on page 3.)
6. Lets pretend that Big Al can be modeled as a cylinder of radius 0.25 m with a height of 5 feet. (In other words, Big Al looks like a huge soda can.) How much space does he occupy (i.e., what is his volume) in cubic meters? Note that the units of distance in this problem are in both feet and meters.
Motion
Now that you have some experience working with unit systems and estimating measurements, it is time to put your skills to work in the eal r world. Answer the following questions with not only a numerical answer but also an explanation as to how you obtained the measurement. (For any calculations, please be sure to show all of your work!) The materials at your disposal for these activities are a bucket, a graduated cylinder (used for measuring liquid volume), water, and a rock. 7. Describe a procedure for determining the volume of your unknown object.
9. What is the volume of your unknown object in cubic meters ? Cubic inches ?
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For example, if it takes a car 2 hours to travel 100 miles, then the velocity of the car was 50 miles per hour (which can be written 50 mph or 50 miles/hr). Acceleration. An object accelerates when its velocity changes. Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity divided by how long it took to change the velocity, or ending velocity - starting velocity acceleration = time Usually in this course the starting velocity will be zero. For example, if a rocket leaves the launch pad and is moving at 12 m/s after 2 seconds, then its acceleration is 6 m/s2.
acceleration _________________________________
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Motion
2. If an airplane travels 150 miles in 30 minutes, how fast is the airplane moving in miles per hour and miles per minute ?
3. If an airplane flies at a constant velocity of 600 km/h, how many meters does the airplane travel in one minute? In one second?
4. If you drive to Birmingham at a constant speed of 80 mph, how many feet do you travel in one minute? In one second?
Motion
5. A rocket leaves the launch pad and accelerates upwards. After 2 seconds, the rocket is moving at 20 meters per second (20 m/s). Calculate the acceleration of the rocket.
6. A car accelerates from a stop sign. After 10 seconds, the car is moving 60 miles per hour. Calculate the acceleration of the car in ft/s2. (Hint: it is easier to convert the speed of the car to feet per second before calculating its acceleration.)
7. A rocket leaves the launch pad and accelerates upward. The acceleration is 10 m/s2. How fast will the rocket be moving 5 seconds after launch ?
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3. Forces
Chapter 3. Forces
When objects move, such as aircraft, automobiles, or planets, the path that they take through the air, over the ground, or around the sun is governed by Newtons Laws, of which there are three. These three fairly simple laws are very powerful tools in science and engineering. Before stating Newtons Laws, however, lets examine some terms frequently used. Force. Whenever you pull on a doorknob, you are exerting a force on the door. When you stand, you are exerting a force on the floor. Jet engines exert a force on the aircraft, pushing it forward. When you throw a baseball, you exert a force on the ball while it is in your hand, causing the ball to accelerate. Forces also have direction. Some forces push horizontally, such as when you slide furniture across the floor. Some forces push vertically, such as when you lift a sack of groceries out of the trunk of your car. Rocket engines push the Space Shuttle straight up from the launch pad. Scientists and engineers draw arrows on figures and sketches to show where the forces are and in which direction they push or pull. For example, if a person is using a rope to pull on a wagon, as shown in Figure 3-1(a), then we can replace the rope with an arrow showing the direction of the force that the rope exerts on the wagon, as shown in Figure 3-1(b).
(a)
(b)
Figure 3-1. The force that the person exerts on the wagon by pulling on the rope can be replaced in a diagram by a single arrow representing that force.
Certain forces are so common that they are given special names. For example, everything here on earth has weight, which is a force due to the gravitational attraction of the object to the earth. The earth is pulling on you right now, causing you to have weight. Every object has mass, which is a
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3. Forces
measure of how much matter the object contains. A block of steel has more mass than a block of wood the same size, and we can easily feel this because the earth pulls more strongly on the block of steel, making it weigh more. The important thing to remember right now is that weight always points straight down toward the center of the earth (for objects on or near the earth). Therefore, we can add another arrow to our sketch of the wagon, as shown in Figure 3-2. We will label this arrow with a to symbolize weight. W
W Figure 3-2. The wagon in the previous figure with an arrow for weight added to the sketch.
We have one more force to consider, however. The wagon is touching the ground, so the ground has to push back on the wagon to support it. This may seem strange at first, but right now the desk in which you are sitting is pushing back on you with a force equivalent to your weight. If you dont believe this, then imagine someone setting a 50 pound weight on your stomach. You would have to push back to keep your stomach from caving in. We dont have a special name for this force, but we can draw it as shown in Figure 33.
