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Newton's Second Law and Airplanes Problems
If so instructed by your teacher, print out a worksheet page for these problems.

Open the slides called Newton's First Law and Newton's Second Law (with text).

 

Wright Brothers plane with arrows showing lift-upwards, weight-downwards, drag-towards back, and thrust-forwards

On December 17,1903, at Kill Devil Hill, North Carolina, the Wright brothers made the first sustained, controlled powered flight. Their airplane weighed about 700 lbs.

Use the information shown below to answer the questions.

Force ( Newtons) = mass (kilograms) x acceleration (meters/second) where acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.80 m/s2, 1 kg = 2.205 pounds, and 1 foot = 0.3048 meters.

  1. Write a formula that can be used to calculate the force due to weight.
  2. Convert the mass of the airplane into kilograms.
  3. Now calculate the force due to weight on the Wright brothers' airplane.
  4. In order for their airplane to fly, the lift force must have exceeded: _______.
  5. The Wright Brothers' airplane flew 120 feet in 12 seconds. Calculate its speed in feet per second.
  6. Convert this speed to meters/second.
  7. If Orville had gained 5 kilograms before the flight, calculate what the lift force would have been.
  8. If the Wright brothers' airplane had weighed only 675 pounds, what would the lift force have been?
  9. A Boeing 747 has a mass of 1,764,000 kg. What is the lift force required to get it off the ground?
  10. A Boeing 727 has a mass of 396,900 kg. What is the lift force required to get it off the ground?
Boeing 727
Please send any comments to:
Curator: Tom.Benson@grc.nasa.gov
Responsible Official: Kathy.Zona@grc.nasa.gov