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What is gravity? (mander.xyz)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 15 points 3 years ago (21 children)

one unresolved corner of physics

Hardly! People board airplanes every single day and we still don't fundamentally understand the mechanisms of how lift works.

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  • [–] 18 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    When I thought there was higher pressure under the wing that pushed the plane up, I was happy. When I started thinking, instead, about little vacuum vortices above the wings pulling them up instead, I was suddenly much less comfortable with the whole proposition. Given the options and the limited effect on my daily life, I'm gotta go with Newton over Bernoulli on this one.

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago

    vacuum vortices above the wings pulling them up

    We know vacuums don't "pull" things. Instead it's air pressure elsewhere that isn't balanced by the vacuum that moves things in the direction of the vacuum.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago (7 children)

    Wait how do we not know how lift works?

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  • [–] 8 points 3 years ago (4 children)

    I think it's more so that we know HOW it works but we don't know WHY it works

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I don't get it, how can you know how it works but not how? Or is it some philosophical why are the laws the way they are?

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago (1 child)

    Trial and error until we got an equation that pretty much tells us exactly what will happen for given variables.

    Physics simulations where a computer helps just try out different propeller designs to see how well it works has been helping introduce all kinds of super exotic designs in the last few years cause yeah as someone who did physics; "it's all just agreed upon expected outcome from trying it."

    We know Jack shit.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago

    I think it’s more so that we know HOW it works

    Speak for yourself. I'm a student pilot and most of my instructors (who are either retired airline pilots or are trying to build up flight hours to qualify for an airline job) don't understand the science behind it. To be fair, understanding the science doesn't really help you fly a plane...

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  • [–] 2 points 3 years ago (5 children)

    We don't? I thought we kind of did

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago (3 children)

    We do. Perfectly.

    What's trickey is modelling and simulating it cheaply.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 years ago* (1 child)

    I heard that it was just the angle of the wings redirecting the air downwards as reaction mass, like how a rocket engine shoots air downwards.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 years ago

    It is both, but the pressure one contributes more to lift. You can see this when a wing stalls, the airflow separates from the upper surface and the pressure difference is gone. The angle of a stalled wing still means air is directed downwards, but the overall lift is much smaller.

    At least that is what I've been told anyways

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