W Figure 3-3. The wagon in the previous figure with arrows showing the force that the ground exerts on the wagon.
One final note before we move on. We could have used two smaller arrows to show the weight of the wagon, and placed one of these arrows at each wheel, since that is where the weight of the wagon acts on the ground.
Of course, there are a few other forces so common that we give them special names as well, such as thrust, lift, and drag, when talking about aircraft. The direction that these forces act, as well as weight, is shown in Figure 3-4. Drag always opposes the motion of the object. You feel drag when you try to walk quickly in waist-deep Lift water. Lift is a force created by the wings, Thrust overcoming weight and Drag keeping the airplane in the air. Thrust is the force that the engines exert on the Weight airplane, propelling it Figure 3-4. The Forces on an Aircraft in Flight.
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Motion
3. Forces
forward through the air. Thrust is the opposite of drag, such as if someone were pushing you from behind as you tried to walk quickly through waistdeep water. In summary, then we see that forces can have different names: Weight: the force an object exerts due to gravity; Thrust: the force moving or propelling an object; Lift: the force which keeps an object with wings in the air; Drag: the force that opposes the motion of an object.
The Space Shuttle is sitting on the launch pad with the engines off.
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mass weight
If you look on page 4 you will see conversion factors for Newtons and pounds (units of force) and slugs and kilograms (units of mass).
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Example: How much does a 2 kilogram bottle of ketchup weigh ? W = mg = 2 kg 9.8 m/s = 19.6 kgm/s = 19.6 N (19.6 Newtons).
2 2
We can also convert the above weight to pounds by using the conversion factor on page 4:
Example: How many pounds is 19.6 N ? Ans: 19.6 4.45 = 4.40 lb.
replace them with N. The Newton is a nickname for these units, making it easier to write. See page 3 for a complete list of nicknames in the metric system.
3. How many pounds does the person in the problem above weigh ?
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5. Newtons Laws
(a) The forces on the ball are unbalanced here, so the ball accelerates to the right.
(b) If the two people push with the same force, then the forces on the ball are balanced here, so the ball does not move.
Newtons Second Law Newtons second law states that the sum of all forces acting upon a body is equal to the bodys mass times its acceleration. In equation form this is: F = ma where F represents the sum of all the forces, m represents mass, and a represents acceleration. The forces that you add together are the forces that are parallel to the direction of motion. For example, in Figure 5-1 above, we would not include weight when adding the forces since weight points straight
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5. Newtons Laws
down at the center of the earth, which is not the direction that the ball is going to be moving. However, the force that the person is exerting on the ball would be important. In Figure 5-1(a), there is only one person and one force that affects the balls rolling across the floor. In Figure 5-1(b), there are two people, and two forces, that must be added together. Again, weight is not included in he sum of the forces, or F,because weight does not point in t the direction that the ball will be moving. However, since the two people are pushing in opposite directions, then one of the forces will be considered positive and the other negative. In other words, we would subtract them, and if they are equal in size, then they would add up to be 0, meaning that they are balanced and the ball is not going to accelerate. Newtons Third Law Newtons third law states that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. If you push on a wall, the wall pushes back. The ball in Figure 5-1(a) pushes back on the person, on page 13 the launch pad pushes back on the Space Shuttle with a force equal but opposite in direction to the shuttles weight, and on page 12 the ground pushes back on the wagon with a force equal but opposite in direction to the wagons weight.
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5. Newtons Laws
2. The acceleration due to gravity on the Earth is 9.8 m/s2. On the moon it is 1.6 m/s2 and on Jupiter it is 3,000 m/s2. Big Als mass is 90 kg. (a) On what planet would he weight the most? The least? Why? (b) Calculate Big Als weight on the Earth.
3. A rocket sits on the launch pad. Its mass is 50,000 kg. (a) Show what forces, if any, are acting on the rocket. (b) If there are forces acting, are they balanced or unbalanced? (c) If there are forces acting, calculate their magnitudes (how big are they?).
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5. Newtons Laws
4. Now our rocket wants to make its way into space. As it leaves the launch pad it travels straight up. Ten seconds after launch, the rockets velocity needs to be 120 m/s. (a) Show what forces, if any, are acting on the rocket. (b) If there are forces acting, are they balanced or unbalanced? (c) If there are forces acting, calculate their magnitudes.
