Chapter 5 Dynamics & Theories of Flight

1. Introduction

The lift force, lifting force or simply lift is the sum of all the forces on a
body that force it to move perpendicular to the direction of airflow. Lift is a
complex concept that has taken scientists generations to unravel. Even
today, scientists continue to make new discoveries regarding how lift works.
Bernoulli’s Principle and Newton’s Third Law work together to explain lift.
Each of these theories is outlined below.

Figure 1 Bernoulli's Principle Figure 2 Newton's Third Law

2. Lift Production Theories:

Two theories have been advanced to explain what keeps an aircraft aloft
(in the air). One is Bernoulli’s theorem, which associate lift L with the area
of higher speed and lower pressure atop the wing. The other is the
Newtonian principle of action and reaction R, which explains lift force L as
an upward push on the wing from the moving air below. Each of these
theories is correct in its way, and neither one contradicts the other,
although proponents of each theory argue their viewpoints. Still, neither

1
theory by itself provides a complete explanation of lift, nor do both of them
together, because each leaves something out. A complete explanation must
account for all the forces and factors acting on the wing.

Unfortunately, many of the explanations are misleading and incorrect.

Theories on the generation of lift have become a source of great controversy
and a topic for heated arguments for many years.

3. Bernoulli's Theorem:
As applied to an aircraft wing-technically called an airfoil-Bernoulli’s
theorem attempts to explain lift as a consequence of the curved upper
surface of an airfoil, the technical name for an airplane wing. Because
of this curvature, the idea goes, air traveling across the top of the wing
moves faster than the air moving along the wing’s bottom surface, which
is flat. Bernoulli’s theorem says that the increased speed atop the wing
is associated with a region of lower pressure there, which is lift.

Figure 3 Lift Using Bernoulli's Principle

2
 4. Newton's Third Law:

The other theory of lift is based on Newton’s third law of motion, and it
states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. , so that a
downward force is met with an equal and opposite upward force. When an
airfoil bends air traveling across its surface downward, this action results in
an equal and opposite upward force, which is lift. The Newtonian account
applies to wings of any shape, curved or flat, symmetrical or not. It holds for
aircraft flying inverted or right-side up. The forces at work are also familiar
from ordinary experience—for example, when you stick your hand out of a
moving car and tilt it upward, the air is deflected downward, and your hand
rises. For these reasons, Newton’s third law is a more universal and
comprehensive explanation of lift than Bernoulli’s theorem.

Figure 4 Newton's Third Law

The Figure 5 show that flat plate wing applies downward force onto the flow,
thereby receiving upward force (Action-Reaction principle)
In other word the flow receives downward force from the planar wing and gets
deflected downward,

3
But:
1. Although Bernoulli s theorem is largely correct, there are several
reasons that the principle does not constitute a complete explanation of
lift. It is a fact of experience that air moves faster across a curved
surface, but the theorem alone does not explain why this is so or why
the higher velocity atop the wing brings lower pressure along with it,
And practically speaking, an airplane with wings that have a curved
upper surface-or even flat surfaces on top and bottom-is capable of
flying inverted, so long as the airfoil meets the oncoming wind at an
appropriate angle of attack.
2. But taken by itself, the principle of action and reaction also fails to
explain the lower pressure atop the wing, which exists in that region
irrespective of whether the airfoil is cambered. It is only when an
airplane lands and comes to a halt that the region of lower pressure atop
the wing disappears, returns to ambient pressure, and becomes the same
at both top and bottom. But as long as a plane is flying, that region of
lower pressure is an inescapable element of aerodynamic lift, and it must
be explained.

Biography of the two scientists:

1. Daniel Bernoulli: born in 8 February 1700 in Groningen, in the

Netherlands, and died in Basel, Switzerland 27 March 1782 was
a Swiss mathematician and physicist and was one of the many prominent

4
 mathematicians in the Bernoulli family from Basel. He is particularly
remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechanics,
especially fluid mechanics, and for his pioneering work
in probability and statistics. His name is commemorated in
the Bernoulli's principle, a particular example of the conservation of
energy, which describes the mathematics of the mechanism underlying
the operation of two important technologies of the 20th century:
the carburetor and the airplane wing.
2. Isaac Newton: born December 25, 1642 in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire,
England—died March 20, 1727 in London. English physicist and
mathematician, who was the culminating, figure of the Scientific
Revolution of the 17th century. In optics, his discovery of
the composition of white light integrated the phenomena of colours into
the science of light and laid the foundation for modern physical optics.
In mechanics, his three laws of motion, the basic principles of
modern physics, resulted in the formulation of the law of universal
gravitation.