• Question: How do Planes Stay Up?

    Asked by bubulis to Aggelos, Andrew, Eileen, Naomi, Shane on 14 Nov 2012.
    • Photo: Shane Bergin

      Shane Bergin answered on 14 Nov 2012:

      classic question. planes stay in the air due to a phenomenon known as ‘lift’. air rushes over and under the wing. Because of the shape of the wing, it takes longer for the air traveling over the wing to reach the other side than the air traveling below the wing. this causes a pressure difference on either side of the wing. the force acts in an upward direction keeping the plane in the air.

    • Photo: Andrew Jackson

      Andrew Jackson answered on 14 Nov 2012:

      I love flying things, and shane’s answer always amazes me everytime i think about it. If the air takes longer to go over the top of the wing, then the tiny air molecules get further apart from each other so they are less dense than the molecules on the underside of the wing. The same thing happens wehn you heat air in a hot air balloon – the molecules of air get more energetic and bounce off each other more and move apart form each other becoming less dense than the air outside the balloon. This creates the pressure difference Shane mentions and up goes the wing (or the balloon) and with it the plane.

    • Photo: Eileen Diskin

      Eileen Diskin answered on 15 Nov 2012:

      With the help of science (and pilots! haha).

      As Shane and Andrew explain, its all about lift and differences between the air flowing above and below the wing. I think its really cool how that works!

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