What are Those Things on Airplanes' Wings?
Have you ever wondered what those things are on airplane wings? You know, those little angled bits of metal? Watch to learn what they are and how they're used! Support SciShow by becoming...
==========
What do you hate most about flying? Is it being cramped in that skinny little seat? Not being able to get up and pee whenever you want? Maybe the fact that there’s always a guy somewhere on your flight who thought that this was the perfect time and place to eat a really giant, smelly meatball sub? Well, if you’re an airline, the thing you probably like least about flying is drag. Drag is the total of all the forces that a fluid exerts on an object that’s moving through it. And air -- which is a fluid -- can exert all kinds of drag on an airplane. So airlines burn a whole lot of fuel and money fighting drag, each time an airplane flies. Now, you might think of drag as just being the friction that’s caused by the air as it rushes over the surface of th...
==========
What do you hate most about flying? Is it being cramped in that skinny little seat? Not being able to get up and pee whenever you want? Maybe the fact that there’s always a guy somewhere on your flight who thought that this was the perfect time and place to eat a really giant, smelly meatball sub? Well, if you’re an airline, the thing you probably like least about flying is drag. Drag is the total of all the forces that a fluid exerts on an object that’s moving through it. And air -- which is a fluid -- can exert all kinds of drag on an airplane. So airlines burn a whole lot of fuel and money fighting drag, each time an airplane flies. Now, you might think of drag as just being the friction that’s caused by the air as it rushes over the surface of th...
