I consider myself a
fairly intelligent person. That's why I was surprised when I read something completely contradictory to what I had been taught all my life in a Cracked Article (of all places
)
http://www.cracked.com/article_20669_6-ridiculous-science-myths-you-learned-in-kindergarten_p2.htmlMost of the article was pretty unsurprising to me except number 2. Up until this point if someone had asked me what causes a plane to lift into the air on takeoff I'd have described the Bernoulli principle; the idea that the faster air moving on top of the wing causes a low pressure system above and a high pressure system below, causing the plane to lift off the ground.
This principle is what I've been taught all my life and seemed like a very simple and reasonable explanation for why planes fly. I never questioned it until I read some of the articles that were linked.
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htmhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9035708/Cambridge-scientist-debunks-flying-myth.htmlThese articles basically state otherwise; that the Bernoulli principle is not a good description for the cause of lift, and instead, newton's third law of motion (for every action there's a equal and opposite reaction) is more of a factor. The downwash of air (caused by the angle of attack of the wing) and the deflection of that air puts an equal and opposite upwards force on the wing, causing the plane to lift.
Ik a lot of the people on these forums are very into science and math and a bit more intellectual than I to speak on matters of physics and engineering
that's why I wanted to know what you guys think.
I can't be the only one that unquestioningly subscribed to the idea that Bernoulli's principle was the soul cause of lift
I'm wondering if it's a common misconception that's taught in other parts of the world as well. It's what me and many other people are taught at a very young age (probably because of the simplicity of the explanation) and since I learned it at a young age I never questioned it.
I could be totally ignorant
but I was pretty surprised to think about lift in a more complex and scientific way.