5. Calculate the acceleration of the rocket-powered car when the engines fire. The car weighs 49,000 N and has three rocket engines, each producing 20,000 N of thrust. (Hint: first get the mass of the car since you will need this in Newtons second law.)
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5. Newtons Laws
6. The rocket in the sketch weighs 49,000 Newtons and the thrust of the engines is 124,00 Newtons. (a) Sketch the forces acting on the rocket. (Note: it no longer is touching the launch pad.) (b) Determine the rockets acceleration as it leaves the launch pad.
7. How much thrust must the engines produce if the rocket in the sketch above is to hover in the air. In other words, the rocket is not moving or accelerating.
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6. Satellite Orbits
Most comets have highly elliptical orbits. The mathematics describing these orbits is fairly complex.
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6. Satellite Orbits
F = ma
Now, in order to derive the orbit equation, we need to know two things about the equation for Newtons Second Law: (1), what is the force, F, that the satellite feels when it is in orbit around a star or planet, and (2), what is the acceleration of the satellite when in orbit ?
The force that a satellite feels is another one of Mr. Newtons discoveries. In addition to his three laws of motion, he also formulated his Universal Law of Gravitation, which is stated in equation form below. This equation tells us the force that the satellite feels depends on the mass of the satellite (lower case m), the mass of the object that it is orbiting (upper case M), the distance between the satellite and the center of the object that it is orbiting (r), and some number G which Newton called the universal gravitation constant. The equation is: Force due to gravity:
Just in case you are not impressed with Mr. Newton, perhaps you should hear the rest of the story. Isaac Newton left college without completing his degree and returned home for two years. In that time, he formulated his laws of motion and the universal law of gravitation. He returned to college with a new understanding of the world around him. One of his professors was so impressed, he resigned his position so that Newton could have it ! How often do you think that happens ?
F=
GMm r2
G is the universal gravitational constant M is the mass of the object that the satellite is orbiting m is the mass of the satellite r is the distance from the center of the object to the satellite
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6. Satellite Orbits
Now lets look at the acceleration that the satellite feels when moving in a circular orbit. Anything moving in a circular path feels an acceleration toward the center of the circle. A satellite moving in a circular orbit can be visualized as having a rope attached to it with the other end anchored in the center of the planet or star that the satellite is orbiting. The tension of the rope would be the force that the satellite feels. Before we go further, we need to redefine the term acceleration. In Chapter 2 we defined acceleration as a change in velocity over time (in other words, speeding up or slowing down). However, that is not the only type of acceleration; there is another. Even if your speed is constant, you accelerate if you change direction. Go around a sharp curve in a car and you are thrown to the side, up against the door. That is a form of acceleration. A popular amusement park ride is a large spinning wheel in which people stand erect facing the center of the wheel. When the wheel is spinning fast enough, the floor under each person drops down, but the people do not fall through the floor. They are stuck against the wall because of the acceleration from the spinning motion pushes them against the wall; the feeling is the same as when you accelerate strongly in a straight line in a car - you feel a push in the back. Therefore, we refine our definition of acceleration on page 8 to include the following: Acceleration is a change in speed or a change in direction. Anything moving in a circular (or curved) path is accelerating. We are not going to worry about calculating the acceleration of an object moving in a curved path. We only need to know a relationship for acceleration along a curved path so that we can derive the orbit equation. What is the satellites acceleration when moving in a circular orbit ?
Anything moving in a circular path has centripetal acceleration, such as a ball being slung around on the end of a rope.
Centripetal acceleration:
V2 a= r
V is the velocity of the satellite r is the radius of the satellites circular orbit You can easily demonstrate centripetal acceleration by tying a ball to the end of a rope and slinging it around in a circle. The faster the ball moves, the harder you have to hold on to the other end of the rope. The faster the ball moves, the greater the centripetal acceleration.
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6. Satellite Orbits
V2 r
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6. Satellite Orbits
In your equation, G is the universal gravitational constant and M is the mass of the large object that the satellite is moving around. While it is not easy to find these numbers (how would you find the mass of the earth, for example!), G and M together can be found quite accurately. For our purposes, lets just give G and M multiplied together a new name - U. Therefore, your equation begins to look fairly simple:
Most of the time, we will already know the value of U. Around the earth, U is always 398,600 km3/s2.
V=
U r
Most of the time, we will know the value of U. Around the earth, U will always be 398,600 km3/s2. Those are some strange units, so lets make sure that they work in the orbit equation.
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6. Satellite Orbits
The space shuttle orbits the earth about 200 km above the surface. But the r in our equation is the distance from the satellite to Dashed line is shuttles orbit. the center of earth. The radius of the Earth is 6380 km, so the radius of our orbit is 6580 km. What will our orbit velocity need to be in kilometers per second ? miles per hour ? (ans: 7.78 km/s)
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6. Satellite Orbits
Activity 4. How Long Does it Take the Space Shuttle to Orbit the Earth Once ?
Now that we know the velocity required to enter orbit 200 kilometers above the Earth, lets find out how long (in minutes) it takes to complete one orbit. (Hint: velocity is distance divided by time and the circumference of a circle is 2r.)
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6. Satellite Orbits
(b) Using your velocity that you found in (a), what is the value of U for the earth ? Does your answer look familiar ?
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6. Satellite Orbits
Activity 6. Applying the Orbit Equation to Orbits Around Other Planets, Moons, and the Sun
The equation that we used to calculate the velocity for a spacecraft orbiting the earth can also be used for calculations of any two bodies in space, such as the earth and the sun, or Mercury and the sun. (a) Assume that we know that the earth takes 365.25 days to completely orbit the sun, and that the earth is 149,500,000 km away from the sun. (Remember how far an astronomical unit is ?) How fast does the earth move, in kilometers per second, in its orbit ? Convert your final answer to miles per hour.
(b) Using your velocity that you found in (a), what is the value of U for an orbit around the sun ? (Its going to be a huge number!)
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6. Satellite Orbits
How does the speed of the rocket change over time ? Why ?
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6. Satellite Orbits
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8. Pressure
Chapter 8. Pressure
Pressure is not a force, but forces cause pressure. We have already seen how to calculate weight, which is the force that you exert on the floor due to the earths gravity. When you stand, all of your weight is being concentrated where your feet contact the floor. Since the definition of pressure is Pressure = then the pressure under your feet is Pressure you exert on the floor = How much you weigh The area of the soles of your shoes Force Area
(b) What is the name of the force that you are feeling in you hand (thrust, weight, lift, etc.)
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8. Pressure
(d) Suppose that the book weighs 2 pounds (8.9 Newtons). When the book is resting flat in your hand, the weight is spread out over about 12 in2 (77.4 cm2). Calculate the pressure on your hand in English and metric units.
(e) When the book is resting on the end of the pencil, the entire weight of the book is concentrated on an area of about 0.0625 in2 (0.403 cm2). Calculate the pressure on your hand in English and metric units.
Right now in this room, the pressure is probably very close to 14.7 psi. This means that on one square inch of your body, there is a force of 14.7 pounds pushing in! On one square foot of your body, the force is 2116 pounds! Why dont you feel it?
__________________________ * A newton per square meter is given a ickname,the Pascal. In the metric system, we n usually just use the word Pascal, abbreviated as Pa, to denote pressure, or kiloPascal, abbreviated kPa. A kiloPascal is 1000 Pascals, so 100,000 Pa is the same as 100 kPa.
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9. Density
Chapter 9. Density
Lead is heavy; cork is not. Lead sinks, but cork floats. A block of lead would greatly outweigh a block of cork the same size. These two materials have different densities. The definition of density is density = mass of the object volume of the object
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9. Density
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Chapter 10. The Standard Atmosphere and the Ideal Gas Law
Since aircraft fly in the earths atmosphere, it is important that we become familiar with three important atmospheric properties: temperature, density, and pressure. These three properties change with altitude. We are familiar with the snow-capped peaks of tall mountains, even in summer. Obviously the temperature decreases with increasing altitude, but just how cold does it get? Commercial jets are equipped with pressurized cabins because the air is too thin at high altitudes for humans to breathe and remain alert. Just how high can a person go and still be able to breathe normally? We begin by investigating what is called the standard atmosphere, which is the state of the atmosphere on an average, or typical, day over the middle latitudes, such as the U.S. and Europe. The exercises below also provide some practice in making and using graphs.
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2. What happens to atmospheric temperature at an altitude greater than 20 km? Why does this happen?
Table of atmospheric properties versus altitude. Altitude (km) 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 Altitude (ft) 0 6,562 13,124 19,686 26,248 32,810 39,372 45,934 52,496 59,058 65,620 72,182 78,744 85,306 91,868 98,430 Temp. (K*) 288 275 266 249 236 223 217 217 217 217 217 218 220 222 224 226 Temp. (C) 15 2 -7 -24 -37 -50 -56 -56 -56 -56 -56 -55 -53 -51 -49 -47 Temp. (F) 59 36 19 -11 -35 -58 -67 -67 -67 -67 -67 -67 -63 -60 -56 -53 Pressure (kPa) 101.3 79.5 62.3 47.2 35.7 26.5 19.4 14.1 10.3 7.57 5.53 4.05 2.97 2.19 1.62 1.20 Density (kg/m3) 1.23 1.01 0.816 0.660 0.526 0.414 0.312 0.228 0.167 0.122 0.0891 0.0650 0.0470 0.0343 0.0250 0.0180
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Step 3. Using the data in the standard atmosphere table, you are to construct a new table. First, calculate a new parameter which we will call "R" using the following equation (in other words, solve it for : R)
R is another one of those constants, like U for an orbit. T is temperature, in Kelvins*, not oC. (rho) stands for density, in kg/m3
P=RT
P stands for pressure, in Pascals
Using pressure in Pascals (see p.34), density in kg/m3, and temperature in Kelvin (see the footnote below) from the table on the previous page, fill in the table below with your computed "R" values. Alt (km) 0 4 8 12 20 30 4. What conclusion can you draw about the parameter "R?" R
____________________ *The Kelvin temperature scale is just another way to measure temperature, like Fahrenheit or Celsius. The special property of the Kelvin scale is that no temperature will be negative, no matter how cold. The coldest possible temperature, which is -273oC, is defined as 0 K (Kelvins), or absolute zero. Because of this, Celsius and Kelvin are always related by: oC + 273 = Kelvin temperature.
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The equation on page 39 is called the ideal gas equation. It is restated here for convenience: P=RT Again, P is the pressure in units of Pascals, is the density in kg/m3, T is the temperature in Kelvins, and R (the gas constant) has a value of R = 287 N m kg K
Look back at the table on page 38. If pressure and temperature change, then the density of the air will change. If density and pressure change, then temperature of the air will change. In fact, if anything changes we can use the ideal gas law to calculate the new values.
Example. Calculate the density of the air in a car tire. The pressure in a typical tire is 300 0 kPa. The temperature of the air in the tire is 20 C. Solution. We are given temperature and pressure, and want to find density. These three quantities are related by the ideal gas law, P = RT. First, we solve that equation for density:
P RT
Remembering that temperature must be in Kelvins, 20 C + 273 = 293 K. We are also given pressure in kiloPascals, so the pressure we will use is 300,000 Pascals. Now we can put in the numbers.
The units all cancel except kg/m , which are the correct units for density. You can see this by 2 substituting N/m for Pascal and canceling all that you can. Work it out below.
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Here is an easy way to figure out what units you are getting from the ideal gas law without having to do all of those unit cancellations. In the circle below are the units for density, pressure, and temperature. If two of the numbers that you put into the ideal gas equation have the units listed below, then the answer will be in the units of what is left over.
pressure in Pascals
temperature in Kelvins
density in kg/m3
In the example on the previous page, we put pressure in Pascals and temperature in Kelvins into the equation. The figure above tells us that the units of density that we get out of the equation are kg/m3. It is still a good idea, however, to check your units until you have practiced enough to be confident that you are doing things right. You must also make certain that you have done the algebra correctly. Below are several forms of the ideal gas equation. P = RT
P RT
T=
P R
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1. On a typical spring day, the outside temperature is 15 0C and the atmospheric pressure is 101.3 kPa. What is the density of the air (in kg/m3) under these conditions?
2. While flying to Colorado for a week of skiing the pilot announces that you are flying at a velocity of 470 knots at an altitude of 35,000 feet. First, as a review of previous work, determine the velocity of the airplane in km/h, ft/s, and mi/h. Then determine the temperature and pressure of the air outside your window seat. Assume that it is a typical day over the U.S.
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3. When returning from Colorado, your airplane flies at an altitude of 12 km. The cabin is pressurized to the equivalent of an altitude of 2 km. The window next to your seat has an area of 0.1 m2. Compute the force exerted on the window in Newtons and give its direction (into the plane or out of the plane). What will the force be in pounds?
4. Is a golf ball more dense or less dense than air ? To answer this question, you need to calculate the density of air and the density of a golf ball. Lets assume that the air temperature and pressure are 15 0C and 101.3 kPa. The mass of a typical golf ball is 49 grams and its diameter is 42.672 millimeters. (You will need to express the density of both the air and the ball in the same units.)
