Thursday, September 23, 2010

Causes to Fall

flying falling disc
Happy Autumnal Fall Equinox!

When a disc is cutting through the air with forward motion (throw) it slices the flowing air around it. Half goes above the disc and half below. Two separate forces contribute to the Frisbee's flight.
1.) Bcs the Frisbee is tilted the air flow beneath the Frisbee is deflected downward and a higher pressure is created below the Frisbee that is pushing up on the Frisbee (at the same time the Frisbee, because of gravity, is pushing down) this is called aerodynamic lift)

2.) The upper air flow on the other hand naturally follow the curved edge of the Frisbee and continue curving away from the Frisbee creating a substantially lower pressure above the Frisbee. That means that the natural downward push of the air pressure on top of the Frisbee that would usually cause it to fall is no longer there & the air pressure underneath causes the Frisbee to lift creating hours of fun for everyone!!!

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