Observe: Air in Motion

Bernoulli’s Principle explains why a bird or airplane wing works to produce lift.  The curved edge of the wing allows air to move faster over the wing than under it.  In turn, this produces a region of high pressure under the wing, which causes the wing to lift.  The amount of lift can be enhanced further by the angle of attack to allow more air to push under the surface of the wing.

Changes in air pressure occur because of the way that air particles flow as they move over a surface and as they encounter an obstacle.  As the particles move faster or slower, the amount of pressure they produce changes.  You may be able to see this phenomenon in action in the next activity, if the website works. If not, please just move on to the next page (with our apologies!).

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