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5. A large tank that has a volume of 10 cubic meters is used to store high pressure air for operating a supersonic wind tunnel. If the air pressure and temperature inside the tank are 20 atmospheres (1 atmosphere = 101.3 kPa) and 300 K, respectively, what is the mass of air in the tank?
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e) If the earth was the size of the globe at the front of the class, how thick would its atmosphere be ? (work it out below) ____________________ cm. What object is of comparable thickness ? _______________________
f) Looking at the photograph, does the atmosphere appear to get thicker, thinner, or stay the same as altitude increases ? ___________________ Why ?
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What part of the aircraft do you think is responsible for keeping it in the air ?
What is it that this part of the aircraft does that keeps the airplane in the air ?
Being able to use math to calculate the forces on an aircraft gives engineers a valuable tool to use in aircraft design. Can you speculate on why math would be so important ? Why couldnt an aircraft designer just build an aircraft from scratch without the use of any mathematics ?
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pencil
In the space to the left below, draw arrows representing the pressure acting on the paper before you began blowing. In the space to the right, draw arrows representing the pressure acting on the paper while you were blowing.
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LIFT
By now you have probably figured out that it is the wing that enables aircraft to fly. Nature provides many examples -- birds, insects, even giant manta rays, all having something that resembles wings. But why do wings enable flight ? Wings generate lift, a force that overcomes the weight of the bird or aircraft or insect, and enable it to fly. But how do wings work ? Do wings have a particular shape, and can their shapes change while the bird or aircraft is flying ? You probably have seen slow-motion video of birds flying and landing. Do they change the shape of their wings when landing ?
WEIGHT
Activity 4. Further investigation of the relationship between air pressure and air speed.
Materials: For this experiment, you will need a soda straw and a cup about 3/4 full of water Procedure: Fill the cup about 3/4 full of water. (A little food coloring in the water makes the results even more visible.) Cut the soda straw in half. Immerse one half of the straw in the water as shown. While being sure to hold the other straw at a 90-degree angle, blow hard through it. You want the air to pass over the end of the straw that is in the water, not down into it. Question: What happened ? Why did this happen ? Focus on the forces on the water in the straw.
air
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Instruments. After you arrive at the wind tunnel, your instructor will point out a device typically used in measuring pressure, a liquid filled tube called a manometer. We have a shaped tube filled with colored U water. If the pressure on one side of the The water manometer tube is lower than the pressure on the other side, the water level will be higher on that side. Procedure: STEP 1. Your instructor will use a straw to blow across the top of one of the openings of the manometer, similar to Activity 4 on the previous page. Sketch the water level in the diagram below.
Question: Why did the water level change ? Focus on the forces acting on the water.
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STEP 2. Now your instructor will use a straw to blow directly into one of the openings to the manometer. Sketch the water level in the diagram below.
Question: Why did the water level change ? Focus on the forces acting on the water.
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Each tube on the wing is connected to one of the tubes on the manometer.
Procedure. STEP 1. For this step, the airspeed in the tunnel should be zero. Note the oil levels in the tubes on the manometer that are connected to the wing. They should look similar to the diagram above. There is an oil reservoir on the back side of the manometer (have the instructor point it out), so this manometer is similar to the shaped manometer of Activity 5. USTEP 2. Now the instructor will start the tunnel. For this step, we will set the tunnel speed to 50% of its maximum. Watch the level of the oil in the tubes.
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Question. What happens to the oil levels ? Sketch the oil levels in the figure above. Why did the oil level change ? How is this related to Activities 4 and 5 ? How is this related to lift ?
Activity 7 (Demonstration). How Speed Affects the Pressure Acting on the Wing
Materials: For this experiment, you will need to visit the University of Alabama Low Speed Wind Tunnel located downstairs. Instruments. Same as Activity 6. Procedure. Aircraft do not just float into the air from rest. In order to take off, they first increase their speed to some minimum value. Lets see why. STEP 1. For this step, the airspeed in the tunnel should be initially set to 50% maximum. Note the oil levels in the tubes on the manometer that are connected to the wing. They should look similar to the oil levels that you drew in Activity 6. Sketch them again in the figure below.
Each tube on the wing is connected to one of the tubes on the manometer.
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STEP 2. Now the instructor will increase the airspeed in the tunnel to 80% of its maximum. Watch the oil levels as the speed increases. Question. What happens to the oil levels at the higher speed ? Sketch the oil levels in the figure above. What can you say about the relation between pressure and velocity ?
Question. How does the lift change as the aircraft increases its speed ?
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Note the oil levels in the manometer. Sketch them in the figure at the bottom of this page. STEP 2. Now the instructor will change the angle of attack of the wing to about what it is in the figure to the left. At this point during takeair off, the aircrafts nose is pointed upward, but the aircraft is still rolling down the air runway. Note the oil levels in the manometer. Sketch them in Both sketches are of an aircraft moving down the runway. In the top the figure sketch, the angle of attack of the wing is zero. In the bottom sketch, even though the aircraft is still moving along the ground, the angle of below.
attack is not zero. The effect that this has on the pressure on the wing is illustrated in this activity.
Each tube on the wing is connected to one of the tubes on the manometer.
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Question. What happened to the oil levels when the angle of attack was increased ? What can you say about the pressure on the top of the wing as the angle of attack increased ? How is this related to lift ?
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Question: Which part points into the wind, the sharp edge or the rounded edge ?
Question: Do all of the airfoil shapes have some features in common ? What are these features ?
Question: Can you speculate as to why the airfoil is shaped the way it is ?
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1. Consider a wing flying in the air with a velocity of 75 m/sec. Lets assume, to make the math simpler, that the wing can be modeled as a rectangular flat plate 1 meter by 5 meters. The pressure on the top of the wing is 98.5 kPa and the pressure on the bottom of the wing is 101.3 kPa. The density of the 3 air is 1.23 kg/m . a) Sketch the wing, clearly showing the forces due to pressure acting on it; b) Calculate the upward (lift) force felt by the wing; c) Determine the maximum weight the wing could have if it is to fly.
2. An interesting thing happens when some quantities associated with wings are arranged in a certain way. Find the units of the following combination by plugging in the units for each variable and canceling as many units as you can. Lift Force
1 2
= CL
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Arrows show the direction the air is moving. Side view of the wing showing how the speed of the air changes as it moves over the top and bottom of the wing. The longer the arrow the faster the air.
The shape of most aircraft wings causes the speed of the air to increase over the top of the wing, while either keeping the speed the same or actually decreasing its speed over the bottom. Therefore, the high speed air on top results in low pressure on top, while the pressure on
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bottom may actually increase if the air is slowed down. Low pressure on top and normal or high pressure on bottom creates a net force pushing the aircraft up into the air. This force is called lift, and it balances the weight of the aircraft while flying level. It must be emphasized that it is what happens on top of the wing that is really important. The low pressure on top is mainly responsible for creating the lift. The small (if any) increase in pressure on the bottom of the wing is not a major contribution to lift. Therefore, the aircraft really gets sucked upwards into the air. But why does the air move faster over the top of the wing than over the bottom ? This is best answered with two photographs. The first figure below shows an airfoil sitting in flowing water with some sawdust floating in it. The water is flowing from the left to the right. Note the path that the sawdust takes. It appears as though water is actually pulled over the top of the wing. If you look closely, the water in front of the airfoils nose does not keep going straight until it hits the airfoils surface, but is deflected upwards and pulled over the top ! The water could be replaced with air, and the sawdust with smoke. It would look the same.
wind direction
Adapted from Prandtl and Tietjens, Applied Hydro- and Aeromechanics. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1934.
An interesting analogy to this is illustrated in the next figure, which shows a rotating (or spinning) cylinder in the same stream of water that the airfoil was in above. Note how the water, once again, is pulled over the top of the cylinder. The water is moving from left to right and the cylinder is rotating clockwise. Again, the water could be replaced with air and the sawdust with smoke trails; the picture would look the same.
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Now, think back to the relation between velocity and static pressure. When the water encounters the rotating cylinder, some of it is pulled over the top and is getting pulled along by the motion of the cylinder. The same effect would be if, while you were walking, someone in a car grabbed you and pulled you along for a few yards. This means the velocity of the water increases, which means that the pressure decreases ! So the pressure on top of the cylinder is low. On the bottom, the water is moving against the motion of the cylinder, so the waters velocity decreases, and the pressure increases. So the pressure on the bottom of the cylinder is high. Low pressure on top and high pressure on bottom generates lift. Replace the water with air and the same thing happens.
wind direction
The airfoil does not spin, of course, but the shape is extremely important. The curved top surface and the sharp rear edge cause more air to be pulled over round nose the top and the air velocity to increase, sharp rear edge resulting in relatively low pressure on top. If the Here are the characteristics of an airfoil shape that enable flight. pressure is lower on top, then the wing will create lift, a net upward force that overcomes the weight of the aircraft.
slightly curved top
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where is the density of the air and V is the speed of the air. This means that the equation above page can be written as Total pressure = Static pressure + 1 V 2 2
This equation is called Bernoullis equation. The metric units of every term in the equation are Pascals. We can show that the units of dynamic pressure are also Pascals.
