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Beginner's Guide to Propulsion
Forces in a Climb
Answers


  1. Assuming the angle of ascent is a constant, find the angle the plane must use to achieve this height at this distance--to the nearest degree.
    The angle should be rounded to 10 degrees.

  2. a. Find the thrust for a Boeing 737-600 airplane.
    Thrust is 22,700 lbs = 100,970 N per engine. Total thrust is 201,940 N.

    b. What is the take off weight of the plane?
    Takeoff weight is 145,500 lbs, or 646,800 N.

    c. Use the first equation on the Forces In A Climb page to find vertical net force.
    Use 700,000 N as the lift and 35,000 N as the drag.
    L cos 10 + F sin 10 - d sin 10 - W = ma (vertical)
    700,000 cos 10 + 201,940 sin 10 - 35,000 sin 10 - 646,800 =
    71,554 N = net vertical force ( 689,365 + 35,066 - 6,077 - 646,800 = 71,554 N )

    d. Use the second equation to find the horizontal net force, use lift and drag from part c above.
    F cos 10 - L sin 10 -D cos 10 = ma (horizontal)
    201,940 cos 10 - 700,000 sin 10 - 35,000 cos 10 = 42,851 N (horizontal)
    ( 198,872 - 121,553 - 34,468 = 42,851 N )
  3. Divide your net force from 2c and 2d by the weight of the airplane to get the vertical and horizontal acceleration in "g's" (ratioed to gravitational acceleration).
    The vertical acceleration =
    .111 g's

    The horizontal acceleration = .066 g's

    Note to teachers: You may extend this assignment by going to Newton's Second Law.


Related Pages:
Standards
Activity
Worksheet
Propulsion Activity Index
Propulsion Index

 

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Editor: Tom Benson
NASA Official: Tom Benson
Last Updated: Thu, May 13 02:38:38 PM EDT 2021

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