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The
definitions provided are aimed at 4th-6th grade students who will
attend the Ames Exploration Encounter. Therefore, some definitions
may have
been simplified
so they relate more directly to the Encounter experience.
AERONAUTICS:
Basic aeronautics The
science of flight.
ailerons The
parts of the wing that control the airplane's roll (its left and
right tilting).
air
pressure The force of air spread over a surface; it
can be caused by the weight of the atmosphere above or by moving
through the atmosphere.
airfoil The
shape of a wing's cross-section (a slice across the wing), designed
to create as much lift and as little drag as possible.
atmosphere The
gases surrounding a planet.
drag The
force due to air that slows down the plane as it moves forward.
elevator The
part on the tail that controls the plane's pitch (its up and down
tilting).
force A
push or pull on an object.
gravity The
force of attraction between two objects (such as the force between
you and the Earth).
lift The
force that keeps an airplane up due to the flow of air over and
under the wings.
Mach
number A number that compares an airplane's speed to
the speed of sound. (At Mach 2, a plane goes twice the speed
of sound.)
rudder The
parts of the tail surfaces that control a plane's yaw (its left
and right turning).
thrust The
force of the engine which pushes a plane forward.
wind
tunnel A long tube or tunnel in which an airplane is
held still and air is blown over it. They are used to test airplane
designs by simulating flight while instruments measure lift and
drag.
AERONAUTICS:
Advanced
Bernoulli
(1700-1782) A Swiss mathematician who discovered the
principle that as air moves faster its pressure drops. Airplane
wings use this principle to make lift by having the air move
faster on top and slower underneath.
fuselage The
part of a plane which holds people and cargo and to which the wings
and tail are attached.
speed
of sound The speed at which sound waves travel; this
speed is 750 mph through air that is 59 F.
supersonic A
term that indicates motion faster than the speed of sound (more
than Mach 1 but less than Mach 5).
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