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units of
1 kg m kg m 2 kg m N V 2 = 3 = 3 2 = 2 2 = 2 = Pascal m s 2 m s m s m
2
Static pressure is measured by letting the air move across the opening of a tube connected to a manometer. Total pressure is measured by letting the moving air ram directly into a tube that is connected to the manometer. If we let one tube connected to the manometer measure static pressure and the other end measure total pressure, then the manometer is measuring the difference between the two, or dynamic pressure.
measuring static pressure
soda straw air measuring total pressure The difference in the water levels is the difference between total and static pressure, which is directly related to the speed of the air. The larger the difference, the faster the air must be moving.
The difference in the water level on both sides of the manometer increases as the speed of the air increases. One opening is measuring static pressure while the other is measuring total pressure. The difference in the water height between the two sides is related to dynamic pressure. We could put a scale on the tubes stating that if the water difference is a certain amount, then the aircraft is traveling at 100 mph, and so on. Pilots would rather have a dial much like a cars speedometer rather than have to watch a column of water, so instead of water aircraft have a needle linked to a device that reads the difference between the static and total pressures. This device is actually called an airspeed indicator by pilots. An old barometer that uses an air bladder is a good example of how the needle of the speedometer on the airspeed indicator works. Have your instructor demonstrate. If you examine an aircraft closely, you can see the tube opening used to measure the total pressure, which is usually located underneath the front of the wing, and the tube opening used to measure static pressure, which is usually located somewhere on the side of the aircrafts body (fuselage).
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(c) why top spin on a tennis ball causes it to drop quickly once it gets over the net.
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What part of the helicopter is responsible for lift ? How does this part work ? Are there any low pressure areas ? Where are they ?
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Sketch the wings clearly showing the location of the ailerons and the flaps.
Sketch the tail section of the plane clearly showing the location of the rudder and the elevators.
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References
Kepler, Johannes, Astronomia Nova, 1609. Kepler, Johannes, Harmonice Mundi, 1619. Newton, Isaac, Principia, 1687. Prandtl and Tietjens, Applied Hydro- and Aeromechanics. McGraw-Hill: New York, 1934. Shevell, Fundamentals of Flight, Prentice Hall: 1989. Wegener, What Makes Airplanes Fly?, Springer-Verlag: New York, 1991.
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Index
Acceleration, calculating, 10 centripetal, 23 definition of, 8, 23 due to gravity (g), 14 Aircraft, airspeed indicator, 63 controls, ailerons, 70 elevators, 70 flaps, 70 rudder, 70 forces on, 12, 46 wing, angle of attack, 55 pressure on, 58, 59, 60 shape, 46, 52, 56, 60 Airfoil, 56 see also Aircraft, wing, shape Angle of Attack, see Aircraft, wing Atmosphere, see Standard atmosphere Bernoullis principle, 59 Density, definition, 35 units of, 35 Forces, 11 adding, 16,17 drag, 12, 13 due to pressure, 33 lift, 12, 13 sketching using arrows, 13 thrust, 12, 13 weight, 11, 13 see also Weight and Mass g, see Acceleration, due to gravity Gas Law, see Ideal Gas Law Geosynchronous, 31 Ideal Gas Law, 39, 40 values for R, 40 Lift, see Aircraft, wing, pressure on Kelvin temperature scale, 39 Manometer, 50 Mass, 11, 14, 15 relation to weight, 14, 15 Newton, as a unit of force, 14, 15 Newtons Laws of Motion, 16, 17, 22 Newtons Universal Law of Gravitation, 22 Orbit equation, 25 Orbits, 21 acceleration in orbit, 23 circular, 21 elliptical, 21 forces in orbit, 22, 30 Ozone, 38 Pascal, see Pressure, units of Pressure, definition, 33 units of, 3, 34 R, see Ideal Gas Law
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Standard atmosphere, 37 table of values, 38 thickness of, 44 U (values of for the orbit equation), earth, 25 Units conversion table, 4 English system, 3 metric system, 3 of common quantities, 8, 17 Velocity calculating, 9, 10 definition of, 8
Volume, 5, 6, 7 formulas, 3 Weight, 11,13 calculating, 13, 14, 15 definition of, 14 see also Mass Wing, see Aircraft
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