You are flying to Chicago for a weekend away from the books. In your last physic

Question

You are flying to Chicago for a weekend away from the books. In your last physics class, you learned that the airflow over the wings of the plane creates a lift force, which acts perpendicular to the wings. When the plane is flying level, the upward lift force exactly balances the downward weight force. Since O'Hare is one of the busiest airports in the world, you are not surprised when the captain announces that the flight is in a holding pattern due to the heavy traffic. He informs the passengers that the plane will be flying in a circle of radius 9 mi at a speed of 310 mph and an altitude of 15,000 ft. From the safety information card, you know that the total length of the wingspan of the plane is 275 ft. From this information, estimate the banking angle of the plane relative to the horizontal.

Explanation / Answer

let F be the force perpendicular to the wings
and be the angle with horrizontal

m is the mass of plane

hence Fsin =mg

also Fcos =mv^2/r

hence dividing above equations we get

tan =gr/v^2 =

g =32.2 ft/s^2

1 mile =5280ft

hence g =32.2/5280 miles/s^2 =0.0061 mi/s^2

400mph =6.67 mps

hence tan =0.0061*8/6.67^2

hence =0.0629 degrees

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse Y
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.