Associate
- Joined
- 23 Feb 2008
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- 970
So the other day, I had a heated debate (an argument) with my physics teacher about a question in a paper we were doing, and want to see what you think.
Suppose that there is an aeroplane, which is tilted to the right side slightly. Ignoring air resistance, and all forces other than the lift of the wing and mavity, what path would the aeroplane follow?

Path 1 is half of a parabolic curve (y=|root x|) , whilst path 2 is a circle (evidently
)
I shall say what way I argued later as to not make people bias.
Edit:
The plane is not increasing/decreasing in altitude
The lift in the plane obviously goes through the centre of mass
The only forces in play are the lift and mavity
The wings are the same and the lift is constant on both wings
The elevators exert no force on the plane
Suppose that there is an aeroplane, which is tilted to the right side slightly. Ignoring air resistance, and all forces other than the lift of the wing and mavity, what path would the aeroplane follow?

Path 1 is half of a parabolic curve (y=|root x|) , whilst path 2 is a circle (evidently

I shall say what way I argued later as to not make people bias.
Edit:
The plane is not increasing/decreasing in altitude
The lift in the plane obviously goes through the centre of mass
The only forces in play are the lift and mavity
The wings are the same and the lift is constant on both wings
The elevators exert no force on the plane
Last edited: