The Physics of a
Frisbee
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Physics
The two main forces acting on a frisbee during flight are lift and
angular momentum, both of which are crucial
to
the flight time, distance, and characteristics.
Lift
The life in a frisbee is generated due
to the Bernoli effect which is the same way airplanes stay aloft. The
idea is that
Through the design of the cutting edge of the object you can create a
difference in airflow speeds from the top to
the bottem. Since the air will need to get to the same place in the
same time if you increase the distance it needs to
travel on one side the air will have to speed up to keep up with the
shorter distance on the other side. When this
happens the air pressure on one side is less than the other and there
is an external force pushing on the
object
trying to correct the imbalance.
Angular Momentum
The other force acting on the
frisbee which affect its flight is angular momentum which is caused by
the spin on the
frisbee. The angular momentum the resistance of a body to change its
angular velocity and is very to
regular
momentum. The help from momentum comes in the stability it adds
to the flight of the frisbee. Without
stability
from spinning the disk would wobble from air turbulance and turn into a
less aero dynamic position slowing
it
down faster and ending the flight shorter. The angular momentum
is supplied by the flicking of the wrist during
the
throw and mostly stored in the thicker external wall which adds
mass.