Resistances to vehicle motion and need for a gearbox

Resistances to vehicle motion and need for a gearbox

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics, from Greek ἀήρ aer (air) + δυναμική (dynamics), is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a solid object, such as an airplane wing.

Aerodynamics is a sub-field of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, and many aspects of aerodynamics theory are common to these fields. The term aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with the difference being that "gas dynamics" applies to the study of the motion of all gases, not limited to air.

Modern aerodynamics only dates back to the seventeenth century, but aerodynamic forces have been harnessed by humans for thousands of years in sailboats and windmills, and images and stories of flight appear throughout recorded history, such as    the Ancient Greek legend    of Icarus and Daedalus. Fundamental concepts of continuum, drag, and pressure gradients, appear in the work of Aristotle and Archimedes.

Fundamental Concept

Understanding the motion of air around an object (often called a flow field) enables the calculation of forces and moments acting on the object. In many aerodynamics problems, the forces of interest are the fundamental forces of flight: lift, drag, thrust, and weight. Of these, lift and drag are aerodynamic forces, i.e. forces due to air flow over a solid body.

Calculation of these quantities is often founded upon the assumption that the flow field behaves as a continuum. Continuum flow fields are characterized by properties such as velocity, pressure, density and temperature, which may be functions of spatial position and time.

These properties may be directly or indirectly measured in aerodynamics experiments, or calculated from equations for the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in air flows. Density, velocity, and an additional property, viscosity, are used to classify flow fields.