Newton’s Laws of Motion in Modern Aircrafts

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The world today requires multiple ways of transport, especially over the Atlantic Ocean. During and before the 1900’s, transatlantic travels were very common and are mainly carried out via boats. However, due to the revolutionary change by the Wright brothers, in 1903, the creation of the propeller planes made shorter travel time between one country to another possible. As technology develops, the transportation of cargo and passengers via airplanes became easier and more efficient with the replacement of jet engines in July 16, 1949, by the famous inventor Frank Whittle (FindtheData, n.d.). The principles behind how a jet-engine powered aircraft works associate with many laws of physics, from Newton’s Law of Inertia to the Third Law of Motion. These laws are also applicable to the aerofoil and the engines aerodynamically, in particular with the four forces: lift, drag, weight and thrust which allows an aircraft to maneuver across the skies.
Firstly, back in 1687, Sir Isaac Newton discovered three different laws of motion. (Pople, S. 2010) If there is no external force action upon an object, it will, if stationary, remain stationary, however, if moving, it will remain in this state at a steady speed within a straight line. This is also known as the law of inertia. This law applies during a flight when the thrust and drag are equal, the aircraft will hold a steady speed tracking in a straight line. If the thrust increases, the drag and the airspeed will increase as well. Once they are equal again, the aircraft will not accelerate anymore, but holds a higher and steady airspeed. (NASA, n.d.) Another law would be the link between the resultant force acting, the mass and the acceleration produced, where it is described as F=ma (Result...

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...ieved December 3, 2013, from http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newton3laws.html
The Naked Scientists. (n.d.). How a Jet Engine Works. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/interviews/interview/1759/
World's busiest airports by passenger traffic. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic#2012_statistics/ how much would a jet engine cost?. (n.d.). Yahoo! Answers. Retrieved December 14, 2013, from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080922115617AAe2XCD
When did the famous inventor Frank Whittle invent Jet Engine?. (n.d.). When did the famous inventor Frank Whittle invent Jet Engine?. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from http://inventors.findthedata.org/q/45/2770/When-did-the-famous-inventor-Frank-Whittle-invent-Jet-Engine

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